By Barbara Spyropoulos, Director, CPTED Canada
This summer, while visiting relatives in Poland, I had the opportunity to visit Janusza Kusocińskiego Park in Olsztyn. Named after the Olympic Gold Medal runner, Janusz Kusociński, who was shot by the Nazis in 1940, the park is long (approximately 710 m) and narrow (260 m at its widest and 55 m at its narrowest point) and sits in the centre of an area bounded by four major roads as shown in the Google Map images in Figure 1. Access to the park is not only from side streets but also from the many apartment buildings that surround it. There are wide, well-maintained paths for both pedestrians and cyclists that lead to schools and shopping areas. A plethora of activity spots throughout the park encourages visitation by people of all ages.
Figure 1a shows the outline of the park (green) in relation to the main roads. Figure 1b shows the many apartments surrounding the park. (Google Maps)
The overall effect is one of a thoroughfare without vehicular traffic that serves essentially as a back yard for hundreds of residents.
As discussed in other blogs on this website, bike lanes located on main streets are cursed by motorists and do not particularly enhance the feeling of safety for the cyclists. Moving these bike lanes to a park that is parallel to the roadway provides a much safer and more sensible uninterrupted throughfare.
Having a continuous area of green space is also far more practical than the small open patches usually associated with apartment complexes. Developers often relegate the obligatory green space to the least desirable part of their site, resulting in a patchwork of green areas in the neighbourhoods, few of which are of much use.
The long Kusocińskiego Park knits all these smaller patches together to provide a place where people can enjoy nature while going back and forth from their homes to school, work, and shops. In addition to the usual children’s playground and basketball court, people can play table tennis, skateboard, play chess, exercise, or just relax and watch the ducks in one of the two ponds there.
The park itself is a lesson in CPTED best practices with clear sight lines throughout the park despite the many trees. Witness potential is maximized by the surrounding high rises and views from the many access points. The area is clean, and the litter containers are not overflowing, messaging ownership of the area. The offshoot is that there is little evidence of vandalism. The multitude and variety of the safe activities preclude the development of undesirable activities. And the feeling of safety and well being ensures many eyes and ears on the street.
One criticism might be the number of escape routes that could be used by an offender but equally, those escape routes are available to a potential victim. In addition, the chance of encountering other citizens while trying to escape is high as the park is used all hours of the day and night as a thoroughfare.
Olsztyn police report a mere 15 incident reports for this park from January to October, 2025, the vast majority being maintenance issues that did not interfere with the perception of safety in the park.
But a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are several illustrations.
In summary, perhaps the concepts seen in this park can act as an inspiration to those fortunate enough to be planning a new community. Knitting together small spaces to create a cohesive area that can accommodate all ages and multiple activities while serving as a safe conduit between major roads and amenities would present a safe, efficient and community-building asset. An easy sell and a win-win for everyone.
Acknowledgement: Photographs were taken by Olsztyn resident (and my cousin!), Barbara Kuziel immediately following a heavy rainstorm.
Thus the lack of people in the pictures.