Historic Town Centres Research Articles

Urban Safety, Socio-Technical Solutions for Urban Infrastructure: Case Studies

Urban space’s physical and environmental characteristics impact urban public safety. Specifically, many areas in the older urban core are morphologically unsafe. The historic city’s resilience to natural disasters and emergency phenomena often surpasses expectations thanks to settlement principles, post-disaster transformations, and redundancies that enhance the performance of the historic built environment. Yet, the necessity to introduce new qualities to reclaim urban heritages scattered throughout the territory, often abandoned or sparsely populated, underscores the need for maintenance and management measures to boost safety and resilience. This study aims to identify technological components in urban space that influence the safety of places and define a design method for safety planning in historic urban settings. Urban safety interventions encompass various technological aspects in conjunction with the widespread distribution of equipment, adaptation of public and private facilities, and networked infrastructure and services. This paper delineates the elements that converge in the technological design of an appropriate historic town center to address potential emergencies. It presents the initial findings of studies conducted on a minor center with a strong historical value. This document aims to be useful for administrations of smaller municipalities, as the proposed method can be replicated in similar contexts.

Historical spatial structures in small towns and their role in the cultural landscape: a case study of towns in the polish region of Warmia

Historical town centers have a different layout and functions than do contemporary urban districts. The urban layout and architecture of medieval towns constitute tangible cultural heritage that shapes the local landscape. The aim of this study was to analyze and evaluate historical spatial structures in small towns, and to describe their role in the evolution of the regional cultural landscape.The study examined medieval towns in the region of Warmia in north-eastern Poland. An attempt was also made to explore the impact that historical towns exert on the local cultural landscape. The study demonstrated that a medieval urban spatial layout makes a fundamental contribution to the local landscape and regional identity. The study also revealed that well-preserved historical structurescan drive local development and effectively promote regions.

Analysis of Touristification Processes in Historic Town Centers: The City of Seville

Encouraged by the administration, the gen9otrification process has been useful in economic terms for the reactivation of the socio-cultural fabrics of historic urban spaces in decline. What was initially considered an advantage has led to the touristification of historic centers, and in turn to the alteration of their original use. In these settings, the demographic void caused by increasingly shunning local identity has combined with pressure from excessive tourism and the obsolescence of heritage protection bodies in charge of conservation. Given the crisis affecting the definitions of the current system, this study aims to review the environmental agents of heritage value in relation to the processes of touristification and gentrification. Data obtained from different methodologies are analyzed using a multidisciplinary database, a model which enables the analysis of the relevant information from the different interacting fields. This case study focuses on the historic town center of Seville, specifically between 2015 and 2020. Elements are defined as indicators for these processes and the analysis of this case study will comprise the main results of this research.

Opportunities for revitalising the outdoor spaces of historic town centres in Zemgale

The study examines the processes of transformation of urban infrastructure and the ways and tools for revitalising the outdoor public spaces of a historic centre. Changes in the historic centres of Auce, Bauska, and Jelgava and their functional layout were identified. A study of usability levels and outdoor public spaces in the historic centre was carried out, resulting in an assessment of the outdoor public space. Based on the study, spatial proposals were made for the development of the historic centres of the three cities. The transformation processes in the urban environment affect social issues, transport infrastructure, land use, water issues, etc. Transformation is taking place at all levels today, from global economic, political, and social structures to the ways the outdoor public space is planned. With the trends of the early 21st century, historic squares are moving towards the revitalisation of these historic locations through recreation and quiet leisure: concerts, exhibition areas, café terraces, also reviving the character of historic fairs. This spurs possible business development, increases the value of property, encourages the presence of green structures, and the introduction of regulation for protected areas in old towns to discourage possible unauthorised activities by their residents. Negative factors in historic centres include urbanisation, physical deterioration, climate change, marketing, and functional obsolescence. Urban revitalisation is viewed as a multi-sectoral strategy that includes the development and implementation of policies in the fields of urban planning, transport, economy, urban development, and sustainability. Solutions can be developed based on different time frames: short-term, cyclical, seasonal, and long-term. The purpose of revitalising the outdoor public space is to improve the social, functional, economic, ecological, and historical aspects of an area through a variety of revitalisation tools.

