Localization of Essential Activities within the Urban Fabric – Mechanisms and Motivations, by Šárka Doležalová
Current spatial planning is a complex discipline of environment management. The objective of planning isn’t a mere organization of urban pattern, the organisation has to follow a long-range vision based on shared values and requiring adequate content. Therefore, planning tends to be a tactical process implementing strategies that promote sustainability and competitiveness of towns and cities, which should be realized by means of directing development energy, balancing social differences and creating a high-quality built environment. For this, planning requires advanced tools and procedures able to detect natural connections in space and react flexibly to unexpected changes. The objective of this article is to analyse inner mechanisms of planning with particular regard to the distribution of urban equipment. Plans of six European cities exemplify the detail, focus and inner connections of specific tools of regulation.
Urban concept and composition versus private property of plots, by Kateřina Szentesiová
We want to live in a pleasant and beautiful environment. We admire the composition of towns and cities founded by our ancestors. After all, one of the basic objectives of legislation in urban planning and spatial development is to found towns and their parts so that their structure is not only functional and sustainable but also beautiful. Private proprietors of plots constitute an important group of people who have a very strong impact on the current and prospective appearance and functioning of towns and cities. The interference of plot proprietors who are not in the category of public subjects, i.e. they are physical and legal persons, often shapes the urban concept and composition according to these proprietors’ ideas. In such cases, how can we provide for good urban composition?
Urban planning and environmentalism; Construction of eco-cities in Sweden, by Vojtěch Lekeš
Many advanced urban planning projects originate in Scandinavia. This article introduces readers to the Swedish system of planning and the construction of a few projects with which the author is familiar. Today’s process of planning originated in reaction to recent trends and requirements and as a result of lessons learned from mistakes made in the past. Certainly, one of the most talked-about projects in the history of Swedish urban planning is the Miljonprogrammet, a programme that strongly influenced housing construction in the second half of the 20th century and with whose consequences most Swedish towns continue to struggle still today.
A city within a city: Barangaroo – a new face of Sydney, by Milan Bušina
Some say that Australia is a land of ideal opportunities and conditions for the building industry. It is a young country in which historical styles have not yet created limits in terms of monument preservation, so conceptual ideas may develop more freely. As a new “city inside the city of Sydney”, Barangaroo is a good example of this, for it is a new urban unit complex that has originated in a vacant zone. This article stresses the scale of this spectacular project and makes information about it accessible to the Czech professional community by describing the urban planning concept and architecture of buildings it contains.
A brief overview of the history of building legislation, by Miroslav Hegenbart & Martin Ebel
Starting with the 13th century when towns were first founded, this article guides readers through the history of building legislation and regulations in the territory of today’s Czech Republic.