Densification of Urban Landscapes

Post-war residential developments across Europe, which make up the majority of housing stock, are under pressure to develop further. How to deal with those dwellings has thus become one of the core questions on building among existing building stock. Most of them are in need of renovation and, due to their urban composition, are accompanied by large open spaces, which seem to provide easily developable structures.

For the first time, this workbook offers planners and historic preservationists as well as municipalities, city administrations, cooperatives, clients and owners a comprehensive guide to preserving the qualities of post-war residential developments due for densification. In its analysis, it also considers aspects of landscape planning, socio-politics and the conservation of historic gardens. Using selected, extensively documented case studies of densifications as well as densification experiments for yet to be densified developments, the editors show that inner-city densification is possible even when considering building culture, built heritage and commemorative values.