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The comparative study on recent changes in greening processes in residential areas of Kraków and Lviv is intended to improve the insight into and devise a new approach to shaping and preserving urban green spaces. It aims to outline the critical current characteristics of greening in residential areas and changes in their structure brought by urbanisation in Poland and Ukraine today.
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DSc Eng., Architect, Lviv Polytechnic National University

PhD Eng., Architect, University of Agriculture in Kraków

DSc Eng., Architect, University of Agriculture in Kraków and Lviv Polytechnic National University

Transformations in residential green spaces of Kraków and Lviv today driven by urbanisation processes

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Denise Scott Brown a trailblazing architect and advocate for postmodernism played a pivotal role in reshaping the architectural landscape by championing the inclusion of postmodern urban and housing experience. The paper focuses on the transition from modernist formalist and functional understanding of the city, towards postmodern urban methods as represented by DSB, photography, collage, active socioplastics, attention to consumerist symbolism, as a means of encoding the empirics of urbanism, the living cities. In everyday scenes she documented social interactions, meditated on complexities of postmodern experience of poverty and wealth, criticism of increasing commercialization of the image of the city, and muteness of formally planned urban scape, and architectural vernacular of twentieth century American city. She was a precursor in her socially informed studies of postmodern society and its embodiment in suburban housing, such as in “Learning form Levittown”. She applied the new methodology and critical yet inclusive observation of complexities and challenges of contemporary cityscape.
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Denise Scott Brown: A Precursor in Encoding Complexities and Challenges of Contemporary Stratified Urban Life, Suburban Sociologies, and the Symbolism of Postmodern Housing

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The paper is the second part of the study conducted on the market of investments carried out by small, non-corporate developers, analysing the object of their investment activities. The study adopted a two-stage research method – analysis of source materials and a case study summarised by quantitative research. The main objective was to analyse the potential of land properties and the characteristics of land plots in terms of their suitability for development investments. In the examples studied, investments were made on plots of land with an average area of 2760 m2. It was observed that the built-up intensity in this case does not differ, regardless of the size of the plot and the type of development – for most of them the same ratio of the usable floor area of dwellings to the area of the plot is obtained. It is concluded that the size is close to the maximum density of development specified for the site. A characteristic feature of non-corporate developers is to invest in intermediate types of development – semi-detached two-unit (side-by-side or stacked) buildings. The development methods of the plots usually consist of using the maximum allowable built-up intensity.
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The investment market of non-corporate developers in Poland – analysis of the feasibility studies

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The urban heritage of modernist housing estates in cities has undergone a process of permanent adaptation to the requirements of the current social needs, environmental requirements, and spatial development conditions. It turns out that these spaces have a great potential for implementation of sustainable development principles. The main aim of this work is a presentation of the potential of the urban heritage embedded in modernist housing estates in contemporary urban structures and an attempt to answer two questions: to what extent modernist housing estates satisfy qualitative requirements dictated by sustainable development, and whether they can be an inspiration and creative continuation in the contemporary city. This topic deserves attention as this field has not been comprehensively studied yet and is perceived from the perspective of numerous stereotypes, while the image of such housing estates and their social perception and position in spatial structures of cities are of key importance for their future in the spatial and social structure of the city. The adaptability of modernist housing estates makes them perfect candidates for sustainable revitalisation of cities.
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Urban heritage of modernist housing estates and their contemporary potential in the city structures

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Taking up the issue of the soundscape of war is a response to the increasingly urgent need to take care of acoustic conditions in the context of the inhabitants of the Ukrainian community affected by these varieties. The aim of the research is to try to define the elements of a comfortable soundscape for witnesses of the war in Ukraine and to indicate directions in designing living spaces which can be used to achieve this soundscape. The chosen research methods are an analysis of the literature on the concept of soundscape in general and in the context of war and an online survey in which immigrants and witnesses of the ongoing war in Ukraine answered questions about their sound experiences during the war and related emotions. The conclusions from the study were presented in the form of descriptions of individual space elements, the features of which contribute to the creation of a comfortable soundscape for victims of the war in Ukraine in both new and existing arrangements.
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Doctoral School of Warsaw University of Technology

