Morphological intensification in a postsocialist city - a banská bystrica case study

Abstract

Morphological intensification is a distinct feature of the transition from the relaxed and sprawl-based growth of a city towards growth within, with a special emphasis on the use of various spatial reserves. The work described here entailed an analysis of selected aspects of the above phenomenon as exemplified by the city of Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia. In particular, it focuses on the origin, development and present state of 306 areas within the overall built-up zone that had not been put to urban use, on the nature of, and spatial variability to, the morphological intensification process, and on the potential for intensification of three city zones (delimited by different historical and socio-economic development), i.e. the main growth zone, the annexed settlements zone and the extensive growth zone.