INTRODUCTION Assessment of Spatial Cohesion in Suburban Areas
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Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW Horticulture and Landscape Architecture No 41, 2020: 37–49 (Ann. Warsaw Univ. of Life Sci. – SGGW, Horticult. Landsc. Architect. 41, 2020) DOI 10.22630/AHLA.2020.41.4 Assessment of spatial cohesion in suburban areas based on physical characteristics of buildings JOANNA KOŁATA, PIOTR ZIERKE Faculty of Architecture, Poznan University of Technology Abstract: Assessment of spatial cohesion in sub- problem and the related spatial chaos has urban areas based on physical characteristics changed over the centuries and has been of buildings. The rapid expansion of residential usually based on specific urban designs buildings in suburban areas currently makes these places particularly exposed to spatial degradation, and cities’ construction rules. These the disappearance of traditional rural landscapes rules, among many relics of the past, are and other various problems. The lack of archi- a special issue because they have influ- tectural and urban cohesion of new and existing enced not only the spatial order, but also buildings is one of the reasons for increasing spa- the principles of the society’s existence. tial disorder. The subject of the presented research is the physical features of the building forms, Although the origins of urban planning which influence spatial order through their role date back to ancient times, and its rules in shaping the spatial context. The authors aimed have changed over time, one of them has at creating a method of spatial monitoring based remained unchanged – the authorities on the characteristics of the physical features of are responsible for designing, organis- buildings located in a given area. The results of the study are intended to provide in-depth and ing and managing the space they govern digestible information on the buildings in indi- (Kowalewski et al. 2018). vidual areas. They should also enable the partici- The behaviours formed in the 20th pants of the construction process to become better century, as well as those resulting from acquainted with the local forms of buildings and the political transformation in Poland at raise the architectural awareness of inhabitants. the turn of the 20th and 21st century, af- Key words: spatial monitoring, spatial cohesion, fects the contemporary spaces of Polish spatial order cities and villages. The economic devel- opment in recent years has contributed to INTRODUCTION the dynamic growth of the building sec- tor, which, especially in suburban areas, The rapid expansion of residential build- is the source of many unfavourable proc- ings which can now be observed in esses, characterised by such concepts suburban areas, makes these places par- as chaos and spatial disorder. Increased ticularly exposed to spatial degradation, investment activity, however, does not the disappearance of traditional rural result in actions taken by the authorities landscapes and other various problems. to standardise the planning process. Ex- Spatial disorder is not, of course, a new isting legal acts and the competences of phenomenon; it has been present in Po- professionals do not ensure spatial order. land for decades. The approach to this Residential districts sprawling within 38 J. Kołata, P. Zierke cities and their surroundings are created have focused on the introduction of in accordance with the applicable law, a partial monitoring, covering in the first but their location, shape and relationship stage the physical features of the build- with the neighbouring areas are ques- ing forms. The development of this sys- tionable. tem and the development of a compre- As the authors of the Polish Academy hensive spatial monitoring system will of Sciences (Polska Akademia Nauk) require cooperation with specialists from report “Studies on Spatial Chaos” em- other areas of design and spatial plan- phasise, the effects of political and social ning in the coming years. Although the negligence are dramatic for the condition introduction of partial monitoring will of space (Kowalewski and Nowak 2018). not completely solve spatial problems, They have noticed that the constant dev- it will make it possible to compile and astation of laws and institutions respon- to provide people involved in different sible for their preparation and implemen- stages of the construction process, such tation results in a growing collapse. as officials, planners and architects, with Spatial chaos is a subject of scientific precise information on the physical char- research primarily because of its origins acteristics of buildings, which are an and its current and future consequences. important spatial element. Such persons Apart from further changes in the law, should have the widest possible knowl- which are of course also necessary, the edge of local architecture and building scientific studies published in recent forms. The analysis presented in the years have also recommended efforts to manuscript is the first stage of works on develop a system for monitoring proc- the monitoring system, which is to be re- esses of spatial planning and develop- fined and supplemented over the years. ment. The creation of such a system is The authors hope that the data obtained postulated, among others, for instance, in the following years will broaden the in the third volume of the aforemen- state of knowledge about developed ar- tioned Polish Academy of Sciences re- eas also by obtaining detailed compara- port (Śleszyński et al. 2018). However, tive material, which should show the the authors of this document predict scale and type of spatial changes in the that the creation of such a system will analysed areas. be complicated as it requires the unifi- In order to better illustrate the results cation of evaluation processes (e.g. due of the analysis of the physical charac- to the need to compare the condition of teristics of buildings and to present data space both within the commune, poviat on the forms of buildings in a more ac- and a whole country). At the same time, cessible way (as suggested by the afore- the system should “present the issues in mentioned Polish Academy of Sciences a way that is as digestible as possible for report), the authors decided to present its recipients and be generally and easily ac- results as areas with different degrees of cessible” (Śleszyński et al. 2018). spatial cohesion. Since the overall space monitoring is The lack of cohesion of the architec- a complex process and concerns many tural and urban structure is one of the el- aspects of spatial planning, the authors ements that characterise spatial disorder. Assessment of spatial cohesion in suburban areas... 39 According to many scientific studies, Many of the above definitions of co- spatial cohesion is a key element of spa- hesion are obviously very broad and re- tial order (Wdowicka and Mierzejewska fer to a much broader concept than the 2012), and some researchers even use form of the buildings themselves, but the these terms interchangeably (Kolipiński characteristics of buildings are always 2011, Kozłowski et al. 2017). The im- a constituent element, a factor influenc- portant role of cohesion in shaping a city ing the concept of cohesion. is also mentioned by Kantarek (2008, 2010), which she defines as “such a fea- ture that combines its individual parts PURPOSE AND TEST METHODS together”. This view is also found in for- eign studies. Salingaros (2017) believes The aim of the study is to create a method that “space is experienced positively only of space monitoring based on the physi- when it is coherent”. Caliskan and Mash- cal characteristics of buildings, which, hoodi (2017) believe that the notion of as a result of a synthesis of the obtained coherence is the most basic condition of results, will make it possible to enable spatial quality within the urban fabric. the formulation of guidelines for further This approach is also consistent with development in given areas. The analy- the work of older architecture and urban sis of the individual physical character- theorists. Alexander (2002) believes that istics of buildings was developed with design should combine dependencies the use of a proprietary method of pre- in such a way as to create a special bal- senting the results by identifying areas ance and consistency in complete design that are coherent, partially coherent, and structures, on all scales. In “A Pattern incoherent, located in the analysed area. Language” Alexander et al. (1977) write This is because, in principle, the results that “when you build a thing you can- of the research are to be as accessible as not merely build that thing in isolation, possible to the recipients. A presenta- but must also repair the world around it, tion which shows the dominant physi- and within it, so that the larger world at cal features in a given area may be more that one place becomes more coherent, readable and may characterise areas with and more whole”. Maki (1964), while dominant features. This is intended to explaining the nature of collective form, help the participants in the construction states that “it is, however, not a collec- process, especially planners, officials tion of unrelated, separate buildings, responsible for drawing up and giving but of buildings that have reasons to be opinions on planning guidelines, archi- together”. It is also worth mentioning tects, who unfortunately are not always here the very definition of the form of familiar enough with the surroundings of the city by Lynch (1990), i.e. the “spatial the buildings they design, and, finally, in- arrangement of physical structures and vestors, who can more consciously seek spaces of localised activities and flows building forms that are better suited to on the scale of a community or urban re- the local spatial context. This approach gion”. is in line with the 2017 draft of the 40 J. Kołata, P. Zierke Urban Planning and Construction Code. The method of assessing coherence Article 116, par.