Służewiec

Służewiec is a neighbourhood, and an area of the City Information System, in the city of Warsaw, Poland, located within the district of Mokotów. Most of the neighbourhood consists of office buildings, which form one of the biggest complexes of office buildings in Poland, and one of the most important office centres in the city. It contains many headquarters of branches of many domestic and multinational corporations. A small portion of the neighbourhood also forms a residential area with apartment buildings.

The name of Służewiec was first attested in documentation in 1378, and it functioned as a small village until 1938, when it was incorporated into the city of Warsaw. It was mostly destroyed in 1944, during the Second World War, and initially re-developed as a major industrial district, known as Służewiec Przemysłowy (Industrial Służewiec), in the 1950s. In the 1990s, the industry had stopped being present in the area, with the neighbourhood developing into an office centre, becoming one of the biggest of this kind, both in the city, and in Poland.

The southern portion of Służewiec is part of the municipal neighbourhood of Służewiec Południowy (South Służewiec), governed by the neighbourhood council.

Name
The name Służewiec, comes from the name of the nearby neighbourhood of Służew, which historically was known as Służewo. Its name comes from archaic Polish word służ, which is equivalent to modern służyć, and means to serve. The name came from the fact, that historically, the area was inhabited by serfs, peasants who served to the local noble families.

While the area was under the control of the Russian Empire, which lasted from 1815 to 1915, the Russian name for the settlement was Служевечъ (transcription: Sluzhevech). Between 1915 and 1918, while the area was under the control of the German Empire, its German name was Sluschewec.

Business


Most of the buildings of Służewiec are offices, with the neighbourhood containing one of the biggest complexes of office buildings in Poland, with 83 office buildings within its boundaries in 2019. Many of them include headquarters of many domestic companies, and branches of many multinational corporations.

According to the estimates, the area of office buildings in Służewiec and the western portion of the nearby Ksawerów, commutes between 80 and 100 thousand employees, and 87% of the employees of the corporations are aged between 20 and 39 years, with the largest group (39%), being between 26 and 30 years. The huge number of people commuting to and from the area every day, together with local road systems not designed for such number of vehicles, is causing massive traffic congestion, as well as lack of parking spaces. Many candidates cite difficulties in commuting, as the main reason for turning down offers to work in the area.

Housing
While most of Służewiec neighbourhood is covered by office buildings, a comparably small portion of the neighbourhood consists of the multifamily residential apartment buildings, mostly located at the perimeters of the office zones. The neighbourhood is inhabited by a few thousand people, in contrast to estimated 80 to 100 thousand people commuting to the area every day for work.

Area of "Mordor"
The area of the complex of office buildings within Służewiec and the western portion of the nearby Ksawerów is colloquially referred to as Mordor, and Mordor in Domaniewska. Its boundaries are commonly accepted to be Cybernetyki, Domaniewska, Marynarska, and Wołoska Streets.

The name was given to the area, due to terrible traffic congestion present in the area, in reference to Mordor, a fictional location, and personification of evil, from the 1954–1955 fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings written by J. R. R. Tolkien. The name had been popularized by Facebook fan page titled Mordor na Domaniewskiej (translation from Polish: Mordor in Domaniewska), established in 2013, by one of the employees from the area. In 2018, the fansite had gained 100 000 followers. In the city is also published magazine Głos Mordoru (translation from Polish: The Voice of Mordor), addressed to the employees of the corporations from the area.

There were several attempts to make Mordor the officially recognized name of the area. In 2015, its supporters had hung a street sign with the name Mordor in the area, which however quickly taken down by the authorities. In 2018, the local inhabitants had proposed via the participatory budgeting, the recognition of the name, which however was not approved. Since 2015, the name is accepted in the search of the Google Maps.

