2020 Volume 85 Issue 773 Pages 1437-1446
After world war II, many housing complexes consist of industrialised and mass-produced apartment housings were built around the world. At present, several decades after its initial development, due to its physical ageing and changing residents’ needs, the living environment has been required to be regenerated. This study clarifies the regeneration process of open space, focusing on the relationship between the municipality and the residents in Jizni Mesto, one of the largest housing estates in Prague, Czech Republic.
In this research, firstly it is clarified that the current regeneration policy initiated by Prague 11 municipality and specific cases of the regeneration project by an interview with the officers of Prague 11 municipality and field survey. Next, the present situation of participation of residents using the Internet voting system for open space regeneration is clarified.
The following findings were obtained as a result of the survey. Regarding the development of large-scale open space, it was necessary to coordinate with multiple stakeholders, such as the city administration and various landowners, and the regeneration is planned as a long-term project.
About small-scale open space regeneration projects, each target site is considered for a short period and individually, taking into account the relationship between the target site usage, the needs of neighbouring residents, and surrounding buildings. There are differences in the handling of open space components. Ageing utilities such as bench and wastebasket are planned to replace to new ones, but artwork such as sculpture and trees that have grown over time have inherited their existing context through preservation and regeneration. Besides, the accumulation of daily life that has been formed in the neighbourhood until today, which was not originally planned, such as desire path, was also incorporated into the regeneration design. In addition, the implementation of regeneration projects reflected not only the use of residents but also public involvement efforts such as gathering opinions directly on the target areas and incorporating local student designs.
The regeneration project by the Internet citizen participation system can be seen as a tool which residents can actively participate in the regeneration process of open spaces where the municipality have not paid attention by making proposals for regeneration.
From these results, the relationship between the municipality’s regeneration policies and the residents can be summarised as follows. It can be said that residents have various access ways to open space regeneration. At the same time, as a means of participation in the regeneration of open space, there are options with variations in the density of the way of involvement. These projects are on the way, and the management method has not been completely established, but including the improvement process, residents can enhance the literacy of public involvement. If it is possible, even if the management of the open spaces is in an unstable situation, such as a change in the administrative structure in short period, there is a potential that the residents will keep playing an important role in future regeneration. However, at the same time, when opportunities for public involvement are used for private benefit, it may be necessary to consider the possibility that profits are provided only to some areas where influential residents live.
