History integrated urban transformation

Abstract

The economic growth and the growth of the European urban area was at a particularly high level in the second half of the twentieth century. The public and economic functions, traditionally located in the inner cities, needed more and more space during that period and were re-located. They moved to bigger buildings on more reachable sites, outside the inner cities. At the same time the mobility of people improved steadily and cities increasingly had to compete for the favour of the consumer. "City branding" became a common term in those days. With this in mind, the specific identity of the city is of crucial importance. The area of the old inner city is essential in that context, but in the way it was and not the way it has become. The historic embedded identity forms the counterpoint for the dominant influence of a levelling global culture. The faster society is changing, the more attention for the stability of history, the more popular is the preservation of cultural heritage. On the basis of that, in many European cities plans are made or carried out to restore and maintain cultural heritage in combination with renewal, all integrated in transformation plans for parts of the inner city. The decision process about inner city transformations is based on the economic interests of private as well as local public participants. The costs of restoration of cultural heritage are covered by public and private funds. The historic inner city has gained a unique status and "cultural heritage became business". This research goes explores how and why cultural heritage has gained importance for any city in Europe and considers how that importance can be integrated in profit based urban transformation projects, projects in which the private sector becomes more and more important.

Reconstruction of the Old Bydgoszcz Canal buried section as a potential direction for development of green and blue infrastructure in Bydgoszcz city center

“…Despite high public support for reconstruction, even among people who have never heard about the canal infilling before, there are concerns about its feasibility due to the existing road network. Similar situations arose during projects already completed in other cities, where it was addressed by broader traffic policies, including increasing public transport coverage and general traffic calming in the project areas (Lee, 2006;Huisman, 2007;van der Toorn Vrijthoff & Heurkens, 2008).…”

“…Bydgoszcz's spatial and functional relations towards water areas, with its exploitative period and current shift in paradigm towards improving quality of waterside spaces, fits into broader models (Tölle, 2010;Januchta-Szostak, 2018). With its section of waterway buried for expansion of the road network and for sanitary reasons, the city shares a similar story with many other cities such as Breda, Gent (Huisman, 2007), Utrecht (van der Toorn Vrijthoff & Heurkens, 2008), Potsdam (Wojnarowska, 2011 and Seoul (Lee, 2006), to list but a few. Burying waterways for road development is an example of the focus on the car transport in urban design, which has been criticized broadly by multiple authors (Jacobs, 1961;Gehl, 2008Gehl, , 2010Montgomery, 2013), and of encroaching urbanization resulting in several adverse effects on environment (Pauleit & Breuste, 2011).…”

“…Burying waterways for road development is an example of the focus on the car transport in urban design, which has been criticized broadly by multiple authors (Jacobs, 1961;Gehl, 2008Gehl, , 2010Montgomery, 2013), and of encroaching urbanization resulting in several adverse effects on environment (Pauleit & Breuste, 2011). Its negative impact on the historic identity, spatial structure and quality of life and environment has been noticed by many municipalities (Lee, 2006;Huisman, 2007;van der Toorn Vrijthoff & Heurkens, 2008;Wojnarowska, 2011). Similarly to these examples, in Bydgoszcz, the absence of the buried section of the canal is also noticeable in the spatial and functional structure of the city centre.…”

“…Projects for reconstruction of urban waterways, earlier buried for expansion of the road network (Lee, 2006;Huisman, 2007;van der Toorn Vrijthoff & Heurkens, 2008;Wojnarowska, 2011), are the embodiment of the above-mentioned conceptions. Reconstruction of the water network is treated as an important element of spatial and functional redevelopment projects, aimed at the revitalization of the urban centres, through bringing back the historic identity of the place, creating high-quality public spaces, improving water resource management and increasing biodiversity.…”

‘China’s leading historical and cultural city’: Branding Dali City through public–private partnerships in Bai architecture revitalization

“…In addition to its role in heritage management, PPP's potential for city branding has also been analyzed in scholarly literature: in Western cities, city branding-related PPP has been successful in facilitating business development (Ateljevic & Doorne, 2002;Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Vandewalle, 2014) and in helping cities navigate trends in profit-based urban transformation projects (van der Toorn Vrijthoff, 2006). To date, however, PPP in heritage management and city branding has yet to be examined in the Chinese context.…”