On 12 December 2020, following the petition of local inhabitants, two small streets in the neighbourhood of Służewiec were named in reference to Mordor. They are J. R. R. Tolkiena Street, named after J. R. R. Tolkien, and Gandalfa Street, named after Gandalf, one of main characters from Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and form a crossing with each other. They were named as such by the local council following the petitioning of the local population.

Education and science
In Służewiec, at 4 Szturmowa Street, are located the headquarters of the Faculty of Applied Linguistics of the University of Warsaw.

In the area, at 9 Postępu Street, is also located the Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials of the Łukasiewicz Research Network, a national research institute of processing of nonmetal resources, including the manufacture of ceramics and building materials, mineral binding agents, and concrete.

Government buildings
In Służewiec are located the headquarters of a few government agencies of Poland. Among them are the Institute of National Remembrance located at 1 Kurtyki Street, the National Appeals Chamber at 17A Postępu Street, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management at 3A Konstruktorska Street, and the National Public Prosecutor's Office at 3 Postępu Street.

Public transit and transportation infrastructure
In Służewiec, near Sasanki Street, is located Warszawa Służewiec, a railway stop at the railway line no. 8 between stations Warszawa Zachodnia and Kraków Główny, operated by the Polish State Railways. The station is located near Sasanki Street. In 2021, it was used by 657 000 passengers, with the average number of passengers each day being 1 800.

In the area are also located the Mokotów tram depot at 27 Woronicza Street, and the Woronicza bus depot at 29 Woronicza Street. Since 2019, in Mokotów tram depot functions the Tram Tradition Chamber, the museum of the Warsaw Trams.

The area of Służewiec is regularly sight of massive traffic congestion, caused by between 80 and 100 thousand employees commuting to the area every day, via the local road systems, which were not designed to handle such a number of vehicles. It also causes a lack of parking spaces in the area.

Art
In Służewiec is located the Monument of the Builders of Służewiec Przemysłowy, a Socialist realism sculpture depicting a bricklayer, dedicated to people who worked on the construction of the industrial district of Służewiec Przemysłowy (Industrial Służewiec) in the 1950s. It is located in front of the office building of Park Rozwoju, at Suwak Street. Its author and history remain unknown. Until the 2010s, it was placed in the backyard of the magazines of the Warszawa Północ Industrial Construction Company (Polish: Przedsiębiorstwo Budownictwa Uprzemysłowionego „Warszawa Północ”). In 2015, after the building was deconstructed, and replaced by the office building of Park Rozwoju, the developers had decided to place the historical statue in front of the building. The sculpture is one of the last remaining objects from the industrial history of Służewiec.

Nature
Historically, though the area of Służewiec flowed Sadurka stream, which formed the Służew Valley. The stream no longer exists, with its remaining portions forming Służewiec Stream, which does not go through the neighbourhood. The course of the stream had been artifially altered between the 1920s and the 1930s, by being channelled through canals, to omit the area.

History
Służewiec was settled alongside the Sadurka stream in the Służewiec Valley. The oldest known mention of Służewiec in documentation comes from 1378. In said documents, it was listed as one of 17 villages of the landed property of Służewo. It was a village attached to the nearby village of Służewo (currently known as Służew), and was listed to have an area of 9 voloks (equivalent to 1.616 km2 or 0.624 square miles), making it the biggest on the list. In 1411, the village was given the Kulm law privileges by duke Janusz I of Warsaw, ruler of the Duchy of Warsaw. By 1580, it was inhabited by the petty nobility of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1678, Służewiec and Służewo were bought by Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski becoming part of his landed property.

In 1886, the Fort VIIA "Służewiec" had been built in the village, as part of the series of fortifications of the Warsaw Fortress, built around Warsaw by the Imperial Russian Army. The objective of the fort had been the protection of road leading to town of Puławy, now being the Puławska Streen. In 1909, it was decided to decommission and demolish the fortifications of the Warsaw Fortress, due to the high maintenance costs. As such, Fort VIIA was partially demolished in 1913. The building is currently located within the modern boundaries of the area of Służew.

