Transport at Nivy Yesterday and Today: Why Nivy Station Is a Transport Hub and How This Will Help Local Businesses
Thanks to its rich transport history, Nivy is an ideal location for Bratislava’s new social and businesses centre. Discover why the neighbourhood has always been a transport hub and how its integration with a modern business centre in Nivy Station creates potential for further growth.
The fact that Nivy has been chosen as the place where retail intertwines with a bus terminal is not a coincidence. This part of the city located a stone’s throw away from the historical centre has had a long transport history starting from a horse-drawn railway up to the modern concept of a station combined with shopping and leisure facilities. It is also thanks to this unique combination that Nivy is becoming a buzzing and attractive downtown of Bratislava. In this article, you will discover why Nivy has always been Bratislava’s main transportation artery and how it impacts business opportunities in the public space.
Railway – driving force of Nivy’s development
The importance of Mlynské Nivy as a major transportation corridor was first established in the first half of the 19thcentury with the construction of horse-drawn railway. Linking Bratislava to the town of Svätý Jur, it was the very first railway in the Hungarian Kingdom. Thanks to the railway, the city’s prestige and importance increased and in the following decades, a fully-fledged industrial expansion started.
Today, a similar boom can be seen here. However, this time around, industrial buildings are replaced with modern premises ideal for creative work, shopping and especially for a complex city life. Today, Nivy is facing a similar situation as it did in 1890, when transport was one of the key drivers accelerating business and trade in Bratislava.
At that time, the first solid bridge was constructed over the Danube river, making it easier to transport goods and export finished products, which led to a speedy development of factories. The railway also served as a comfortable means of transport for workers who were increasingly needed in Nivy. In an area formerly dominated by mills, factories were growing in number.
With a gradual expansion of Bratislava’s limits over the course of the 20thcentury, the railway track located in the city centre began to block important roads. Once Nové Mesto railway station was constructed, Nivy station completely lost its purpose. In 1984, it was demolished and replaced with a bus station.
Buses pick up the transportation baton
The importance of Nivy as a major transportation hub remained the same, just the dominant means of transport has changed. After the railway station was closed down, the largest bus station in Slovakia was constructed in its place. Mlynské Nivy was a logical choice – a bus station located in a business district in the wider city centre with a link to the ring road and public transport is an excellent solution for coach transportation with further growth potential for the entire area.
The new station featured 38 platforms and 10 exit platforms, a post office, an exchange office, a restaurant and a non-stop dispatching centre. The station survived 34 years without any major reconstructions, which resulted in its poor condition until it had to be entirely closed down and rehabilitated in 2017.
However, buses did not disappear from Nivy and with the opening of a temporary bus station on Bottova street, a new chapter began. The temporary station will serve passengers until a new modern Nivy Station opens in 2020.
Nivy Station: Social area of the 21stcentury
The new Nivy Station building will combine an international bus terminal with a shopping centre, a modern marketplace and public municipal greenery on the roof. Platforms and parking spots will be located under the ground, while shops and business premises on the ground floor will provide many different amenities accessible directly from the newly constructed boulevard; the first floor will be dedicated to experience shopping.
An entirely new dimension of city living will be created by a modern gastronomical concept of a market, a street food zone and restaurants directly linked to the green roof. The roof will be a place for active leisure, work and meetings in a green environment, which will also attract visitors who normally don’t go to shopping centres.
It is estimated that more than 20,000 passengers will go through the Nivy Station every day, while the shopping centre itself should see over 55,000 visitors a day. Retail operations located in the Nivy Station will benefit from a high visitor rate and a lively business zone, but there are also many other advantages: high-quality facilities for employees, the ability to link business with activities in the marketplace or on the green roof and a well thought-out mix of shops will move the concept of a shopping centre to a whole new level.
Just like 130 years ago, Mlynské Nivy enters a new chapter of accelerated business growth thanks to transportation. Apart from being a transportation and business hub, the neighbourhood will soon become a centre of social life with world-class architecture and focus on public areas and technologies of the 21stcentury. More than a hundred years of tradition will bring a new opportunity to fulfil the neighbourhood’s potential that might not repeat itself in the next hundred years.