Sustainable Water Management in a Krakow Housing Complex from the Nineteen-Seventies in Comparison with a Model Bio-Morpheme Unit

Abstract

Cities grow through the addition of new housing structures, but the existing tissue is also modernized. Krakow, like any city with a historical origin, has typologically varied housing tissue. A large area of the city is occupied by multi-family panel-block housing estates which are being revitalised and the scope of this revitalization should include sustainable design elements. This paper determines the potential for implementing integrated water management, that utilizes rainwater in an existing basic urban unit that is a housing estate from the nineteen-seventies, located in Krakow (Poland), in conjunction with the Bio-Morpheme—the fractal reference model unit. The parameters of the Bio-Morpheme were established by earlier research as the optimum for a housing unit with regards to the circular economy and improving water use efficiency. The study covers the need to improve the quality of the housing environment, linked with the presence of natural elements, including a water reservoir, in the direct vicinity of the development. The analyses explored the potential to employ integrated water management with rainwater reuse in a basic urban unit (Krakow-Morpheme) and then compared the findings with the outcomes obtained by the proposed Bio-Morpheme complex. The results indicate that the potential to achieve a lower demand of water from the water supply system and to lower wastewater production were obtained, with a simultaneous opportunity to lay out an open water reservoir into the Krakow-Morpheme urban interior for improvement of the health value and well-being of inhabitants.

Rainwater Retention in a Housing Estates. Analysis and Implementation Possibilities Bgi – A Case Study of Lublin

“…Research on rainwater retention within housing estates from both the PRL era and contemporary times, amid climate changes, is gaining increasing interest among scientists. Analyses concerning the introduction of integrated water management, conducted for a 1970s housing estate in Krakow, indicate that the solutions proposed by the authors are feasible for implementation and could be introduced to other areas with similar morphological characteristics (Bonenberg et al, 2022). For developer-led housing estates, surface infiltration coupled with retention is deemed the most suitable approach for rainwater management (Kordana-Obuch and Starzec, 2020).…”

Architectural, Civil, and Infrastructure Engineering in View of Sustainability: Editor’s Comment

“…Secondly, the urban design subgroup may be extracted from the four groups synthesizing the subject matter, shown in Figure 2. It includes the following topics: multi-family settlements in the context of integrated water management [8], regeneration of marketplaces [9], landscape and greenery design [12], rural areas planning and local microclimate [13], blue-green infrastructure, urban ventilation, integrated urban planning [14], rural areas, urbanization rates [15]. The richness of this subgroup shows a gradual change in the scope of research and design from individual buildings to the development of larger spaces.…”

“…The three subsequent articles fall into both (B) Economy and (D) Designing categories. In the background of article [8] (Bonenberg et al) there is a circular economy and improving the efficiency of rainwater utilisation. A Bio-Morpheme complex is proposed, including an open water reservoir.…”

“…Within group (A) Energy-designing plus energy house [3] and the cable-stayed bridge model construction [5] were discussed. Within group (B) Economy-Bio-Morpheme complex design [8], marketplace variants [9], design and testing of steel cubic modules [10] are presented. Within group (C) Pro-health activities-the following topics and articles are indicated: space within the factory [11], green design [12], rural planning [13], bluegreen infrastructure [14].…”