Potential and Opportunities of Use of Postindustrial Buildings and Territories for Urban Development: Case Studies of the Historical Area in Lviv (Ukraine)

Abstract

Industrial objects constructed between the XIX century and the first half of the XX century were scattered outside the historical city center. However, they are currently located within the boundaries of the historical area of a big city. Postindustrial objects that have lost their initial function create opportunities for city development. An urgent problem of urban planning in Lviv is to determine the prospects for the development and reconstruction of industrial areas, complexes, and buildings. The purpose of the work is to identify the modern urban trends in the development process of postindustrial areas located in the historic area of Lviv, as well as its compliance with the city development strategy. The article investigates the connection of new objects with the main functions of the district, provides a historical excursion of their development, on-site studies, and a comparative analysis of objects with the goals of the master plan of Lviv and of the integrated concept of development of the central part of the city. The studied objects of the urban revitalization of postindustrial buildings and areas are grouped according to new dominant function: 1—Development of the creative industry; 2—Revalued multifunctional areas; 3—Implementation of the concept of city center expansion; 4—Reconstruction of historical localities, and 5—Creation of new residential complexes. The authors consider the process of re-urbanization in some particular postindustrial areas and objects as a search for ideas to generalize their use for the whole city. The intensive industrial development of the city during the Soviet period led to strict regulation of other areas. After obtaining independence, there is an opportunity to fix the imbalance. This process occurs in different ways. In particular, the “in situ” review provides an opportunity to understand the development of the territory—whether it follows the master plan (or contradicts it), whether it meets the new development strategy of the city, whether it meets the needs of the local community, or meets the interests of developers only.