The significance of public and semi-public spaces in existing and planned housing developments in stimulating the process of integration among residents

Abstract

One of the most significant elements determining the standard of modern housing developments is the quality of open spaces, with diverse accessibility categories, contained within the contours of such housing developments. The three basic categories are described as: "public space", "semi-public space" and "private space". One of the most fundamental issues, which has not found an adequate interpretation within the theory of urbanization so far, is an attempt to define the principles according to which the housing "development systems" should be designed, where the generated public and semi-public spaces (by definition, so to speak) would ensure the creation of true human communities directed at cooperation and full integration within the area of residence. This would result in the living standard as expected by the residents. The above-mentioned in the context of new phenomenon of building "housing estate gettos" particularly in the towns of the post-communistic countries, becomes one of most important (if not the most important) problem, if it is to be still unnoticed, it will result in building disintegrating structures in the existing towns, "hotbeds" of socially alienated space: "town within the town".