IAH'2017, Industrialized Affordable Housing Conference 2017, May 31-June 2, 2017, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Venue

Conference Location

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 3.105 million residents, which makes Warsaw the 9th most-populous capital city in the European Union.

History

Middle Ages
The first historical reference to Warsaw dates back to the year 1313, at a time when Kraków served as the Polish capital city. The first fortified settlements on the site of today's Warsaw were located in Bródno (9th/10th century) and Jazdów (12th/13th century). After Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa. The Prince of Płock, Bolesław II of Masovia, established this settlement, the modern-day Warsaw, in about 1300. In the beginning of the 14th century it became one of the seats of the Dukes of Masovia, becoming the official capital of Masovian Duchy in 1413. 14th-century Warsaw's economy rested on mostly crafts and trade. Upon the extinction of the local ducal line, the duchy was reincorporated into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in 1526.

16th to 18th centuries
In 1529, Warsaw for the first time became the seat of the General Sejm, permanent from 1569. In 1573 the city gave its name to the Warsaw Confederation, formally establishing religious freedom in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to its central location between the Commonwealth's capitals of Kraków and Vilnius, Warsaw became the capital of the Commonwealth and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland when King Sigismund III Vasa moved his court from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596. In the following years the town expanded towards the suburbs. Several private independent districts were established, the property of aristocrats and the gentry, which were ruled by their own laws. Three times between 1655–1658 the city was under siege and three times it was taken and pillaged by the Swedish, Brandenburgian and Transylvanian forces.

In 1700, the Great Northern War broke out. The city was besieged several times and was obliged to pay heavy contributions.[24] Warsaw turned into an early-capitalistic principal city. Stanisław II Augustus, who remodelled the interior of the Royal Castle, also made Warsaw a centre of culture and the arts. This earned Warsaw the name of the Paris of the east.

19th Century
Warsaw remained the capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1796, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia to become the capital of the province of South Prussia. Liberated by Napoleon's army in 1806, Warsaw was made the capital of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. Following the Congress of Vienna of 1815, Warsaw became the centre of the Congress Poland, a constitutional monarchy under a personal union with Imperial Russia.

Following the repeated violations of the Polish constitution by the Russians, the 1830 November Uprising broke out. However, the Polish-Russian war of 1831 ended in the uprising's defeat and in the curtailment of the Kingdom's autonomy. On the 27th of February 1861 a Warsaw crowd protesting against the Russian rule over Poland was fired upon by the Russian troops. Five people were killed. The Underground Polish National Government resided in Warsaw during January Uprising in 1863–64.

Warsaw flourished in the late 19th century under Mayor Sokrates Starynkiewicz (1875–92), a Russian-born general appointed by Tsar Alexander III. Under Starynkiewicz Warsaw saw its first water and sewer systems designed and built by the English engineer William Lindley and his son, William Heerlein Lindley, as well as the expansion and modernisation of trams, street lighting and gas works. The Russian Empire Census of 1897 recorded 626,000 people living in Warsaw, making it the third-largest city of the Empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow.

20th Century
Capital of Second Polish Republic: 1918–39 -
Warsaw was occupied by Germany from 4 August 1915 until November 1918. The Allied Armistice terms required in Article 12 that Germany withdraw from areas controlled by Russia in 1914, which included Warsaw. Germany did so, and underground leader Piłsudski returned to Warsaw on 11 November and set up what became the Second Polish Republic, with Warsaw the capital. In the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, the huge Battle of Warsaw was fought on the eastern outskirts of the city in which the capital was successfully defended and the Red Army defeated. Poland stopped by itself the full brunt of the Red Army and defeated an idea of the "export of the revolution".

Second World War -
After the German Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 began the Second World War, Warsaw was defended until 27 September. Central Poland, including Warsaw, came under the rule of the General Government, a German Nazi colonial administration. All higher education institutions were immediately closed and Warsaw's entire Jewish population – several hundred thousand, some 30% of the city – herded into the Warsaw Ghetto. The city would become the centre of urban resistance to Nazi rule in occupied Europe. When the order came to annihilate the ghetto as part of Hitler's "Final Solution" on 19 April 1943, Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Despite being heavily outgunned and outnumbered, the Ghetto held out for almost a month. When the fighting ended, almost all survivors were massacred, with only a few managing to escape or hide.

The Warsaw Uprising took place in 1944. The Polish Home Army attempted to liberate Warsaw from German occupation before the arrival of the Red Army. By July 1944, the Red Army was deep into Polish territory and pursuing the Germans toward Warsaw. Knowing that Stalin was hostile to the idea of an independent Poland, the Polish government-in-exile in London gave orders to the underground Home Army (AK) to try to seize control of Warsaw from the Germans before the Red Army arrived. Thus, on 1 August 1944, as the Red Army was nearing the city, the Warsaw Uprising began. The armed struggle, planned to last 48 hours, was partially successful, however it went on for 63 days. Eventually the Home Army fighters and civilians assisting them were forced to capitulate. They were transported to PoW camps in Germany, while the entire civilian population was expelled. Polish civilian deaths are estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000.

The Germans then razed Warsaw to the ground. Hitler, ignoring the agreed terms of the capitulation, ordered the entire city to be razed to the ground and the library and museum collections taken to Germany or burned. Monuments and government buildings were blown up by special German troops known as Verbrennungs- und Vernichtungskommando ("Burning and Destruction Detachments"). About 85% of the city had been destroyed, including the historic Old Town and the Royal Castle.

