Sustainable Rehabilitation of Open Public Spaces: The Transformation of City Streets in Maribor

The role of public spaces cannot be overlooked when it comes to addressing the sustainable rehabilitation of cities in light of the European Green Deal, which aims to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Especially streets as the main component of open public spaces can significantly contribute and play an important role in these processes. This is also supported by the fact that streets occupy a large proportion of land in cities and are part of a large urban ecosystem that includes important infrastructures. The paper includes a short overview of most representative contemporary typologies and trends related to city street transformations. In particular, the paper looks for contemporary street typologies and new street designs and functions that support the sustainability aspect and are presented through various examples. The results of the research show that contemporary street typologies can be found even in small European cities, as in the case of Maribor, where a considerable amount of contemporary street transformations can be observed—on the one hand, in the form of extensions of the pedestrian zone, and on the other hand, through new forms such as shared space. In addition, smaller interventions, such as parklets or temporary uses on the street, can also be detected. The paper concludes with the idea that the sustainable transformation of streets as open public spaces is one of the most important segments in the creation of a high-quality and low-emission urban environment in our cities, as it combines physical space with an enormous potential for transformation. Above all, streets are seen as catalysts of urban change.