Abstract
The paper focuses on the phenomenon of intense, uncontrolled densification of large-panel housing estates in Poland. Despite the fact that such housing estates as a legacy of the Modernist concept of segregation of functions are often burdened with problems, they still have considerable potential, which results predominantly from their urban advantages, such as functional and spatial logic, large amounts of open public space, and abundance of greenery. Unfortunately, this potential is being destroyed by introducing new buildings, ignoring the existing urban layout of the housing estate along with its original compositional assumptions. This type of densification results from—without limitations—the pressure exerted by developers in the free-market economy, and it often leads to problems such as the devastation of urban layouts of these housing estates, breaking the continuity of public spaces, appropriation of green areas, strengthening of monofunctionality, etc. This problem is becoming noticeable in the scientific debate, although it is still difficult to obtain reliable data illustrating the densifications of such housing estates. The goal of this paper is to present the scales and character of such densifications of the large-panel housing estates, which pose a threat of devastation of their urban layouts often considered as urban heritage. The paper proposes a method of a quantitative analysis of the housing estates with reference to the increase in the built-up area and a qualitative analysis of the character of development with reference to its distribution. This method comprises a sequence of subsequent steps with relevant criteria. In the results, it demonstrates the scale of the problem, which in many cases is already big and still growing. The resultant threat of devastation of the urban layout and its consequences are presented upon selected examples of housing estates in Cracow, Poland. This paper is a voice in a discussion devoted to the current status, but most of all to the future of large-panel housing estates, particularly in terms of their protection as valuable achievements of urban planning of the second half of the 20th century, and to stopping unfavorable tendencies of urban destruction.
Highlights
The modernist urban thought breaking with the hitherto understanding of urbanity held in the spirit of the doctrine contained in the Athens Charter [1] changed the course and direction of the development of many cities
The goal of this paper is to present the scales and character of such densifications of the large-panel housing estates, which pose a threat of devastation of their urban layouts often considered as urban heritage
It is striking in the case of urban layouts of such housing estates with high compositional values, which have been recognized as structures of urban heritage
Summary
The modernist urban thought breaking with the hitherto understanding of urbanity held in the spirit of the doctrine contained in the Athens Charter [1] changed the course and direction of the development of many cities. The second part of the 20th century saw more and more new housing estates built in Europe. It was a period of economic and demographic development, which accompanied the reconstruction of towns and cities after the war. Advancement in prefabrication processes accelerated the process of building housing estates considerably. Their most prominent development took place in countries of Eastern Europe, where the centrally controlled housing market, an element of the planning strategy of the communist regime, fostered the emergence of large-panel housing estates. Cheap and effective solutions in the housing sector were promoted and implemented with great elan and on a large scale
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