IMPORTANT! In case you get lost, call the contact persons – Zuzana Hudeková +421 915 971 867 or Vladimír Hudek +421 905 448 345

Thematic seminar29th of September 2011Site: PETRŽALKA

photos: internet

Petržalka is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, it is home to approximately 130,000 people. It is one the most densely populated residential district in Central Europe (population density per km' 4410).

The development of Petržalka is strongly connected to the river Danube and the surrounding nature. This can be manifested by the Petržalka coat of arms, as the crest symbolizes the merging of people and the river. Even though the crest has changed its form several times throughout the history, the basic motif of green trees remained also in the most actual form. The name Petržalka first appeared in the 1920s and refers to vegetables and herbs that were grown there (petersilj means "parsley"). The older German name is Engerau or Ungerau. The Hungarian name is Pozsonyligetfalu, short form Ligetfalu.

In 1967 an international competition was announced to collect proposals of how to build the largest borough on the right banks of the river Danube. 84 collectives from 19 different countries joined the competition and from the 5 top proposals there were recommendations produced that became the core of the spatial-plan study of Petržalka. However, later Petržalka with its size, monotony and spatial disclosure from the city center and at the same time functional dependence on the center demonstrated the typical negatives of mass public construction. Therefore it also became the first aim of revitalization and humanization projects.

Petržalka is primarily a residential area, with most people living in blocks of flats called panelaks, a neologism for buildings built from concrete panels joined together to form the structure, which were widely deployed throughout the Eastern Bloc during the communist era. As the borough was built primarily as a residential area, it has no clearly defined centre.

Petržalka was sometimes referred to as the Bronx of Bratislava because of a high crime rate and drug dealing, but this negative trend stopped already.

As of 2008, Petržalka is connected to Bratislava by five bridges, of which two are used for local transportation (Bridges: Nový Most and Most Apollo) and two for international transportation (Bridges: Lafranconi and Prístavný most). The fifth one, bridge Starý most is recently under the reconstruction. Starý most, from the 1st of January 2009, was closed for all traffic and is open only for pedestrians.

Petržalka is located near a major international motorway junction, where the D1 and D2 motorways meet. There is a road border crossing into Austria along Viedenska cesta near the intersection of the D1 and D2. The Austrian border is called Berg after the nearby town of the same name. There are no more border checks from December 21, 2007 when the Slovak Republic joined the Schengen Area. Bratislava-Petržalka railway station is located in the western part of the city and is used primarily for international traffic and for trains to and from Vienna.

Public transportation includes buses, which connect Petržalka with the other boroughs. In 1989 began construction of a subway, but it was stopped shortly after the Velvet Revolution. Instead, a high-speed tram (light rail) line is planned, and its construction is to begin in 2008. Important institutions include the congress and exhibition centre Incheba and Petržalka railway station. Sad Janka Kral'a is one of the oldest municipal parks in Europe. There is also the Arena Theatre, established in 1828, one of the oldest theatres in Bratislava.

ACTIVITYinteractive walk through selected public spaces of Petržalka as an informal presentation of the UrbSpace Methodology Action Plan (MAP)

source: maps.google.com

'make it attractive' / 30'A/ ‘place for a space’ - public space similar to the Žehrianska playground, but not renewedNowadays children use this space for playing in-line hockey or soccer from time to time. The grassy squares are former sandpits. The concrete cylinders are remains of playground from socialist era. And in the middle of the space there is a table tennis equipment, still in use but in poor condition. And there were also some benches, but now you can see only concrete parts of them.

Don't you think it is an unhappy place? Let's make a small intervention. Colours and brushes are prepared for you. Choose one colour and paint something. Be creative! Make this space more livable and attractive.

'make it friendly' / 20'B/ Humenske námestie – district park/ squareThe high building in the middle was built in 2006. And the same investor was imposed to built the park here. Before it was only a grass area like many others around. Other buildings around are typical blocks of flats of Petržalka. On the right side there is a parking place and elementary school with outdoor volleyball playground. Interesting thing about the park is that it is divided by pavement into two parts – one is public owned by municipality and the other one is in private ownership.

Let's have a break and enjoy a coffee time here. Look around the space and think of the following questions. Fill in the form according your momentary feelings..

Would you come for a coffee again or not? Why? (you can use attached MAP to reason your answers. For the 2nd question also)

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Would you suggest any other (better) use for the space? / Which purpose is this public space more suitable for?

'think wider' / 40'C/ Žehrianska – public space with renewed children playgroundNowadays it is quite intensively used playground. Some years ago it was renovated by local people and with support of NGOs. It is favourite place for kids with parents and also for the youth. On the left side of the playground there is a basketball playground, which was built few years before the children playground. Interesting thing is that the whole playground is fenced – it is aimed to prevent dogs entering the space. There are newly painted concrete structures of former socialist playground and new wooden swings and climbing frames were added. /More will be told by people involved in the participatory planning and renovation of the site./

Try to answer the questions below. Your answers will be compared with the opinion of local people. We were asking them the same (Help yourself by using MAP).

your age: ____________ gender: ____________________________________________________________________

1/ What do you think about this space? Imagine that you are local – would you suggest any changes in here (and so you would visit this place more often)?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

2/ What kind of activities definitely should not be here in the future?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

3/ This is the renovated playground for children. Do you think (as you have a chance to walk here a bit) are there enough opportunities for relax and activities of other age groups? (If yes, which ones? If not, what is missing in here?)

◌ yes no◌

________________________________________________________________________________________________

4/ Evaluate by giving marks from 1 to 5 (1 is the best).greenery _____walking accessibility and connection to public transport _____parking _____opportunities for cycling _____safety _____maintenance of space _____barrier-free access _____condition of exterior furnishings _____

5/ This playground was participatory planned and renovated. What are the benefits of such a process (for a community) in general?

6/ Your overall ratind of quality of the space. (Write a mark from 1 to 5. 1 is the best).

_____

7/ Compare the 2 public spaces we have visited today – place A and C. The 'C' place used to look very similar to the 'A' place before the reconstruction. What are the basic differences - what was improved?

When you finish all the tasks, please give this form to the organisers, so that they can work out the results. After presentation of the outputs in the afternoon, you can get it back.

IMPORTANT! We are going back to the hotel by bus

this activity was prepared by REC Slovakia and