Volume 14 (2018): Issue 1 (December 2018)

Bus shelters, which form a part of daily lives of people, generally provide service as small areas of urban space created for short-term periods of waiting. From the perspective of spatial design, it is important that an environment of good quality is provided for users of bus-shelters. This study proposed hypotheses to research how the physical design of bus shelters (location-accessibility, anthropometric characteristics, roofing and walls, lighting, electronic information, seating, etc.) affected general satisfaction of their users. To establish users’ general satisfaction, direct observation was performed and the hypotheses were tested through surveys conducted at bus-shelters selected in two areas of Istanbul (Ataköy-Beşyol) with different economic levels, and an assessment was made of the users’ satisfaction analyses and related problems of bus shelter design. In the conclusion, it was established that there is a significant correlation between general satisfaction and, among other things, the perceived degree of difficulty in getting on and off buses, the harmonization of bus shelter design with the surroundings, the adequacy of a shelter for summer use, the comfort of a shelter, the adequacy of seating, and the extent to which the shelter is maintained.

The wooden architecture of the 19th century is mentioned in the UNESCO World Heritage description of Riga among the criteria that makes the Capital city of Outstanding Universal Value. So far, 3 500 wooden buildings in the city have survived. This paper summarizes information on the renovation of four wooden buildings. The aim of this paper is to give a closer overview on the impact of ownership, funding source and location in the city of the building on the process of renovation and architectural change. The internationally approved renovation principles in the renovation of wooden buildings in Riga are not often taken into account.

The article analyses and compares general education and specialised schools built in Lithuania, Europe and the USA during inter-war years. The main problem analysed in the article is the correspondence between the architectural stylistics and functional spatial structure of interwar Lithuanian school buildings with the same typology buildings in the regional context. The aim of the article is to assess the essence of changes of architectural stylistics and functional spatial structure, what caused these changes. Interwar architecture in Lithuania has many of the main trends of the global architecture of that time, so undoubtedly interwar period is considered to be one of the most significant periods in the history of Lithuanian architecture, which has laid the foundations for the further development of Lithuanian architecture.

Changing trends of human settlements and urbanization have a significant impact on all segments of society. Lahore is the most crowded and urbanized district of Punjab. Women participate in the development of the city, they are required to visit workplaces, and experience public places. Subsequently, these public places are grounds of ferocity and discomfort. The study examines the female’s perception regarding safety at public places and the consequent factors contributing towards the insecurity of females. Regression analysis is carried out to interpret the causal relationship between public places and safety elements. In conclusion, it was established that safety elements should be kept in mind to achieve safer environment. The research necessitates urban planners and designers to introduce features for women safety, privacy and comfort in the design of public places.

This research demonstrates the potential of content analysis method in urban research in the context of the study of modernization of Lithuanian cities during the Soviet period and its influence on contemporary urbanism. The content analysis of visual material (photographs, postcards and other images) is integrated as one of the methods of the study, allowing to identify the social phenomena in public spaces and their changes throughout the period from the inter-war era to contemporary. The descriptive analysis presented in this article demonstrates changes in people and activities, in scale and shape of public spaces, mobility and safety.

Log is a highly topical building material. Despite the current potential of log, large-scale log buildings of high architectonic quality are rare. By increasing understanding of the architectonic quality of industrial log building, the quality of future log buildings can be enhanced. Our research data is based on the outcomes of two recent architectural competitions and interviews related to these. Methodology combines semi-structured interviews with research by design. The results describe, in the scope of tectonics, architectonic features that are essential for architectonic quality of a log building and are revealing of log structures, acknowledging the preconditions of log in the design, and making secondary design solutions characteristic for log. The results are coherent with ideals of tectonic theory.

The aim of this paper is to characterise commuting trends in Riga agglomeration, while taking into account proximity to Riga and territorial accessibility. Changes of commuting range are looked at through literature analysis (historical context) and by using descriptive analysis and parametric tests (current situation). Results indicate that while both proximity to Riga and access to state level roads have a significant impact on commuting flows, it is the former which has a more significant impact.

The goal is to analyze the tendencies of the formation of recreational landscape of the Palanga resort and, after reviewing the planning experiences of other south-eastern Baltic resorts, present measures for landscape optimization. To achieve this, an analysis of changes of the seaside recreational landscape after 1990, the current state of resorts, scientific literature, and seaside resort planning was conducted. After assessing the changes in the recreational landscape, it has been noticed that for a quarter of the last century, planning of seaside resorts was aimed at attracting and accommodating an increasing number of holidaymakers, which caused an ever increasing need to intensify the construction in the territories, increasing the scale of buildings, and urbanizing natural territories without taking into consideration the existing natural and cultural environment. Natural, anthropogenic and social factors are affecting the recreational landscape of seaside resorts, which are important in the context of resort development and regional development. The article presents the means of Palanga resort optimization based on these factors.

The research focuses on local community dialogue with genius loci as certain subjectivity of urbanized environment. The following research methods were used: abstraction, analogy, generalization, synthesis, and semantic analysis. Sets of informational units as system of genius loci symptoms, offered in this article, can be used for the presentation of genius loci. Such data figure as network of knowledge highlighted from a cultural-ecological point of view. Some traits of genius loci of Lentvaris manor park are presented.

The aim of this article is to discover the discourse of living spaces of Riga through the films of the Soviet period and to examine essential changes of private space in different residential structures. This study contributes to the field of human geography by conducting content analysis of a vast number of Soviet films with a focus on the development and spatial organization of apartments in Riga. The analysis of 264 films illustrates that living spaces are rarely portrayed in the Soviet cinema and they mostly provide intentionally formed idealistic information about the qualities and achievements of Soviet private space.

