In the former Soviet Union, traditional urban districts with pre–World War II housing were considered obsolete and the aim was to demolish them, but in practice they were frequently ignored, because efforts were focused on new housing production in order to address acute housing shortages. Inertial forces stymied plan implementation for older districts during a rich period of plan making while new residential districts were built at a fast pace on virgin land. This research analyzes more than a dozen written planning documents from various periods during the twentieth century for Tartu, Estonia, where, had mid-twentieth century town plans been implemented, entire districts of nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century wooden houses and apartment buildings would have been demolished. Findings suggest that several factors acted in concert to set the conditions for both neglect and preservation of such districts during the second half of the twentieth century that resulted in continuous occupancy of the dwellings and preserved the built form (and the social structure) of the district. These factors include a focus on building new housing and new districts rather than renovating older districts; a lack of resources to renovate older districts; and a lack of resources to implement plans. This synthesis of town planning in Estonia demonstrates how planning ideas have evolved throughout the twentieth century parallel to—but temporally delayed compared to—Western Europe and North America.

2014),"The life cycle approach as an innovative methodology for the recovery and restoration of cultural Abstract Purpose -The concepts of "historically valuable landscape," "historical landscape space," "landscape space attached to an object of cultural importance," etc. seem to be understood by most landscape professionals, yet these terms are highly abstract with many possible interpretations. The protected zone of cultural monuments prescribed by law helps to ensure the preservation of these historic artifacts and signifiers of local heritage. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -This paper seeks to provide guidelines that can be articulated to protect cultural landscapes. These guidelines are based on a manorial core study was carried out in 2010 to analyze the changes in road networks and spatial systems of manors over the past 150 years. This study is part of a larger research effort on different aspects of Estonian baroque manor gardens. Findings -Many landscapes may contain historically relevant objects and phenomena not protected by law, which, nevertheless form the basis of a unique local landscape. The altering of such a landscape not only changes its natural form, but may directly impact the cultural identity and milieu of the area, thereby affecting how its inhabitants relate to their environment. Originality/value -Preservation of historic buildings and landscapes plays an important role particularly in relation to manor landscapes. This network has remained well preserved, and the rural landscape based on this Baltic-German manor culture is still strongly reflected in the current landscape through the existing historic landscape elements like housing, viewsheds, roads, etc. Without landscape analysis, it can be challenging for an outsider to understand the spatial context, especially when it has changed and evolved through the years.

In today's highly technical and rapidly changing world, the topic of people-friendly living has become increasingly acute. Therefore, great attention is paid to create new spaces (and transform unpleasant ones). In this race to create new spaces, however, vernacular sites that are already people friendly have been forgotten or they are taken for granted. This article explores a neighborhood, which has evolved into a valuable living environment after hundreds of years of development characterized by weak planning and design. Current efforts to regenerate the area may actually ruin the valuable vernacular environment. The authors have worked with this historic area for over 10 years and are familiar with the people and environments in depth. This longitudinal research allows one to observe and compare many different aspects of urban development (urban analysis, people's values, adopted spatial plans, etc.) to provide insights to the question of what characterizes the lively city.