Kamienice czynszowe na ul. Franciszka Smolki w Przemyślu – zagadnienia funkcjonalno-architektoniczne zabudowy mieszkalnej, wielorodzinnej z okresu 1852–1914

Tenement houses in Franciszka Smolki Street in Przemyśl – functional and architectural issues of multi-family houses in the 1852–1914 period For Przemyśl, the second half of the 19th century was a time of dynamic economic and territorial development. It was then that the majority of historic urban fabric was established, both in terms of area and numbers. Unfortunately, the 19th-century tenement houses in Przemyśl have not been widely discussed so far. The few publications there are concern converted houses, untypical of that period. The literature on urbanization of the suburbs (which today constitute the historic town centre) in that period is also scanty. In order to discover the nature of changes in the town at that time, the author has chosen to discuss tenement houses in Franciszka Smolki Street. Those houses are a typical example of multi-family houses in the period under discussion. They were built in a previously undeveloped area, and soon that street became one of the more elegant ones in Przemyśl. Although it was subjected to urbanization relatively promptly, its houses are not homogeneous in nature and they are evidence of aesthetic changes and changes connected with the residents’ standard of living. Functional and spatial solutions used in particular groups of houses constitute the history of urbanization of that fragment of the town.

Die Zentren der Zürcher Agglo und die Transformation der Rückseiten

The present essay deals with the centres of the growing and dynamic Zurich agglomeration, notably those in the communities of Schlieren, Thalwil, and Wallisellen. The primary study focus of this City Tour is the area around the train stations in the centres presented. The theoretical foundation touches on approaches of the relational theory of space, the conceptualisation of a Swiss-specific Zwischenstadt (Thomas Sieverts) and non-lieux (Marc Augé). As a result of industrialisation and urbanisation processes, the central district in these three communities has moved away from the historic town centres. With the construction of train stations outside the former community boundaries, a new place of centrality has developed. Today, a second shift in these central areas can be witnessed. Current transformation processes result in the ‘rear side’ of the train station now being developed as an extended central area. Although these real estate developments should result in upgrades of public spaces, the urban pathways crossing the railway infrastructures are often poorly developed. In reality, these underpasses and passages are purely functional non-spaces. The conclusion of this essay frames an answer on possible planning approaches for how this urban development and socio-spatial deficit might be solved. English title: The centres of the Zurich agglomeration and the transformation of the ‘rear sides’

SITE PLAN OF KREMENETS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19TH CENTURY: IDEALISED IMAGE AND REALITY. THE MAP OF 1846

The article examines the features and approaches to the formation of the urban planning of the city of Kremenets in different historical periods based on site plans of 1846. The article is devoted to the analysis of the idealized planning structure of the city, which is recorded on the project map of the mid-nineteenth century.
 The relevance of the research topic is determined by the relatively limited array of cartographic sources capturing the features of Kremenets planning pattern in the past, despite a long history of its development.
 This publication aims to substantiate the evolution of Kremenets urban planning pattern from the few preserved plans and maps, with iconographic sources (drawings, photos of the town) dating from different historical periods.
 The analysis of the method and quality of pattern drawings, composition and morphology of the city centre, downtown and surrounding areas, the determination of the stylistic features of the planning pattern form the most accurate picture of architectural and urban planning history, specify the nature of the architectural and spatial organisation and strategies for further urban development.
 A comparative analysis of the found documents makes it possible to identify features of urban development of Kremenets under the influence of various factors: spatial and landscape situation, social and cultural context, trends in urban development in the relevant periods of European history.
 The article deals with the research source documents capture two different epochs when a particular city for a certain period belonged to the Russian Empire and later became a part of the Polish state with a capitalist system. Considerable attention is paid to the architectural value of its historic centre and its structure of urban development. The characteristic features of architectural space compositions of the historic town centre and the factors that influenced the transformation of the master plan of Kremenets are determined.

Changes in the Townscape of Lampertszásza (Berehove/Beregszász) in the 13th–15th Centuries