Regarding the revitalization of intra-urban centres, this review focuses on consumers’ perceptions of the physical environment with emphasis on the tangible elements in the external shopping environment. Based on the typologies of environmental elements, a systematic review of 59 retailing articles by means of content analysis was conducted. Several design and ambient elements were identified as relevant to consumers, but an in-depth understanding of their effects is needed to enhance the attractiveness of intra-urban centres.

The concept of urban gardening varies a lot in terms of gardening forms and main purposes. Followed by changes in people life style, growing interest in healthy living and sustainable urban development, the aims of urban gardening become more complex. The product of urban garden, e. g. vegetables or ornamental plants, nowadays plays less important role, as the main focus is on societal issues, urban regeneration, education and health. Thus, this article provides evidence of multi-functionality of urban gardening to address the variety of societal issues across people of different age and cultural background. Case studies from Malmo, Birmingham and Riga show how urban gardening contributes to social integration, inhabitants’ well-being and urban regeneration.

Cityscape identity might be objective and subjective. Still, it is more often analysed from person’s perspective, and analysis of urban fabric itself is not considered sufficiently. Thus, this research aims to find out if fractal analysis method could be used to fill that gap. Kaunas city was chosen for the case study. The research was conducted in three stages: qualitative assessment (designation of the zones with different semantic load in Kaunas), quantitative assessment (calculation of fractal indexes of panoramic and streetscape views from previously established zones), and comparison of these approaches. To sum up, the research confirmed that there is a relationship between the results of different approaches. Thus, fractal analysis could be used as one of the tools for quantitative assessment of cityscape identity.

Urban regeneration with a view to efficient use of urban areas has been a strategy for urban development for decades. Densification is used as a planning approach to promote the implementation of the compact city model and to discourage urban sprawl. The central parts of the city are usually of high density, so the areas outside the city’s historic centre are seen as potential sites for urban densification. In many European cities large-scale residential areas built after the Second World War occupy a significant part of the territory outside of the city’s historic centres. Today, these housing areas are in most cases sleeping areas with great potential for development. Densification of urban areas outside of urban nuclei is not an easy task, and deals with a whole series of challenges.

The paper examines the existing approaches focused on densification in large housing estates. In order to define the typical challenges of this process, the examples of infill developments in large housing area Imanta in Riga are analysed. The analysis of infill development in Imanta showed four possible approaches. Some approaches contribute to the improvement of public space for neighbourhood inhabitants in general, still some approaches tend to isolate the new development and inhabitants from the surrounding territory.

This paper discusses particular aspects of the development of cultural identity through diverse, multi-layered architectural heritage and argues that by combining architectural expertise with community engagement the inclusive modernist heritage collection can be created. The research is based on the case of Palanga resort. The paper focuses on the issue of creating a list of cultural heritage of Palanga town as a coherent and continuous architectural collection and discusses the approaches to be used in engaging communities into the process of heritage making.

Considering the post-colonial society and its multiple relationship with the built environment of that time in Lithuania, the changed needs and requirements, and today’s high commercial interest, it is essential to find effective ways for the protection and further development of heritage of the recent past.

The article analyzes the works of Liepāja’s architect Ludwig William Melville, who was previously unknown but in fact is really remarkable and sets his place in the legacy of Liepāja Art Nouveau architecture. Several historical documents have been used in the study and L. Melville as a potential architect of many buildings has been identified through a broad formally-stylistic comparative analysis.

This paper presents the methodology and results of the research aimed to identify the current and potential functions of open public spaces in post-Soviet modernist urban districts in the context of sustainable urban development. The research is based on the sociotope mapping methodology facilitating the identification and interpretation of functional characteristics of urban open public spaces. The data for this research has been collected in three selected pilot multi-apartment modernistic districts of Kaunas city (Lithuania) using two sociological research tools – site observation protocols and user questionnaires. The research results show the need for actors involved in planning and (re)development of modernistic districts to incorporate a larger diversity of space elements enabling different local area users (individuals, families, organizations) to use and experience more natural, social, economic and other values available locally at different time (year, day) periods.

Urban shrinkage is among of the most dangerous current risks for the preservation of liveability (e.g. residential function) in formerly prosperous historical residential and industrial districts. The planning for shrinkage emerged only in the 21st century in order to manage and prevent growing urban decay, depopulation and housing crisis through the application of smart structural adjustment policies and planning instruments for formerly heavily industrialised North American and Asian cities. Both shrinkage and liveability planning are still very “fuzzy” concepts and have been applied in ways that are not always consistent (e.g. for measuring decline, migration, demographics). However, remains the question of what (methods or approaches) would prevent (control) this well-known but evidently “wicked” and still less explored phenomenon of “loss of liveability” in a historical built environment. This paper aims to review the urban shrinkage and liveability problematic and prevention solutions (methods) based on studies of theory and practice of urban planning.

This research explores the architectural legacy of Eižens Laube in Jūrmala city. E. Laube (1880–1967) was at those times one of the most influential Latvian architects both in praxis and in academic field. Nowadays, no significant overview on his architectural legacy in Latvia and particularly in Jūrmala has been done. The aim of this article is to provide an updated list of architectural works of E. Laube in Jūrmala, to explore the current condition of these objects and trace particular regularity in their development. The article actualizes the general necessity to explore the architectural legacy of architect E. Laube and illuminates the architectural exploration methods in Jūrmala up to the 1990s. The findings enrich the history of Latvian architecture and Jūrmala city and may serve for some architectural and touristic materials.