Perspectives of Post-Industrial Towns and Landscape in Eastern Slovakia—Case Study Strážske

Abstract

This study examines the impact of socialist industrialisation from the 1950s to 1989 and deindustrialisation from 1989 on urban development and landscape transformation in Strážske—the former centre of the chemical industry in Eastern Slovakia. We focus on contemporary challenges: the emergence of brownfields, environmental burdens, and urban shrinkage, to propose strategies for creating a sustainable and resilient shrinking town of Strážske. We have divided the methods and results into two sections: the first is the mapping of urban and landscape development, brownfields, and environmental burdens, and the second is the proposal of perspective strategies for brownfield redevelopment. The study combines morphological research, field survey, data analysis and literature review. The results confirmed that socialist industrialisation was a determining factor in urban growth and landscape transformation, as well as the negative impact of chemical production on the environment and the emergence of brownfields. In the second stage of results, four proposed scenarios are portraying the possible strategies for brownfield redevelopment regarding sustainability and resilience. The results can serve as a non-binding spatial planning document for the local government of Strážske. However, especially for shrinking cities, it is necessary to create a systematic legislative and financial support system from the state, as well as a change in spatial planning legislative and methodology.

Keywords

• Strážske
• shrinking towns
• post-industrial
• brownfields
• environmental burdens
• green infrastructure