Abstract Across the River Tisza, there lies a town, Berehove (hereinafter also referred to as Beregszász [Hu]), situated on the north-eastern edge of the Great Hungarian Plain with the wind swaying ears of wheat, on the flatlands surrounded by rustling oak forests, gold-sweating trachyte mountains, and rivers subsiding upon reaching the plain. It is a veritable fairy garden, a small piece of the realm that out foremother, Emese, dreamt of back in the day. Places, just as people, have their own destinies: they emerge, evolve, thrive, and then, if they are destined so, disappear from the stage of history. The very first mention of Berehove dates back to early 1063, recorded under the name Lamperti, as the estate of Prince Lampert, son of Béla I of Hungary. Prince Lampert founded the later town. At the time, a small settlement must have been situated here with the prince’s countryseat inhabited by the garrison and the household servants. Residents of the house were mostly the gamekeepers and huntsmen of Bereg Forest County. To fully uncover the past is not possible – at the very most, some attempts can be made at its reconstruction by drawing on contemporary sources and relying on archaeological research. The mediaeval layout of the settlement is known from the available sources and serves as a basis for the present study in its efforts to reconstruct the settlement image of the historical town centre and to find out why Lampertszásza did not embark on the path of the ‘classic, city wall/fortification’ type of settlement development. The parish church is the only building of the mediaeval townscape that has survived partially, which, however, provides us with indications about the contemporary buildings of the one-time reginal town and the related ‘block of church buildings’.

The role of hybrid systems in the decarbonization of residential heritage buildings in mediterranean climate. A case study in Seville, Spain

Residential heritage buildings in the Mediterranean region face unexpected challenges in the field of energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality to ensure the sustainable conservation of historic town centres. This paper evaluates whether the conservation of their values can coexist with the current energy efficiency requirements and be included in urban decarbonization plans to prevent neglect and degradation. For this, a comprehensive decarbonization plan was drawn up based on the results of a previous energy audit on the case study selected, an 18th-century listed residential building in Seville, Spain. Envelope improvement was combined with mechanical ventilation and an integrated heat pump combining RESs and electricity from the public grid to cover all thermal needs in order to reach NZEB performance in the building. Despite the complexity of integrating demanding energy efficiency standards into heritage buildings, which requires case-by-case analysis and dynamic simulation, findings show a notable degree of approximation to NZEB performance. The main obstacles stem from the large amount of energy consumed by auxiliary systems and the relatively low presence of RESs in the national electricity mix.

The historic city and the East–West exchange: architecture, urban renewal and international knowledge transfers under state socialism in Hungary

AbstractIn recent years, the permeability of the Iron Curtain seems to have become a new paradigm in the field of post-war history – urban history included. It is clear, however, that significant differences existed among Eastern Bloc countries in terms of how open they were to Western influences, and to what extent their governments allowed those countries’ citizens – professionals among them – to gain experiences abroad. This article investigates the ways city planning and heritage policy in state socialist Hungary were influenced by international trends; it explores the roles Hungarian architects, urban planners and other experts played after 1956 in knowledge transfers, i.e. the transmission of novel ideas in the field of architecture and urban planning, with special regard to the renewal of inner-city areas and historic town centres. Besides reflecting critically on concepts of the strict East–West divide, the article also calls attention to the limits of freedom inherent even in a relatively liberal Eastern Bloc regime: various forms of state control – including state security surveillance – continued to characterize the system until its collapse in 1989, affecting the mobility of urbanists and architects as well as all other professional groups.

Built Heritage, Sustainable Development, and Natural Hazards: Flood Protection and UNESCO World Heritage Site Protection Strategies in Krakow, Poland

The protection of larger built-up areas that constitute sections of actively functioning urban zones is a challenge, even under favourable political and economic conditions. The case of Krakow’s historical town centre, which is protected as a historical site by national law and it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1978, clearly demonstrates how difficult it is to reconcile the passive character of current conservation doctrines with the demands of the free market and growth-oriented economy, when developer pressure is not sufficiently balanced out by public opinion and urban activist movements, when planning tools are incomplete or insufficient, and the criteria according to which strategic decisions are made are of a quantitative rather than a qualitative character. Apart from commonly encountered problems that are associated with the gentrification of town centres or the negative impact of mass tourism, Krakow must also face a growing flood hazard that stems from its specific and unfavourable hydrological and hydrogeological conditions that are compounded by the uncontrolled and uncoordinated expansion of urbanised areas, the decay of the natural environment, and the consequences of climate change. This article presents the multi-aspect site-specific conditions of the historical centre of Krakow, as well as the analysis of its protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the context of flood protection, while taking into consideration the environmental, economic, and social dimension of heritage. The critical conclusions that are featured in the work indicate both areas of possible immediate remedial action and the potential directions that new integrated protection strategies would take.