Soundscape of war: living spaces design directions supporting mental recovery of war victims in Ukraine

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The subject of this article is the transformation of the built environment of selected housing estates from the turn of the 1960s and 1970s in Warsaw with special attention to natural values. Changes in the built environment and new investments cause: destruction of the natural environment, functional limitations of settlements, and, as a result, deterioration of local conditions and quality of life. The contemporary neighboring estates of Sadyba and Stegny, currently functioning in the city’s fabric, were built in a period when, the natural aspect was a special element shaping the location, an indicator of a healthy residential environment and the fulfillment of housing needs. The aim of the article is to present the changes taking place in the development of green areas over the last 20 years and to show the unfavorable processes of degradation of the natural environment along with possible corrective actions. Reference to the natural aspect is particularly important in the modern city, where efforts should be made to implement the principles of sustainable development, especially in the context of the 11th goal of UN Resolution 2030. This article presents a graphic comparative analysis of selected fragments of settlements in terms of the main assumptions of natural elements in the settlements’ fabric. The results of a survey of Sadyba estate’s residents, regarding the state of greenery and its management, is also presented. Based on the analysis of selected settlements, conclusions are presented for preventing further degradation of the natural environment and its improvement. To achieve a better quality of life, it is necessary to introduce educational activities and strategic planning for a sustainable environment.
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Sadyba and Stegny housing estates – the natural aspect in the regeneration of the residential environment

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This paper presents an urban approach to modelling and planning the development of cities, with particular focus on Lublin as a case study. Research into models of the spatial structure of a city is crucial to the effectiveness and efficiency of urban planning decisions and policies. The study analysed Lublin to identify the key elements and relationships that make up its urban layout. The scientific objective of the study is a model interpretation of the spatial and functional structure of Lublin. Following Zuziak’s example, it was called the urban structure, and it will be analysed as a proposal for a potential tool to facilitate the control of city development. The research used classical methods applied in urban planning and architecture but was inspired at the by the logic of algorithms simplifying road networks and preserving their typological properties. Thus, different types of layers, information and spatial data were translated into an accessible language and were finally presented in the form of an urban design, consisting of urbanity nodes and development corridors. The main conclusion of the research is that an intelligible model (plan/scheme/graph) of the city can become a useful tool for shaping a high-quality urbanised environment that responds quickly to new challenges.
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Modelling and Planning Urban Development: A Case Study of Lublin in the Context of the Challenges of 21st Century Urbanism

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 46 (2024): Issue 1 (March 2024)

Volume 45 (2023): Issue 4 (December 2023)

Volume 44 (2023): Issue 3 (September 2023)

Volume 43 (2023): Issue 2 (June 2023)

Volume 42 (2023): Issue 1 (March 2023)

Volume 41 (2022): Issue 1 (December 2022)

Volume 40 (2022): Issue 1 (September 2022)

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Środowisko Mieszkaniowe/Housing Environment

The journal 'Housing Environment' is an international periodical that has been published since 2003. It focuses on research related to the housing environment, which is understood as the fundamental living space and activity area for humans, satisfying their psycho-physical needs. The journal's aim is to connect architectural and urban aspects of living spaces with spatial planning, urban sociology, aesthetics, information technologies, and other scientific fields that influence contemporary housing environments. The housing environment is described as a space composed of both living and non-living elements that impact and are processed by humans. The physical shape of this space influences the well-being of its residents, addressing their need for safe shelter, psychological and physical comfort, hygiene conditions, a sense of belonging, a clean environment, and contact with nature. The journal is particularly interested in research concerning new phenomena in the architectural and urban design of living spaces, multidisciplinary activities that support research on the quality of the housing environment, the functioning of residential areas in modern cities, and solutions to dysfunctional problems related to the housing environment, such as those associated with climate change. The editorial team encourages the involvement of students in scientific work, and each issue of the journal publishes student design projects  Archiving Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections. Plagiarism Policy The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 