plot park, a landscape strategy for a green lobe in the netwerk city

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p l o t p a r k

Seppe Broekx

A landscape strategy for a green lobe in the network city

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Studio Balkan2014-2015

Author: Seppe Broekx

Promotors:Ward VerbakelTom Thys

Readers:Bieke CattoorErik De DeynMatej Nikšič

Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Engineering: Architecture

PLOT PARK

A landscape strategy for a green lobe in the network city.

Abstract

Plot Park is a preservation strategy for one of the few remaining green lobes of the original Ljubljana city plan. Pressured by the overgrowth of different city models and the corresponding developments in various stages of execution, the Plot Park proposal renders the landscape more resilient as green infrastructure and an asset for the city. Plot Park implements a new way of dealing with these infrastructures and developments that cut through the historical agricultural plot structure. Using small garden plots as a strategy to solve small and unusable spaces. These urban gardens form the carriers of the design and give the Plot Park an identity as one of the three remaining wedges in the city structure. The plot park is both a recreational and socio-agricultural park, in the middle of a densely developed city. As the European Green Capital of 2016, Ljubljana has invested substantially in a sustainable and green city infrastructure. However the opposite evolution is happening with the urbanization of the green wedges in between the city lobs, green areas that once were the pillars of a city wide strategy. The plot park is an opportunity to reverse that tendency, built a strong framework for the green lobe in the current city and at the same time reinforce the network of pedestrians and cyclists. A green radial connects the built up neighborhoods surrounding the park with the Sava river. A connection that bridges the concentric bypass that formed the edge of the city. The Plot Park operates as the missing link between the expanded city and the Sava river, crossing physical and mental barriers and preserving the existence of the last green lobe.

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© Copyright KU Leuven

Without written permission of the pro-moters and the authors it is forbidden to reproduce or adapt in any form or by any means any part of this publica-tion. Requests for obtaining the right to reproduce or utilize parts of this publication should be addressed to K.U.Leuven, Faculty of Engineering – Kasteelpark Arenberg 1, B-3001 Heverlee (België). Telefoon +32- 16-32 13 50 & Fax. +32-16-32 19 88.

A written permission of the promotor is also required to use the methods, products, schematics and programs described in this work for industrial or commercial use, and for submitting this publication in scientific contests.

All images in this booklet are, unless credits are given, made or drawn by the author.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Ward Verbakel and Tom Thys for their guidance through-out this year of intensive work. Their feedback helped me to reach a level higher than ever imagined. Hannelore Thomas, my co-worker, it was a pleas-ure to work with her. Without her I would have never reached the same result.

I also want to thank some important people that I met during this year and who helped me expand my knowledge. First of all Matej Nikšič from the UIRS, thanks for all the background information and all your connections. Your knowledge formed the fundamentals for my work. I’m very grateful that you‘re willing to read my work. Bieke Cattoor, for being a source of inspiration and giving me new insights that lead me to the right direction. Maurice Schreurs for sharing with me his knowhow about the set-up of plot gardens.

I would also like to thank my other reader, Erik De Deyn, for taking the time to read and evaluate my thesis.

Last but not least I want to show my appreciation for my fellow students, one year of Ljubljana was a real adventure which I’m glad I could share with them. And off course my family and especially my girlfriend, supporting me till the end.

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PROLOGUE

I ANALYZING ELEMENTS

Agricultural structure Bypass Developments Štajerska cesta

II DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Concept of Plot Park Design proposal

EXPLORING THE INTERVENTIONS

Plot gardens Development areas Recreational parks Agriculture Green radial

EPILOGUE

BASE MAP AND IMAGE CREDITS

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14162022

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2830

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3438424446

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INDEX

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The linear city The radial city

The concentric city The network city

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PROLOGUE

This booklet forms a sequel to ‘The urban transformation of Ljubljana’, written in cooperation with Hannelore Thomas, where we made a broad analysis of the city’s morphology. We tried to interpreted Ljubljana according to four su-perimposed city models: the linear city, the concentric city, the radial city and the network city. Models that arose chronologically but are all still visible in the city structure of today.

In this individual work, I zoom in on one of the ‘green lobes’ that found their origin in the model of the radial city. It’s an element that suffers from these superimposed city models. Therefore, this booklet forms a research of what this green lobe could mean in a new urban condition where the network model dominates the city. To find out how we can use this superposition of city models with very specific interventions, to approach a contemporary urban challenge. A challenge as the preservation of the green in the city and how we can provide a stronger framework for the green lobe so it could manifest itself against the overgrown city models that influence the site today.