Selected Aspects of Revitalisation in the Land Development of the City Moat in Jeziorany

Historic town quarters, as an area often referred to as the Old Town, used to be and still are perceived as playing the role of the town centre. This is almost invariably true about small towns, as there the Old Town is associated with the site where the town was established and is a manifestation of the town’s historic identity. Therefore, the functional and spacial problems in many small localities face tend to concentrate in their historic centres, where they are compounded by the high density of buildings. The complexity of elements which compose the structure of historic town centres calls for such actions that will ensure a more prominent exposition of the Old Town against the backdrop of the other urban areas. This entails the necessity to solve numerous problems, not only spatial but also economic and social ones. Every town is a living organism, and a place where people live. The key to solving the above problems to by developing revitalisation programmes to improve the quality of space and to ensure sustainable development of centres in historic towns. An example is the historic quarter in Jeziorany, a town with medieval roots which lies in Warmia, a historic region situated in north-eastern Poland. This paper is devoted to a revitalisation project carried out in Jeziorany. Selected aspects are presented of a land development plan designed to revitalise the former moat in Jeziorany, a historic town in Warmia. The moat lies within the Symsarna River Valley Protected Landscape Area. Until recently, it had looked like a belt of untrimmed greenery stretching around the town’s centre. Part of the programme for revitalisation of Jeziorany’s centre, it was the first accomplished stage on the way of giving the town centre a new quality. Once reorganised and improved, this area now contributes to the centre-forming character of the Old Town, enables a better exposition of the Old Town’s historic buildings, has a positive influence on the public urban space and attains a social dimension by improving the local community’s life quality.Revitalisation of the moat in Jeziorany is an example of implementation of some positive spatial solutions in the centre of a small historic town. The process of renewing this area with respect to its functional and visual assets demonstrates that the execution of programmes dedicated to the improvement of urban structures produces a positive impact on the functions performed by town centres and on towns’ economic and social growth. Analogous actions in other towns may have a profound influence on the atmosphere (genius loci) of certain areas in urban landscapes, which can considerably strengthen the bonds within local communities.

Degradation or regeneration? Prospects for developing the port-city interface in Odesa

Seeking an optimum sustainable development strategy is a core objective of municipalities and innovative urban planners around the world. Various viewpoints and interests regarding the interface between ports and cities and the resulting extensive waterfront regeneration in principal seaports render spatial planning projects of this type complex to complete and obtain agreement on. For a modern city, port development is a principal source of influences and benefits related to ecology, society, and transportation. Currently, the world’s largest seaports are moving cargo terminals out of historical city centres. As a result, ports are assuming more advanced functions unrelated to the maritime industry, and thus projects that equitably share port territories will naturally gain momentum. The most significant projects for moving cargo ports out of historical town centres and regenerating port areas are found in European cities. To understand the various approaches, examples from European regeneration projects for port territories in Bilbao, Barcelona, and Oslo are presented, and their experience with various geographical and town-planning conditions is highlighted. This study is devoted to the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. It identifies the most successful strategy for developing the port-city interface under current economic and geopolitical conditions. It combines the ideas and studies of city planners in management, economics, and transport geography along with various policies and sociology aspects to provide new information and understanding aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of coastal cities in developing countries.

Hotspot crowding and over-tourism: Antecedents of destination attractiveness

This study develops a unique model capturing antecedents of place attractiveness in tourism hotspot crowding contexts. A structural equation model reveals three density dimensions: one destination image variable and two avoidance versus approach reactions that influence assessments of crowding attitude and destination appraisals. Perceived density dimensions affect destination appraisals with varying intensities and valences. Both positive and negative sentiments are present – the former as excitement, fun and conviviality resulting from people-watching and socialising, and the latter as discomfort and resentment resulting from personal space violations and reduced feelings of uniqueness. Many tourist types are included in this study in historic town centres and villages in iconic fjord landscapes in Norway. Cruise passengers are more crowding tolerant than self-organised travellers.

Jardines en entornos patrimoniales de la zona media de Cáceres. Del “locus amoenus” al paisajismo actual

Estudio de la proyección y construcción de algunos jardines especialmente singulares en la ciudad de Cáceres, en la Fundación Xavier de Salas en el Convento de La Coria en Trujillo y en el castillo de la Arguijuela de Abajo. Jardines que fueron proyectados pero no se realizaron, otros llevados a cabo que han desaparecido y por ultimo algunos que existen en la actualidad. Los que analizamos han sido proyectados para recuperar un patrimonio que tuvieron determinados castillos, conventos y casas solariegas o espacios abiertos en centros históricos y paisajes culturales.

