This paper aims to give an in-depth account of the regeneration of the site of the former Katowice coalmine, by far the largest regeneration venture financed by the public sector on a post-industrial site in Poland, and to cap- ture the primary outcomes and effects of this prestige project. Contrary to a simplified interpretation of a 'Polish Bilbao effect', the authors argue that the Culture Zone follows a unique development model that was driven by a coincidence of such factors as the situation of a major (post-) industrial conurbation seeking a new identity, the availability of external funding, chance events (with the origins of some of them dating back to WW2), and pre-existing spatial factors. The study area has been diagnosed to include all the positive effects of flagship projects, as well as most of the weaknesses associated with such a type of regeneration. All in all, it is a successful under- taking given the external conditions under which it has been implemented.