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Urbanization represents a process in a continuous dynamic and which appeared through the concentration of a population in a certain space. Its expansion was achieved by increasing the population of a certain territory, growth based on different factors such as migration, natural growth, the transformation of some rural areas into urban areas or the expansion of rural towns. Together with these phenomena, the population is faced with atmospheric pollution, the increasingly acute housing crisis and waste management, to which is added the reduction of green spaces through their conversion into spaces occupied by various infrastructure works. Considering that, sustainable communities are designed to achieve a balance between economic and social growth and considering the limits of natural resources. The importance of these communities lies in the fact that they are integrated in such a way as to allow achieving a balance between the exploitation of natural resources and consumption leading thus regenerating resources and ensuring them for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public and green areas are a matter of interest for the Republic of Croatia and local government and are in general use. Informational systems of green areas are a result of politics which reckon on the concept of sustainable development. They are the tools for efficient managing, sustaining and planning of green areas. Active participation of the citizens in updating and reporting damages on public green areas is also one of the ideas of these systems. The task of the project,,Green Information Systems in the city of Knin“ was to collect spatial and attributive data on public green areas and their belonging objects. Informational system of green areas contains a list and description of trees, lawns, shrubs, trails, hedges, flower gardens, urban equipment and playgrounds in the city. Data was collected using measuring tape. Collected data was stored in a database, which was used to create a geoinformational system in the software QGIS. The purpose of implemented information system is to record vegetation to facilitate planning and management of green areas, then determine the state in which the green areas are located and the intervention that is needed to improve this condition. The ultimate goal is to improve living conditions in a populated place. The project was successfully developed, allowing users to create data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cittaslow Association was founded in Italy in 1999 to solve problems relating to spatial transformations, economic development and local identity. Headquartered in Orvieto, the movement brings together towns from several countries. The Cittaslow movement is committed to improving the quality of life of residents by promoting healthy life, protecting natural and cultural heritage and respecting local traditions as well as promoting alternatives to the current model of global development. The paper deals with a concept of planning public spaces based on social participation of residents. Examples of how public spaces can be created in Polish Cittaslow towns are presented. The research consisted in collecting sources and interpreting information as well as documents. The author made several analysis in city centers and other public areas and also conducted pre-project and project studies that some of them were later implemented. The research showed that an important role in the integration of residents primarily play green areas, including parks, squares, recreational areas and sports facilities. By adding greenery to public space people can improve it both aesthetically and functionally. Main squares, street space and areas of cultural and educational importance contribute to fostering social links between residents, too. All analyzed Cittaslow cities have a great potential in the possibility of using of green areas. Parks and squares are excellent places to integrate residents and introduce educational and cultural activities. However, there is a difference in program of activities and terms of development of such areas. In some cities, despite the completed revitalization projects, there is no integration of the inhabitants or it is poor. Therefore, recommendations for the use of city space in activities which integrate various social groups have been finally presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to emphasise the significance of green areas in the space of a contemporary city. The example chosen to illustrate the discussed problem is Krakow. The author presents certain selected green areas in the city, of different location, character and function. The field research carried out by the author, including investigation into how the spaces are used, their compositional significance for the city and their relations with the surrounding development, indicates an important role they play in shaping the functional and spatial structure of the city. The selected examples are areas of recreational, compositional and integrating function, varied in size or space organisation. They are situated in different parts of Krakow and accompanied by stylistically and functionally diverse development. They are constantly used by the city inhabitants and constitute an important element of the city fabric. Over the years, some of them have fallen into partial disrepair, the quality and character of the space they offer has also changed. Preserving them in the city structure remains important for sustainable development, and improving their quality may promote creation of attractive public spaces in densely built urban environment. Special attention should be paid to the areas which may constitute parts of a network of green spaces. These are the ones which may create such network on the basis on the existing natural environment. They may become elements integrating individual parts of the city. Maintaining green areas in good condition and improving their quality affects the correct growth of the city and reduces the inconveniences resulting from development intensification. Creating new green enclaves and protecting the existing natural greenery within the city spatial structure still seems to be one of the major tasks which must be included in any contemporary concept of city development and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, the dimension of a city is defined by networking relationships. These, however, are not covered