City wastelands: creating places of vernacular democracy

Abstract

Based on eighteen case studies the chapter discusses social values of urban wasteland areas. Therefore, it presents contemporary, post-human theories of vernacular models of democracy. Based on non-participatory observation, inventory of territorial markers and free-form interviews: processes, functions, users and possible development of urban wastelands are shown. The role of these places is perceived in two aspects, either as a substitute for the deficit of green areas or as their necessary functional complementation. Consequently, the main functions of these areas are informal activities, community gardening, extreme sports, inhabiting place for homeless, etc. Concluding, the authors state that in a development of urban wastelands, a new and open design approach is required. Future development of these spaces should preserve their values such as: inclusiveness, freedom of creation, creative attitudes and social participation processes.

The Structure of Beauty: Informal Green Spaces in Their Users’ Eyes

“…There is no point in jumping to the conclusion that these elements and functions accompanying them (biodiversity, ecosystem values, and freedom of use) are unimportant to users. According to the studies conducted with other methods, they are often crucial to users of this space [23,26,30,[66][67][68].…”

“…Analysis of IGS images highlights the areas valued by the users for "naturalness", access, and absence of imposed aesthetics [2,29,30]. Other researchers [31] studied the aesthetics of degraded areas but only in post-industrial areas and through the summation of design interventions.…”