Abstract
Modernist planners were given the opportunity to apply the idea of the Modern Movement in the implementation of cities transforming after the World War II blitz, which was not possible before in long-term evolving structures. However, they could not alter everything: some urban and even architectural elements were necessary to be preserved. As a result, the elements of the ancient landscapes of these cities—historical objects and spaces—necessary for the continuity of evidence of history and identity were preserved, often being completely reconstructed. Finally, in some of these cities, both old and new elements contribute to the contemporary urban landscape. The aim of the research is to examine two key categories of urban structure in this perspective: (1) architectural dominants (landmarks) and (2) urban network nodes. For this purpose, (1) the changes in the number and rank of the spaces through which the landmarks expositions were carried out are compared, and (2) the changes in the rank of nodes in the urban structure, both these in the pre-war and in the present structures, as well as changes in their distribution and concentration areas are analyzed. The number of individual elements is compared and the changes in the structure of their arrangement are analyzed with the use of a polygon grid. A medium-scale European city (Bialystok) is used as the case study. Results of our analysis indicate that the post-war reconstruction led to a decrease in the number of elements of the urban grid (streets, nodal points), especially those of low rank. The rank of many others also decreased: 57% of all nodal points within the historical grid of the selected area does not exist in the post-war structure. The number of main rank directions of exposition decreased by 18% and in the subordinate group by 38%. The research is an attempt to construct a new criteria of evaluating changes in the quality of the cityscape, which is described in the article.
Highlights
The spatial structures of cities consist of forms that evolve over a much longer time than the architectural substance [1]
The results presented in the table showed seven analyzed distinctive objects within the borders of the research area, which played the role of identification elements in space before the war and retaining this role after reconstruction and transformation
The research showed some deficiencies among the elements of the main rank
Summary
The spatial structures of cities consist of forms that evolve over a much longer time than the architectural substance [1]. In the history of town planning, there are examples of different models of spatial structure development, in which the continuity was broken and the existing structures were suddenly destroyed [2]. These were results of war damage, and large-scale reconstructions carried out for other reasons. The destruction of Magdeburg in 1631 was significant and, in more recent times, the cities destroyed during World War II Many of the latter were in today’s Poland (Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Szczecin, to name the largest), and ones such as Rotterdam, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, a large part of London, Coventry, Le Havre, and Manila.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