in the hierarchically-oriented planning of Wrocław. Spontaneous processes that affect the city, such as growth, densification as well as its shrinkage and disappearance, reveal inefficiency of the applied planning methods which have led to its disintegration into numerous small, separated fragments. Regardless of planning shortcomings, which concern the whole city, today Wrocław struggles with decentralization of the compact historical European city - and a new form of "in between-city" type of urbanity instead, which poses a challenge related to planning and designing the urban landscape. Areas owned by the city remain the biggest and perhaps the only field of interference with the city. They include streets, squares, pedestrian areas, thoroughfares, belts rivers, urban wasteland areas which, owing to their extent, have the potential to merge the city structure in terms of its composition and above all its function. This text is the second part of my research on green areas acting as "soft elements" that control the city structure. The first one focused on examining connections across the city. In order to present the full picture, the analysis included also links existing on a local scale. This paper investigates three selected areas of Wrocław freaturing diverse urban morphologies. Each case was considered with a view to find possibilities for converting empty, neglected lots into green areas. The primary goal was to test different strategies where green areas could be used to build connections for walking and cycling within the urban fabric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ASince the 1980's, and in Poland two decades later, cities have been subjected to a continuous and dynamic transformation. The city spaces have become places of global capital flow acceleration, and in the market-based economy they have been turned into a commodity. This situation has led to the feeling of powerlessness and lack of any visions for cities that would reach far into the future. With the impetuous and uncontrolled development of cities - growth combined with increased density, and shrinking and disappearance at the other end of the spectrum - the current planning methods have become insufficient. Despite appearances of development, Wrocław is a shrinking, peripheral city. Owing to the war damages, the post-war clearing-up demolition, economic weakness in the socialist economic system, and above all short-term, opportunistic and incoherent urban planning over the last 25 years, the city structure is split, fragmented and composed of several independent elements. On the two-dimensional plane, its organisation and operation is provided by the city transport system. However, its compositional layout and form are uncontrolled. The largest, and perhaps the only field of intervention into the city structure remain areas that belong to cities, such as streets, squares, pedestrian precincts, transport arteries, lines of rivers and areas of city wastelands, which owing to their range have the integrating / merging potential. In this text I probe into the possibilities of using green areas as "soft" elements for controlling the structure, for supra-local systems both at the level of the whole city and at the level of city districts and areas. In my proposals for strategies I treat Wrocław as a case study, whereas the strategies themselves do not intend to create any exhausting visions, but rather to show a new urban planning paradigm for city development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public green areas contribute to a city's image and the strengthening of social bonds. The quality of public greenery is determined by spatial planning policies, the availability of funding and management solutions. The presence of well-kept greenery affects real estate prices and local living standards. Members of the local community can provide urban planners with valuable information by identifying sites that require tree planting, hazardous plants that should be removed for the protection of public safety, by reporting illegal logging practices, incidents that compromise the safety of public green areas, by identifying local demand for new green spaces and proposing ways in which local residents can participate directly and indirectly in greenery campaigns. The attendance rates and the most popular activities in public green areas should be surveyed. The comments, ratings and ideas provided by members of the local community can be very helpful in the process of developing city maps. The above information can also facilitate decision-making and management during the development of functional geographic information systems covering environmentally valuable land. This article describes selected GIS tools that support the development of urban greenery and assist planners in the process of adapting public green spaces to local needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work aims to illustrate a case study, carried out based on theoretical and methodological grounds, which analyzes the spatial distribution, the features, and the functions of the green areas of the plain units of Dâmbovița County. The different categories of green areas present in the zone under analysis accomplish multiple functions (ecological, social, esthetic, economic). The ecological function has a major role in the protection and improvement of the environment (the improvement of the urban microclimate - moderation of the excessive heat and attenuation of the temperature variations during the day and during the night, atmospheric ionization; purification of the atmosphere - through important contributions as far as the chemical, physical and bacteriological purification of the atmosphere is concerned; lowering of the phonic pollution, improvement of the land's water retention capacity, preservation and perpetuation of the biodiversity). The green areas of Târgovişte Plain are represented by the parks: Chindia, Mitropolie, Mihai Bravu - in Târgovişte, Dalles - in Bucşani, Cantacuzino - in Ciocăneşti, Văcăreşti - in the homonymous locality. In statistics, the forests contained by the green area have been introduced in the total surface of the green area (the forests of Nucet, Priseaca, Boteni, Bucşani). In the zone under analysis, numerous secular trees have been identified, which have been declared natural monuments (oak, walnut tree, locust tree, plane tree, larch tree, spruce fir, chestnut tree, ash tree). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]