Wind farms and landscape visual overload

The process of wind turbine allocation which has already started in Croatia is currently based on the legislative regulatory system that lacks a basic national strategy plan for the integration of wind turbines into landscape. The result of this kind of ‘case to case’ approach to development is the uncertainty regarding the potential consequences of these actions on landscape. One of the possible consequences of interpolating a greater number of wind turbines in a rural landscape is its complete visual transformation into a landscape of technical character and, as a result, the loss of its former natural and cultural values. Rural coastal areas are potentially the most affected due to their great potential for the development of wind turbines. The main dilemma in this paper is the issue of a potential visual overload of sensitive rural areas in Croatia. Thus, a projection of visual exposure of all the existing and planned wind farms was made for this purpose. Such projection could be useful for any future cumulative visual impact assessment of wind turbines on the existing landscape, as well as for the development of an appropriate strategy plan for wind power exploitation

TOWN INHABITANTS ABOUT SQUARES AS PUBLIC AREAS - EXAMPLE OF ZAGREB, RIJEKA AND ZADAR

U posljednjih dvadesetak godina pojedini su hrvatski gradovi doživjeli nagli rast i intenzivnu izgradnju a u istom je periodu realiziran i relativno veliki broj projekata za uređenje odnosno rekonstrukciju postojećih javnih prostora. S obzirom da su pojedine intervencije izazivale negativnu reakcije javnosti (npr. uređenje Splitske rive, Cvjetnog trga u Zagrebu i dr.), smatralo se zanimljivim istražiti kakvo je općenito mišljenje javnosti o uređenju otvorenih javnih prostora u Hrvatskoj. Ovo istraživanje je obuhvatilo je prikupljanje stavova stanovnika Zagreba, Rijeke i Zadra o trgovima kao jednim od najznačajnijih javnih prostora gradova. Krajnji cilj istraživanja bilo prikupljanje stavova ispitanika o pozitivnim aspektima i nedostacima trenutnog uređenja gradskih trgova te davanje prijedloga i smjernica za njihovo moguće unaprjeđenje i poboljšanje kvalitete. Istraživanje je provedeno korištenjem anketne metode kroz osobni razgovor s ispitanicima te je u anketi sudjelovalo 150 ispitanika, i to građana grada Zagreba, Rijeke i Zadra. Najvažniji rezultati istraživanja pokazuju kako čak i najposjećenijim trgovima navedenih gradova, prema mišljenju ispitanika, nedostaje društveno-kulturnih sadržaja te adekvatnog urbanog inventara koji bi omogućio zanimljiv i ugodan boravak na trgovima. Osim toga, samo se središnji gradski trgovi smatraju gradskim orijentirima a neki od odlučujućih čimbenika za njihovo korištenje pokazali su se sadržajna opremljenost i ambijentalna kvaliteta prostora. Može se zaključiti da uređenje trgova zahtijeva ne samo zadovoljenje estetskih kriterija, nego i ostvarivanje programske cjelovitosti kroz programsku i ambijentalnu ugođenost raznolikim potrebama potencijalnih korisnika.The social changes that have occurred in this region over the last twenty years are also visible in the case of Croatian cities. The rapid urban growth in the last two decades was rarely followed by construction of open public spaces of equal scale and quality, including squares and other typologies. At the same time, a large number of planning and reconstruction projects of existing public spaces came to realisation. Given that some of these urban interventions have provoked quite negative public reactions (e.g. the Split waterfront, Flower Square in Zagreb, etc.), it was considered important to investigate the public opinion of the open public spaces design in Croatia. This research was designed to gather data on the use of public squares, as well as aspirations and needs of their users. It\u27s was conducted as a questionnaire in three major cities: Zagreb, Rijeka and Zadar. The result of the research is public opinion, which can be used in planning or as design guidelines for future construction of public squares. The results of this research indicate the lack of socio-cultural facilities and adequate urban inventory even on the most frequently visited city squares. Furthermore, only the central town squares are identified as city landmarks. In addition, socio-cultural facilities and the quality of the space conditions in terms of presence of all those elements which make some place pleasant for longer stay (e.g. intimate atmosphere, noise, traffic, sun or wind protection, etc.) seems to be the key factors of space usage