The plot park gives us a strategy that follows out of the analysis of the different elements on the site. All of these elements are closely related to the differ-ent city models. They gave us new insight which we could use to form strong principles in order to redevelop the idea of the green lobe and let it coexist with the other city models.

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0 250m

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developments

agricultural structure agricultural grid

Sava river

POT-route

radial development line village

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Aerial picture of the green lobe in 2012

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I

ANALYZING ELEMENTS

We start the research with the decomposition of the green lobe using similar cartographic techniques as in our first booklet. We analyze the different elements

that are visible on the current site and link them to their time of origin and the models that they relate to. This

way we built op an analytic story about the green lobe in which we get a better understanding of the site and

it’s components.

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AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE

The original purpose of the green lobe where agricultural fields. You can see a clear structure of farming plots and an overlay of a grid structure to make these plots accessible. The grid is directly connected to the villages that where built across the Sava river. The green lobe stood fully in function of these line villages.

Historical map of 1880

Agricultural lands connected to the line villages

Principles based on a map of Ljubljana of 1880 (Digitalna knjižnica Slovenije)

1900 and before - element of the linear city

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line village agricultural structure agricultural gridSava river

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The bypass that crosses the site is part of the ring road around Ljubljana. In order to reduce the noise pollution, the northern part of the highway lies on a lower level then its surroundings. It’s related to different city models, but in this case, the concentric city is the most valid. The agricultural structure gets cut off from the line villages and also the connection between the city and the river with its line villages is hampered. The farmers from the villages can still get to their fields by a new bridge but nevertheless, the bypass defines an imaginary boundary between the inner and outer city. The plots inside of the ring road became more and more in relation with the radial development. You can also see the element of the POT-route that connects both parts of the city and crosses the farming plots. The green lobe became a part of a more urban context.

POT-route since 1985

Profile of the northern bypass

Principles based on a map of Ljubljana of 1980 (Geodetski inštitut Slovenije)

BYPASS1980 - element of the concentric city

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highway


Sava river talus POT-route

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radial development line village

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The green lobe became part of an urban context

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When we look to the developments that harmed the green wedge through time, we have to nuance previous maps: the Žale Cemetery is a development that originated already in 1906. We can also see more recent developments like the construction site of Stožice Sports Park and some smaller scale developments that start to fill-up the agricultural grid. When we look to these developments and how they act today, we see a strong similarity. They are all placed as loose objects in the landscape that are not adapted to the radial development.

Its noticeable that these objects cut through the agricultural plot structure and there arises a lot of residual spaces that can’t be used for intensive farming anymore. These remnants got claimed by the locals very fast and got rear-ranged as plot gardens. The area starts to serve the city, a beginning of the urbanization of the green lobe.

Leftover space between Stožice Sports Park and housing

Leftover space between graveyard and housing

Principles based on a map of Ljubljana of 2014 (Google Maps)

DEVELOPMENTS Between 1900 and 2003 - no specific models

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object development


Sava river

plot gardenurban fabric

Žale Cemetery Stožice Sports Park

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a

a

b

b

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The most recent element on the site is also the one with the biggest impact on the green wedge. The Štajerska cesta is an element of the network city that we already extensively discussed in our global analysis. It connects with the byass by the Tomačevo roundabout and distributes the traffic over the inner city network. The road has a lowered profile but still it fragments the landscape of the green wedge. Again, the agricultural structure got interrupted. Many remains of the plots got too small for efficient and intensive farming, others become more difficult to reach cause also the distribution grid got cut off.

The solid green lobe got fragmented in smaller pieces, these are more fragile as they are easier to develop. However you can’t really built next to the road cause of the lowered profile, you can feel the growing pressure of urbaniza-tion. There are already plans for developing a new student housing area in the extension of university campus. The green wedge seems to get overgrown by the city expansions, a delicate future prospective.

A remarkable observation is that in a very short time span all the plot gardens around the Žale Cemetery vanished. All these gardens arose spontaneously and where never regularized, on top of that there were a lot of problems of pol-lution, overuse of pesticides, … Probably the most important reason why these gardens had to vanish was cause the city council wanted that the Plecnik’s Zale cemetery was added to the list of UNESCO’s world heritage, the clusters of random plot gardens with no aesthetic unity was as a stain on that image.