On 17 January 1945 – after the beginning of the Vistula–Oder Offensive of the Red Army – Soviet troops entered the ruins of Warsaw, and liberated Warsaw's suburbs from German occupation. The city was swiftly taken by the Soviet Army, which rapidly advanced towards Łódź, as German forces regrouped at a more westward position.

1945–1989: Warsaw during the People's Republic
In 1945, after the bombings, revolts, fighting, and demolition had ended, most of Warsaw lay in ruins. After World War II, under a Communist regime set up by the conquering Soviets, the "Bricks for Warsaw" campaign was initiated, and large prefabricated housing projects were erected in Warsaw to address the housing shortage, along with other typical buildings of an Eastern Bloc city, such as the Palace of Culture and Science, a gift from the Soviet Union. The city resumed its role as the capital of Poland and the country's centre of political and economic life. Many of the historic streets, buildings, and churches were restored to their original form. In 1980, Warsaw's historic Old Town was inscribed onto UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Recent times: 1989–present -
John Paul II's visits to his native country in 1979 and 1983 brought support to the budding "Solidarity" movement and encouraged the growing anti-communist fervor there. In 1995, the Warsaw Metro opened with a single line. A second line was opened in March 2015. With the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004, Warsaw is currently experiencing the largest economic boom of its history.

Polish Academy of Sciences,
Palais Staszic,
Nowy Świat 72,
00-001 Warsaw, Poland
+48 (22) 182 61 00
+48 (22) 182 70 50
Email: akademia@pan.pl

You can download a detailed pdf with the closest metro and tram stations here.(750kb)

By Plane

When arriving by plane in Warsaw you will do so either at one of the two international airports. Namely, Warsaw Chopin Airport, located just 10 kilometres from the city centre, and Warsaw-Modlin Airport, located 35 kilometres to the north.

From Warsaw Chopin Airport you can take

• a train to the city. This is the best option to reach Warsaw City Centre.
  A rail link has been recently built that connects airport's Warsaw Chopin Airport railway station (built as part of Terminal A) to Warsaw city centre. The service is provided by two companies: Szybka Kolej Miejska – SKM (Fast Urban Railway- Lines, S2 and S3) and Koleje Mazowieckie (Masovian Railways).
• a taxi to the city centre from one of the following companies ELE Taxi, Sawa Taxi and Super Taxi the staff of whom wear a blue uniform to indicate that they are official carriers.
• a bus to the city centre. The Warsaw city center can be reached by the bus lines: 175 and 188 during the day and N32 at night. There is also an additional line 148 that provides access to Ursynów (a southern part of Warsaw) and Praga (an eastern part of Warsaw).
  Bus 331 connects with underground station Metro Wilanowska.
  The fare is PLN 4.40 one-way (and the reduced fare is 50% of that) for all the lines (day and night).
  In Warsaw airport there’s a new terminal for buses and coaches. It’s located on the arrivals level, in front of the south pier.

From Warsaw-Modlin Airport to reach Warsaw's city centre you have three main options for transport: grab a cab or private shuttle, take a bus to the capital, or board one of the green and yellow shuttles that will take you to Modlin Train Station where you then take a train to your destination.you can take:
- a train. The Koleje Mazowieckie train route is economical (19zł total for shuttle and train), though slightly time consuming (50 minutes total); buy a ticket from one of their stands located in the baggage hall or at Arrivals near the exit doors. Of the many bus transfer services, Modlin Bus is the most comfortable and convenient; tickets range from 9zł (if booked ahead online) to 33zł (at the airport - look for their stand in the baggage hall or near the Arrivals terminal exit)
- a bus

a taxi. The airport's official taxi partners Sawa Taxi and Taxi Modlin offer transport to the city centre from 159zł (199zł between 24:00 and 06:00).

By Train

When coming to Warsaw by train you will most probably arrive at Warsaw Central Station.The station is located in the strict city centre, at the Al. Jerozolimskie and al. Jana Pawła II crossroads. In the vicinity, there is the Centrum subway station, the Warszawa Śródmieście Commuter Train Station and a number of tram and bus stops, which makes it a perfect hub. The building has a great commercial and service offer and is adjacent to the Złote Tarasy shopping mall. There are hotels, restaurants and cafés next to the station.

By Metro and Tram

The Tram and Metro systems are run by ZTM Warsaw. You can find all relevant information of routes and charges on their website.

By Bus

Buses are run by ZTM Warsaw. You can find all relevant information of routes and charges on their website.

By Taxi

Taxis are easily available in Warsaw. Either private or form these companies ELE Taxi, Sawa Taxi, Super Taxi or Taxi Modlin.

By Car

Warsaw lacks a good ring road system and most traffic goes directly through the city centre, leading to the third highest level of congestion in continental Europe.[131] The Warsaw ring road has been planned to consist of three express roads: S2, S8 and S17. Currently parts of S2 and S8 are open, with the remaining construction to be finished by 2019. Thanks to the A2 motorway stretching west from Warsaw, which opened in June 2012, the city now has a direct motorway connection with Łódź, Poznań and ultimately with Berlin.

On Foot

to be added