Issue of Protecting Historic Urban Layouts of Small Towns in South-Eastern Poland – On Selected Examples

The article addresses the issue of protecting historic urban layouts of small towns in south-eastern Poland. The problem will be presented on the example of such towns as Dukla, Kołaczyce, Brzostek, Sieniawa and Skawina. Those towns were established during the medieval period, and their spatial layouts represent the urban models used at the time, which were based on full regularity. Among those most frequently applied within the discussed area were: 9-square model, turbine or pseudo-oval model also known as Silesian. Both during the last 50 years and nowadays, in the course of the intensified multi-faceted town development, those layouts and historic buildings surrounding them have been in grave danger of degradation, or even annihilation. It is worth emphasising, that only some of those layouts are under statutory legal protection thanks to an entry in the voivodeship register of immovable monuments. The others are not protected in any way, unless they have been included in Local Spatial Development Plans. As a result, their historic spatial layouts have been uncontrollably transformed or even obliterated. Such tendencies have a definitely negative impact on the cultural landscape, the identity of the place, but also on the spatial order of the centres of those towns. Therefore, more emphasis should be put on the issue of protecting those layouts and buildings surrounding them. Maybe cultural parks, which would help in ordering and revalorising those spaces, should be created in the centres of small historic towns on a larger scale. One should also demand ordering the traffic layouts in those towns, since frequently main supralocal roads run through historic town centres thus negatively influencing their cultural landscape, as well as their reception as a homogeneous urban interior. Another important question is educating the society about the protection of cultural heritage values, in this case historic urban layouts, which also entail such non-material aspects as traditions and the origins of a given town. field.

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

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.

Regeneration of market squares in historic town centres: ideas, discussions, controversies

Abstract In Poland, the last 15 years have been marked by various, numerous regeneration projects of historic cities that were supposed to improve the citizens quality of life and their security, as well as to create an attractive tourist offer. Those programs were often focused on the renewal, reshape and modernization of public squares. Such changes never go unnoticed. On contrary, these are frequently associated with criticism, debate and disagreements. The research has been focused on the analysis of regeneration projects from selected Market Squares in historic cities and town centres in Lower Silesia. The main aim was to exhibit the medieval origin of those squares and recently introduced contemporary layout. Moreover it was to present diverse opinions regarding square’s form and function, that can be crucial in understanding the architects, planners and citizens’ points of view and their ‘feelings’ towards the space.

Problemáticas y estrategias para la intervención y gestión en centros históricos de Italia, España y América Latina

El tema abordado surge de la línea de investigación vinculada con las intervenciones destinadas a la recuperación de Centros Históricos, que desde la década del 70 a la actualidad han cobrado un papel relevante y pasó a tener un rol destacado, dado que su reactivación plantea nuevos desafios, perspectivas y formas de actuar en ellos. En este sentido, el artículo presenta las estrategias de intervención y gestión desarrolladas a partir de la implementación de proyectos urbanos en estas áreas históricas de ciudades grandes e intermedias de Italia, España y América Latina, en el período de estudio mencionado. Se analizan las problemáticas que las han impulsado, las similitudes y diferencias de sus Centros Históricos, y se destacan las estrategias e instrumentos de intervención y gestión implementados; se identifican las experiencias integrales y los vínculos e influencias entre ellos. La metodología empleada es de alcance descriptiva y clasificatoria, basada en la identificación de casos

A GIS-based model to assess buildings energy consumption and usable solar energy potential in urban areas

This paper illustrates a GIS (Geographic Information System) based approach for assessing thermal and electric energy consumptions and usable solar energy potential of residential buildings in order to increase their independence from fossil fuels.After integrating and simplifying previous researches, a methodology for estimating thermal energy needs, both for heating and hot water supply, and electric energy demand for assessing PV and solar thermal productivity is presented.For each single building the decrease of non-renewable thermal and electricity needs has been estimated both considering possible installations of PV and solar thermal systems.The described approach has been applied in two urban cells comparing the obtained results and testing its applicability in two different urban contest: a historical town centre and a new suburban district. The methodology has been proven to be suitable in both different contexts. On one hand, it has stated that new suburban districts are most suitable for solar potential exploitation, especially by means of PV. On the other hand, the obtained outcomes shows that a reduction of non-renewable thermal energy demand would have a greater impact on enhancing the buildings efficiency. The developed model should help local authorities for implementing energy management strategies in their urban areas.