In the revitalization process, green spaces are not only used as a space for recreation and relaxation – they also play important functions of shaping the center. In post-industrial Wałbrzych, green spaces have additional symbols – natural resources are reborn after coal mining, which lasted continuously from the sixteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. In 2020, the city authorities announced the complete decarbonization of Fabrzych.
The city is no longer associated with “black gold”, and the future of Fabrzech is based on its natural values. Therefore, also in the process of revitalization, many activities focus on the joint creation of a friendly space, and most of the popular initiatives of residents are carried out in city parks.
The role of green spaces in the post-industrial revitalization process in Wałbrzych
The necessity of revitalization activities by the city of Wałbrzych is the result of the Industrial Revolution, which led, inter alia, to: the transformation of the landscape and environmental pollution. The consequences of the economic transformations of the 1990s – the collapse of industrial monoculture – constitute an important resource for the post-mining fields. On the scale of the entire city, it has an area of 680 hectares, which is 8% of the area of Fabrzych (8,468 hectares). Some are directly adjacent to specific activation subregions. At the same time, the city’s location among forests and mountains is undoubtedly charming and places Wałbrzych among the greenest cities in Poland (forest areas and arable land account for nearly 65% of the city area).
The marginalized role of green areas in urban space requires many local governments to develop a revitalization program to reverse the process of deterioration, give new functions to degraded areas and revitalize the crisis area, also in the natural dimension.
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