The Problem of Densification of Large-Panel Housing Estates upon the Example of Cracow

Abstract

The paper focuses on the phenomenon of intense, uncontrolled densification of large-panel housing estates in Poland. Despite the fact that such housing estates as a legacy of the Modernist concept of segregation of functions are often burdened with problems, they still have considerable potential, which results predominantly from their urban advantages, such as functional and spatial logic, large amounts of open public space, and abundance of greenery. Unfortunately, this potential is being destroyed by introducing new buildings, ignoring the existing urban layout of the housing estate along with its original compositional assumptions. This type of densification results from—without limitations—the pressure exerted by developers in the free-market economy, and it often leads to problems such as the devastation of urban layouts of these housing estates, breaking the continuity of public spaces, appropriation of green areas, strengthening of monofunctionality, etc. This problem is becoming noticeable in the scientific debate, although it is still difficult to obtain reliable data illustrating the densifications of such housing estates. The goal of this paper is to present the scales and character of such densifications of the large-panel housing estates, which pose a threat of devastation of their urban layouts often considered as urban heritage. The paper proposes a method of a quantitative analysis of the housing estates with reference to the increase in the built-up area and a qualitative analysis of the character of development with reference to its distribution. This method comprises a sequence of subsequent steps with relevant criteria. In the results, it demonstrates the scale of the problem, which in many cases is already big and still growing. The resultant threat of devastation of the urban layout and its consequences are presented upon selected examples of housing estates in Cracow, Poland. This paper is a voice in a discussion devoted to the current status, but most of all to the future of large-panel housing estates, particularly in terms of their protection as valuable achievements of urban planning of the second half of the 20th century, and to stopping unfavorable tendencies of urban destruction.

The Potential Impact of Changes in Soil and Climate Conditions on Development of the Herb Layer Vegetation of Public Parks in Krakow (Southern Poland)

“…In addition to global climate change, local climate change is also of essential significance. The progressive densification of development in Polish cities affects microclimatic phenomena as well as the transformation of urban greenery [33]. Soil properties are linked to climate and microclimate; but they are also influenced by various other factors [34][35][36][37].…”

The Welfare Landscape and Densification—Residents’ Relations to Local Outdoor Environments Affected by Infill Development

“…There is an increasing interest in the heritage of modernist areas in many parts of the world, being highlighted as planning resulting in specific values for people, previously often not recognized and therefore under pressure to change [28,29]. The lingering structures of modernist-style planning in Sweden and neighboring countries might be described as a welfare landscape.…”