From Marketplace to Building Ground? Spatial Design Concepts and Public Criticism in the Context of Urban Densification

In the light of land consumption, loss of street life and challenges posed by climate change, urban planning models have promoted dense settlement patterns with high-quality public open spaces. Since previous potentials for development are for the most part exhausted the transformation of historical squares is sought in many places. These planning deliberations are widely discussed in urban society. In this melange certain tensions comes to light and it is becoming apparent that there is a serious discrepancy between meaningfulness of densification-based transformation on the one hand and the conflicts about it on the other. The article examines this field of tension and illustrates contemporary key conflicts around the transformation of historic urban structures.