Monday 12 September 2011

New urban toponyms

Once upon a time there was a place called Okęcie. It was a village outside Warsaw. The airport appeared here in 1934. After the war, the capital expanded, and Okęcie became a district of Warsaw. And to Okęcie (the place, not the airport) a huge number of buses (124, 154, 141, 177, 317, 703, 706, 711, 715, 721, 728, 733, 807, N38, N88) arrive - plus the 9 and 35 tram.

Then, in 2001, the airport was renamed the
Frédéric Chopin Airport. Of course, Warsaw residents obstinately refuse to call the airport anything other than Okęcie.

Now, as of the middle of last month, ZTM, our urban transport authority has decided to rename Okęcie bus and tram terminal "P+R Aleja Krakowska". The 715, as it runs through Jeziorki, no longer has the word Okęcie on the front, only this weird drętwomowa P+R Al. Krakowska. Why not "P+R Okęcie"? Because people might think its at the airport. But the airport is Lotnisko Międzynarodowe im. Fryderyka Chopina, not Okęcie, you think - but no, ZTM is only confirming the obvious - Varsovians still call the airport Okęcie.

Good God Almighty. What a fuss has broken out! Commuters, residents, local politicians are all weighing in against this horror of neotoponymics. Just because ZTM has opened a brand new multi-level park and ride here, doesn't mean that centuries (well, decades) of tradition should be chucked down the toilet!

I have three issues. One is renaming local places for the sake of renaming. Whether it's Rondo Babka now being officially known as Rondo Zgrupowania Armii Krajowej Imienia Radosława (why use two syllables when 16 will do) or
insisting on Frédéric Chopin International when every Varsovian, sober or not, will refer to the airport simply as Okęcie. The mania extends to renaming the bus stop Supon (on ul. Poloneza) 'Tango', after Warsaw's shortest street, one that doesn't have a single building on it.

Issue number two is the use of "P+R" when the Polish for "Park and Ride" is Parkuj i jedż... One would therefore assume that the Polish acronym for this useful facility is 'Pij" - the Polish for the command - Drink! PiJ do dna! Drain your glass!
Issue number three is the fact that Warsaw's Park and Ride facilities are placed too close to the city. By the time one reaches P+R Al. Krakowskie, having sat through unimaginably massive traffic jams at Janki, one might as well drive on into the city centre. The same goes for P+R Stokłosy, Ursynów and Wilanowska - they are of greatest value to locals. Warsaw needs to extend its tram and Metro lines way, way deeper into the exurbs.

This time last year:
Politics - time to change gear

This time two years ago:
Preference and genetics

This time three years ago:
Kraków scenes

2 comments:

student SGH said...

I can go along with you when it comes to renaming, but how about popular names of streets or squares gloryfing communism? In Piaseczno there was ul. 22 lipca. In 2001 it was renamed into ul. Jana Pawła II. Locals only griped about bureacratic ordeal (they had to have their addresses changed in all documents and have their properties registered under the new addresses) and for many after 10 years it's still ul. 22 lipca...

P&R Al. Krakowska? Wasn't that car park meant to be named "P&R Okęcie"? Personally I'm glad it's been built there. When the southern bypass of Warsaw is finished I'll be leaving the car there and commuting from there to work by tram!

BTW - didn't your ears sear you today?

Anonymous said...

At least you know where Okecie is! think of all the business travellers and euro 2012 tourists trying to find the Airport. Warsaw is the worst city in europe when it comes to signposting the route to the airport. Michael - I suggest you open a bar next year for england supporters who lost their way en route to Okecie - you could make fortune selling some nice english bitter in your back garden!