Temporary Use of Space as a Factor in the Revitalisation of Brownfield Sites in Urban Areas

Abstract

In cities the most useless sites are long term abandoned and vacant spaces. Temporary use of buildings and building sites is seen as an informal practice that effectively solves the problems of brownfield sites in urban areas. Professional literature justifies temporary use as positive because of its contribution to practicing more flexible planning and alternative governance of cities. On the other hand, different forms and modes of temporary use of space can initiate a new, innovative and inclusive culture of urban life. The review of key literature points out that, as a rule, traditional procedures of urban planning fail to recognise the benefits of temporary use of space, instead of tolerating allowing and conditioning it as a developmental instrument. Therefore the article focuses on the significance and positive outcomes of temporary use of space as an important factor of economic, social, cultural, and environmental regener-ation of cities. The criteria applied in the selection refer to scientific excellence checked against the SJR (Scimago Journal & Country Rank) portal as well as against WOS (Web of Science) database and the largest database of peer-reviewed literature Elsevier Scoupus.

Keywords

• vacant buildings
• brownfield sites
• reuse of buildings
• temporary use of urban space