In 1903 was opened Służewiec railway station, which was operated by the Grójec Commuter Railway. It was part of the railway line between stations of Warszawa Mokotów and Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą. The station operated until 31 July 1971. It was located to the south-east of Służewiec, near the current intersection of Puławska Street, and Dolina Służewiecka Street, within the City Information System area of Ursynów Północny.

Between the 1920s and 1930s, the course of the Sadurka stream, which went through Służewiec, had been artificially altered to omit the area.

In 1925, the Society of Horse Breeding Promotion in Poland (Polish: Towarzystwo Zachęty do Hodowli Koni w Polsce) had bought an area of 1.5 km2 (0.58 square miles), on which they began the construction of the Służewiec Horse Race Track, which was opened in 1939. Upon its opening, it was the biggest and the most modern horse racing venue in Europe. During the Second World War, the race track had been captured by the attacking German forces during the Siege of Warsaw. During the German occupation of Poland, the race track served as a airstrip for the fighter aircraft. In July 1944, there were stationed between 600 and 800 German soldiers. On 1 August 1944, on the first day of the Warsaw Uprising, the airstrip had been attacked by the Polish resistance participants from the Karpaty Battalion of the Baszta Regiment Group. The attack was unsuccessful, with partisants experiencing heavy casualties. Later that day, in retaliation, the occupant forces had executed captured partisans and a group of civilians rounded up in the nearby Służew, on the training race track. The race track is located at 266 Puławska Street, in the modern boundaries of the City Information System area of Ursynów Północny.

On 27 September 1938, Służew and Służewiec were incorporated into the city of Warsaw. The area had been destroyed in 1944 by the Nazi Germany, during the Second World War, as part of the destruction of Warsaw. The only surviving historical structure is a small Roman Catholic shrine located at the Bokserska Street.

In 1951, the area of Służewiec, Zbarż, and Wyczółki, had been designated as the industrial area of the Industrial and Storage District of Służewiec (Polish: Dzielnica Przemysłowo-Składowa „Służewiec”), later known as Służewiec Przemysłowy (Industrial Służewiec). It was planned to construct 60 factories and industrial plants in the area, as well as residential buildings for 26 thousand people. The buildings were constructed in the large panel system technique, marking it as one of the first instances of such system being used in Poland. The designated area covered around 2.6 km2 (1 sq mi). The construction begun in 1952. In the early 1970s, in the industrial area worked around 20 000 people. Among the corporations present in the area, the notable examples were: the Tewa Semiconductors Factory (Polish: Fabryka Półprzewodników „Tewa”), Lifting Devices Factories (Polish: Zakłady Urządzeń Dźwigowych), Elwa Radio Components Factory (Polish: Fabryka Podzespołów Radiowych „Elwa”), Radio Ceramic Plants (Polish: Zakłady Ceramiki Radiowej), and Służewiec Meat-Packing Factories (Polish: Zakłady Mięsne „Służewiec”).

In 1962 was opened the Warszawa Służewiec railway station, which is operated to the present day, by the Polish State Railways. It is located near Sasanki Street.

Between 1960 and 1965, in the southeast portion of Służewiec, were constructed the residential neighbourhood of Służewiec-Prototypy, consisting of apartment buildings. It was designed to be a place to test new architectural ideas, including testing the functionality of the large panel system-building technology. The construction process, and its observation, allowed to test, observe, and improve, various techniques and technologies, which would be used in the future projects. It was the first neighbourhood of such kind in Poland, and with an area of 122 000 m2 (145911 yards), also the biggest in the country. It was designed to house between 17 and 20 000 people, mostly, the factory workers, of the nearby Służewiec industrial district. The neighbourhood was designed with the idea, that the factory workers should be able to get to their jobs on foot. The main architects of the project were Jerzy Skrzypczak, Urszula Ciborowska, Aleksander Łyczewski, and Zdzisław Łuszczyński, from Biuro Projektów Typowych, and Studia Budownictwa Miejskiego. The city transportation was designed by Bohun Zwoliński, and greenspaces, by Barbara Tucholska. On 4 July 1967, the neighbourhood had been assigned to the urbanistic region of Służew. Currently, it is part of the City Information System area Służew.

