Urban Green Oases and Recreational Areas

Abstract

The most important task for redevelopment in the next decades everywhere in the world will be the improvement of living conditions in big cities. The revitalizing of old and new city districts and residential quarters, as well as the redesigning of squares, courtyards and gaps between buildings have all taken on a new significance.

Urban repair is a complex task requiring fantasy, an intuitive grasp and modesty; it should not be restricted solely to the traditional professions.

Urban renewal, even from the artistic point of view, is still largely misunderstood. Environmental art is something different, something going farther — related to a certain town planning situation and to the people living there. It is not isolated works of art but forms of integration, always related to one another. Environmental art is also an openended process allowing continuity and change. With the reconstruction of squares, courtyards and human-dimension intermediate spaces, the prerequisites can be created for a more selfdetermined local and neighbourhood culture. The artistic design of such public, and also private, areas is of great importance because it can create surroundings which stimulate one’s fantasy and make participation possible.