<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Under the pressure from investors, Slovakia has experienced significant urban sprawl into the countryside in the last three decades. This development resulted in the loss of agricultural land, despite the fact that towns and cities in the built-up area have great potential in the vacant land lots. It is crucial to identify the lost spaces and incorporate them in the regeneration of urban structure and green infrastructure of Slovak towns and cities. The paper presents the results of the case study of lost spaces in Slovak towns that aimed to confirm the hypotheses: <italic>“Can the intensification on lost spaces within the build-up area be a better alternative than the current urban sprawl into the countryside?”</italic> and <italic>“Is it true that most lost spaces are located in the centre of towns?”</italic> The research focuses on examining the lost spaces suitable for new development and the spatial potential of the built-up urban area in three towns – Humenné, Levice, and Topoľčany. The lost spaces examined in this study are: urban fallows, vacant lots, residential green space, green space connected to public amenities and green space connected to industrial zones. The study aims to determine the area of lost spaces compared to development sites in the suburbs and to confirm the hypothesis that the intensification of urban structure is a viable alternative to the urban sprawl into the countryside. The conclusion inferred from the research has brought interesting findings and useful information for further investigation. It is crucial to find the optimum ratio between the intensification of urban structure on the land of lost spaces and leaving some space free to become a part of the blue-green infrastructure of a town, which is specific to each city. The objective of the paper is to draw attention to the potential of lost spaces as prospective areas for intensification of the urban structure of Slovak towns.</p>
</abstract>

Under the pressure from investors, Slovakia has experienced significant urban sprawl into the countryside in the last three decades. This development resulted in the loss of agricultural land, despite the fact that towns and cities in the built-up area have great potential in the vacant land lots. It is crucial to identify the lost spaces and incorporate them in the regeneration of urban structure and green infrastructure of Slovak towns and cities. The paper presents the results of the case study of lost spaces in Slovak towns that aimed to confirm the hypotheses: “Can the intensification on lost spaces within the build-up area be a better alternative than the current urban sprawl into the countryside?” and “Is it true that most lost spaces are located in the centre of towns?” The research focuses on examining the lost spaces suitable for new development and the spatial potential of the built-up urban area in three towns – Humenné, Levice, and Topoľčany. The lost spaces examined in this study are: urban fallows, vacant lots, residential green space, green space connected to public amenities and green space connected to industrial zones. The study aims to determine the area of lost spaces compared to development sites in the suburbs and to confirm the hypothesis that the intensification of urban structure is a viable alternative to the urban sprawl into the countryside. The conclusion inferred from the research has brought interesting findings and useful information for further investigation. It is crucial to find the optimum ratio between the intensification of urban structure on the land of lost spaces and leaving some space free to become a part of the blue-green infrastructure of a town, which is specific to each city. The objective of the paper is to draw attention to the potential of lost spaces as prospective areas for intensification of the urban structure of Slovak towns.

Spatial Potential of Middle-Sized Towns in Slovakia: Lost Spaces of Humenné, Levice and Topoľčany

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

Faculty of Architecture and Design, Institute of Urban Design and Planning

Architecture Papers of the Faculty of Architecture and Design STU

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Under the pressure from investors, Slovakia has experienced significant urban sprawl into the countryside in the last three decades. This development resulted...

Spatial Potential of Middle-Sized Towns in Slovakia: Lost Spaces of Humenné, Levice and Topoľčany

Published Online: Jun 28, 2021

Page range: 3 - 13

Received: Mar 31, 2021

Accepted: Apr 22, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/alfa-2021-0008

Keywords
town, intensification, lost space, development sites, urban revitalization

© 2021 Romana Hajduková et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Spatial Potential of Middle-Sized Towns in Slovakia: Lost Spaces of Humenné, Levice and Topoľčany

Published Online: Jun 28, 2021

Page range: 3 - 13

Received: Mar 31, 2021

Accepted: Apr 22, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/alfa-2021-0008

Keywordstown, intensification, lost space, development sites, urban revitalization

© 2021 Romana Hajduková et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
town, intensification, lost space, development sites, urban revitalization