New Chances for Old Towns. 21st Century Revitalization in Historic Centres of Silesia

Abstract

Silesia is a region of Central Europe with a complex and multicultural history. Its borders and nationality has changed repeatedly over the centuries. Consequently, Silesia’s identity, culture and economy were shaped throughout the region’s history by Polish, Czech, Austrian, Prussian and German influences. Since 1945 Silesia has been located mostly in Poland. The majority of Silesian towns was founded in the Middle Ages creating a regular system of a settlement network in the entire region. This process started at the beginning of the 13th century and was a part of dynamic urbanization of the entire Europe. The basic features of Silesian medieval urban structures, known presently as the Old Towns, are: an orderly plan, chequered grid of streets, regular blocks of development and a centrally located market square. Throughout the centuries historic towns in Silesia remained within their city walls, undergoing changes, rather than simply developing. It was only the 19th century that brought favourable circumstances for development. Unfortunately, as a result of the World War II, many Silesian historic centres were significantly damaged. After the period of the post-war rebuilding, the old towns in Silesia experienced a process of degradation resulting from the political and economic system of Poland in that period. The first possibilities to raise the quality of the old town areas appeared after the year 1989 with the Polish political transformation. In the 21st century, mainly thanks to EU funds, numerous projects were implemented within the historic town centres of Silesia in the field of urban revitalization. The study presents the range and specificity of these activities undertaken and the review of the selected completed projects. The results help not only to assess the effects of the actions undertaken and their impact on the quality of urban living conditions, but to relate them to the towns’ identities and their spatial uniqueness as well. Finally, the work is an attempt to answer the question to what extent a new life has been breathed to historic old town structures in Silesia. The analyses are based to a large extend on the Regional Operational Programmes elaborated in the years 2007-2013 in 4 administrative units, which form in various proportions the region of Silesia.