Marek Stępa
Deputy Mayor of Gdynia for Development Issues

A man with comprehensive professional experience in construction.

He was engaged in activities related to contractorship, design, investor supervision and state construction supervision. He was a court expert and he also taught vocational courses at engineering technical school and at the Faculty of Architecture of the Gdańsk University of Technology. He is an author of numerous publications in Polish, English, Danish and Russian.

In 1993, he defended his doctoral dissertation and obtained a doctoral degree in architecture and urban planning.

He was appointed a Councillor of the Gdynia City Council in 1994 and for four years he held the function of the Chairman of the Municipal Services Management Committee. Since 1998, he has been the deputy mayor responsible for spatial development, municipal investments and public transportation among others.

He contributed to the establishment of the municipality budgetary unit- Gdynia City Planning Office, owing to which planning matters, which until then were carried out by different offices, could be located in one place and properly coordinated. It is currently reported that Gdynia, compared to other large cities, has one of the highest percentage of areas covered with development plans. The spatial development plan for Kamienna Góra, developed in the Gdynia City Planning Office in 2004, was given an award by the Society of Polish Town Planners. The Office provides support to all-Poland urban planning conferences held in Gdynia on a regular basis which are co-organised by the branch of the Society of Polish Town Planners.

He is the author of the concepts regarding the active protection of Gdynia's modernist monuments. The Municipal Office of Monuments Protection was established on his initiative. Moreover, he was the initiator of entering Gdynia City Centre (Śródmieście) to the register of monuments and the idea of organising regular scientific conferences devoted to modernist architecture in Gdynia and Europe.

Since 1998, he has been responsible for preparing and implementing all urban investments carried out by the local government, including: Kwiatkowski Route - 3rd stage (via a forest), Janka Wiśniewskiego Street, Gdynia Road (the so-called Pink Road) as well as tens of kilometres of housing estate roads, storm and sanitary sewers, water supply networks, street lighting networks and other urban facilities. The Gdynia Arena was the most difficult to achieve among the cubature projects, however, at the same time, it turned out to be giving most satisfaction. It is also worth noting the nearby rugby stadium, the reconstruction of the former garages of the urban transport services for the needs of the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia, the marinas at the Puck Bay headed by the Gdynia Marina, and the school swimming-pools in Chylonia, Karwiny, Obłuże and Witomiono districts, and the gym at Okrzei Street.

He currently supervises implementation and preparations to implement investments such as: the reconstruction of Morska Street, the reconstruction of selected intersections along Morska Street, the construction of cycle routes, the implementation of a TRISTAR traffic management system, the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway and many other projects.

The new issues in the implementation of which the Gdynia local government is actively involved in on his initiative include energy efficiency, carbon efficiency and renewable energy sources. Gdynia is one of the first Polish cities which joined the Covenant of Mayors and developed the Sustainable Energy Action Plan. Along with the surrounding municipalities, Gdynia organised an electricity purchasing group which enabled expenditure for that purpose to be greatly reduced.

He supervises works carried out by the Management of the Urban Transport Department. He is Gdynia's representative in the assembly of the Metropolitan Transport Union of Gdańsk Bay. He was engaged in the introduction of the metropolitan ticketing system.

It was also on his initiative that the self-service garden equipment (rakes, hoes, brushes) has been located in Gdynia cemeteries. He was not discouraged by those who claimed the equipment will be stolen and the residents of Gdynia have not disappointed him.
He is a founding member of the Scouting Association of the Republic of Poland. He is also in active service holding the function of the chairman of the Commission for the Scouting Instructors' Ranks of the Pomeranian Regiment of Scouts and the chairman of the all-union Scoutmaster Commission.

He has been decorated with the bronze Medal for Merit for the Country Defence by the Minister of National Defence. He is a holder of a Gold Decoration for Services of the Polish Basketball Association.

For his merits in activity in the fields of local community, development of democracy and local governance, achievements in professional and social work undertaken for the benefit of the country, in 2010 he was awarded with the Gold Cross of Merit by the President of the Republic of Poland.

He was one of the founders and the first president of the Movement for Gdynia Association which promotes local patriotism, i.a. by organising an annual contest which tests how well the primary and lower secondary school students know their city "Gdynia - our small Homeland" (there are about fifteen hundred participants each year).

He does not have a TV set, instead, he can often be met in a cinema, in the theatre or attending concerts and matches played by Gdynia teams. He used to be a passionate sports player himself, however, with no spectacular results. His biggest success was winning a game of table tennis with an Olympic champion... in the pole vault unfortunately.

Contact details:
81-382 Gdynia, aleja Marszałka Piłsudskiego 52/54
Secretariat "E", room 119
phone 58 66 88 012
fax 58 62 02 448