On 4 October 1996, the district of Mokotów was subdivided into areas of the City Information System, with an area of Służewiec being one of them. Some historical parts of Służewiec had been included within the areas of Służew and Ksawerów. On 28 June 2001 had been established the municipal neighbourhood of Służewiec Południowy (South Służewiec), governed by the neighbourhood council. It covers the area of southern Służewiec and south-eastern Służew.

In the 1990s, the manufacturing industry ceased to be present in the area of Służewiec. As such, it had caused the appearance on the real estate market of huge and developed estates, located near the city centre and the Warsaw Chopin Airport. It then contributed to the development of the business industry in the area, eventually leading to the creation of the biggest complex of office buildings in Poland. One of the first new investigations in the area was the construction of Curtis Plaza office building in 1992, located at 18 Wołoska Street. From 1995 to 2001, the area was built the complex of office buildings known as Mokotów Business Park, located in the area of Domaniewska and Postępu Streets. In 2000, at the boundary of Służewiec had been opened Westfield Mokotów (originally known as Galeria Mokotów), one of the biggest shopping centres in the city. By 2019, the area had been built 83 office buildings. They were mostly built without city oversight and contributed to the development of the office monoculture. In 2019, the area began losing its status of office centre, to the district of Wola.

As the area was originally developed as the industrial sector, the residential buildings were not built in the Służewiec. After the neighbourhood had transitioned from an industrial area to an office centre, beginning in the 1990s, and continuing in the early 21st century, residential apartment buildings began being built there, though in very small numbers in comparison to the office buildings. In the 2010s, the neighbourhood had the population of a few thousand people, while between 80 and 100 thousand people commuted to work there every day.

By the 2010s, almost all of the historical industrial objects were deconstructed and replaced by new office and residential buildings. One of the last remaining objects in the neighbourhood, dating to its industrial era, is the Monument of the Builders of Służewiec Przemysłowy, a Socialist realism sculpture depicting a bricklayer, dedicated to people who worked on the construction of the industrial district in the 1950s. It is located in front of the office building of Park Rozwoju, at Suwak Street. Its author and history remain unknown. Until the 2010s, it was placed in the backyard of the magazines of the Warszawa Północ Industrial Construction Company (Polish: Przedsiębiorstwo Budownictwa Uprzemysłowionego „Warszawa Północ”). In 2015, after the building was deconstructed, and replaced by the office building of Park Rozwoju, the developers decided to place the historical statue in front of the building.

Location, administrative boundaries and subdivisions
Służewiec is located in the city of Warsaw, Poland, within the south-western portion of the district of Mokotów, in the subregion of Upper Mokotów. It is a City Information System area. To the north, its border is determined by Woronicza Street, and in the straight line coming from Miś Roundabout to the western boundary; to the east, by Wołoska Street, and Obrzeżna Street; to the south, by Bokserska Street, and around the car park of the building at 66 Bokserska Street; and to the west by the railway line no. 8.

It borders Wyględów to the north, Wierzbno to the north-east, Ksawerów, and Służew to the east, Wyczółki to the south, and Okęcie to the west. Its southern and western boundaries form the border of the district of Mokotów, bordering districts of Ursynów to the south, and Włochy to the west.

The southern portion of Służewiec is part of the municipal neighbourhood of Służewiec Południowy (South Służewiec), governed by the neighbourhood council. The boundary of Służewiec Południowy with the rest of Służewiec, is determent by the Marynarska Street. Portion of Służewiec Południowy is located in the nearby area of Służew.