Uploaded on 2015-04-24 by Agnieszkaszg

No 1: invisible info: economic and spatial transformation process in a city – info derived from old historical industrial premises remained after coal mine shut down; No 2: invisible info: inefficient parking system or (in broader scale) need for more efficient public transport to diminish individual traffic - info derived from big number of cars on a parking place. Poland, Katowice, a central part of the city. (source: Agnieszkaszg – course’s participant) ![enter image description here][1] Invisible info No 1 (it is socio-economic and spatial transformation process in the city) The photo presents a part of relatively modern city with an industrial heritage (dating back to 19 c.). It shows historical industrial premises after Katowice coal mine, presently transformed into modern Silesian Museum, with old buildings refurbishes and now buildings added. This area is located almost in a city center (a housing estate at the background); that fact shows the city growth process around the industrial plant and mixed up functions in the urban structure. A knowledge that can contribute to planning decisions for creation of more livable urban spaces (as general guidelines for decsion makers): 1) to preserve the place identity being the “witnesses” of the past in the urban space by remaining place icons (e.g. like a shaft) – in Katowice case: city development was based on coal mines and steelworks up to 80s of 20 c.); 2) to reuse the brown fields (with objects of any aesthetic or historical vale) for new functions – it could be a means of undeveloped space protection or may contribute to compact city development; 3) to elaborate appropriate provisions of a land use plan for the post-industrial area to be transformed (such areas are often located in an attractive city locations, what is a big asset and big potential for urban development); 4) to prepare an urban-architectural contest or the land-use project being consulted with local sociality to get the public support to the particular concept. Adaptation of old industrial objects for cultural functions is just a way of creation of a new public space; formerly industrial area being “cut off” from the city structure is now open to the public, revitalized and constitutes quite new spatial quality. Moreover that kind of approach contributes both to the rational space use and to respect of the specific history of the city. [1]: http://www.axis.org.pl/img/Pl_Katowice.jpg