Scholarly record

THE VISUAL IMAGE AND FUNCTION OF MAIN TRAFFIC HIGHWAYS OF THE 19TH CENTURY IN EUROPEAN CITIES (Part One)

S. Ozola

Abstract

In the 19th century, urbanization and transport in European cities contributed creation of industrial territories, reducing areas of natural greenery, but changes at social life altered the attitude towards nature: the natural environment has been replaced by man-made cultivated roadside and walking allees provided a functional link between green areas of various significance, uniting parks and squares into one system. In the mid- 19th century, functional issues at European largest cities as Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Riga were solved. Implementing large-scale radical urban transformations, traffic highways were built, artistically aesthetic reasons took into account. Avenues emphasized directions of transport flows. Research object: allees and boulevards of the 19th century in European cities. Research problem: the development of citiesВ’ planning changed urban aesthetics; many central streets lost their original function, significance and visual image. Historical green structures have not been sufficiently studied to preserve their identity during development of the contemporary urban environment. Research novelty: analysis of common and distinctive features of allees created at the 19th century in European and Latvian largest cities. Research goal: analyse impact of historical boulevards on the development of cities. Research methods: analysis of archive documents, projects, cartographic materials, study of published literature, inspection of allees in nature, photo fixation.

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