Scholarly record

WAYS OF PUBLIC SPACE LOCATION PLANNING ON THE EXAMPLE OF LARGE POLISH CITIES

J. Wiszniowski

Abstract

The document defining the spatial development policy of the city in Poland is study of conditions and directions of spatial management. For proper planning of public spaces, it is crucial that the study fulfills its regulatory functions accurately, protects the common good against the market game and against usurpation of these areas for non-social functions. Therefore, planning records should determine the accurate localization and ensure, within the designated boundaries, two things: firstly, a place for anticipated social activity, adequate in terms of area, size, landscape and aesthetic values, and secondly, the principles of good-neighborliness and relations with the private sector in functional terms and planning. The subject of the research is methods of determining, in planning documents, the location of public spaces in large Polish cities with population of more than 500,000 residents. Based on a comparative analysis of the spatial policy of selected cities, and especially the location conditions of public spaces defined in these cities, one can observe elementary problems and threats. The practical objective of the research is to formulate recommendations that can be used to improve the quality of planning studies. The gathered knowledge may support activities aimed at optimizing urban public space systems. Localization conditions have a huge impact on the economic value of a property. Therefore, public space areas, especially undeveloped ones, are highly valued by investors. Frequently, decision-makers managing the city, cannot sufficiently balance between economic and social interests or yield to the pressure posed by developers. For this reason, the phenomenon of privatization of these areas increases whereas the number of places that are important to meet social needs gets reduced or eliminated. In public spaces, where there is a pressure from various ways of using them, such as commercial or transport functions, and where the space is limited by the lines of compact buildings, frequently the land gets seized for purposes other than social. Therefore, such locations should be subject to greater protection through the records in study of conditions and directions of spatial management, as well as through detailed regulations of local spatial management plans. In these cases, the lack of indication of public space in the plan or the excessive generality of planning records do not constitute sufficient protection against threats resulting from localization conditions.

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