The aim of the conference is critically to explore the role of urban art and urban design in shaping the  public sphere. The topic of this conference – urban polarization and urban polarities, is aimed at expanding the discussion of the aesthetic experience of the city and the role of various forms of urban creativity – street art, fine arts, architecture and greenery in the processes of urban regeneration and redefinition of city spaces. We would like to look upon the completed and ongoing projects of urban revitalisation and renewal to ask what those changes have taught us, what lessons can be drawn from successful and unsuccessful undertakings. With its specific historical, social and economic characteristics and its present endeavours at revitalisation and redevelopment, Lodz presents itself as an interesting scene for such observations. While discussing the question of urban polarization we would like to reflect on visual, spatial and social polarities that projects of urban renewal might challenge, as well as aesthetic and historical polarities ingrained in urban fabric and everyday life of a city.