Principles based on a map of Ljubljana of 2014 (Google Maps)

Construction of the Štajerska cesta in 2008

Plecnik’s Zale cemetery

ŠTAJERSKA CESTA 2014 - element of the network city

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Štajerska cesta agricultural structure

Plečnik Žale cemetery

Sava river

planned student housing

residual space

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The green lobe got fragmented by the Štajerska cesta

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II

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

On the site of the green lobe arose a superposition of different city model elements. The reading of this

superposition reaches us new insights, problems and potentials that could form the basis of well-founded

interventions. This way we could use these city models to think out a strategy to develop the green lobe and

still let it coexist with the other city models.

The plot structure of the site has inspired me through-out the designing process. I started using it as a

design tool that helped me solve different problems on the site and structure the different interventions.

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The first plots on the site where visible in the agricultural structure of the green wedge. New developments, like the Stožice park and the Stajerska cesta, where mostly stronger than the parcel structure and followed their own logic. This way they cut of the existing parcels in arbitrary ways. With the Plot Park we try to manipulate this plot structure to anticipate on the arising developments

Garden plots: plots that got cut off by new developments and got too small for intensive agricultural use can fragment even further and used as plot gardens. Plot gardens have the ability to adapt and resolve small spaces. This way we give these residual spaces back the local residents.

Park plots: plots that still are big enough to work as interesting spaces, but that become less accessible for agricultural vehicles by the arising develop-ments could be repurpose as park areas. They form a recreational connector between the city and the gardens.

Agricultural plots: plots where the developments did not cut through and are still capable of work ing as an efficient system can be kept and reinforced to ensure their existence.

CONCEPT OF PLOT PARKPlot structuring principles

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garden plots

park plotsnew development

urban fabric agricultural plots

agricultural grid

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Using the plot structuring principles together with the reading of the different city model elements, we can make a set of interventions that form the basic layers of the landscape strategy:

Using plot gardens as a strategy to repurpose the residual spaces of the network city. They give a new identity to the redeveloped green lobe.

Satisfying the growing pressure of urbanization, caused by the network city, by allowing developments areas as object in the landscape.

Creating recreational parks as intermediate spaces between the gardens and the city developments. Preserving the agricultural activity, where it still works efficiently, to let the open landscape form a green core in the city

Designing a green radial, running through the green lobe, that forms a con-nection between the inner city and the Sava valley by bridging the bypass of the concentric city.

DESIGN PROPOSALA set of interventions

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N0 250m

development areagarden plots green radialagricultural plots

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The plan is not fixed but shows an interesting vision that could be used for the development of the green lobe. It sets up a range of margins and variables where to play with. In the next part we explore these interventions and set out possible guidelines for future developments. Different images and references show how things could work out.

EXPLORING THE INTERVENTIONS

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The function of plot gardening is a reoccurring phenomenon in the city of Ljubljana. Strengthened by the economic crisis, the urban gardens gained popularity and its demand increased in the last couple of years. Everywhere in the city you can see that unused areas, are getting claimed for gardening. In many cases, these occur on the edges of the city in a spontaneously, unstruc-tured and unregulated way.

In the plot park, we try to give these urban gardens a place in the city, using it as a strategy to solve the residual spaces from the arising developments. They form the identity of the Plot Park, equal to the two other green wedges that remained: the Tivoli Park and the Castle Hill. Together they could form a strong tripod of green structures in the city of Ljubljana.

The case of the plot gardens around the cemetery is a good example of why these plots needs to happen with full support of the city, on a regulated manner hand in hand with the city council. They have to recognize the social importance for their citizens and encourage an ecologically responsible way of gardening in order to prevent the marginalization of these areas. Both aspects are shortly illustrated on the following pages.

PLOT GARDENS

Using plot gardens as a strategy to repurpose the residual spaces of the network city. They give a new identity to the redeveloped green lobe.

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development areagarden plots green radialagricultural plotscommunal spacegarden plots

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SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PLOT GARDENS

The social impact of these garden areas can’t be underestimated. People come to these places multiple times a week, not only to maintain their vegeta-bles, but also to meet each other. It forms a real rescue for people who live in the typical concrete housing estates that can’t afford a stand-alone house with an own garden. There are different opportunities to push this social aspect even further.

Giving each area its own communal space, encourages the arise of strong ‘community gardens’. In this central garden house, enough space is foreseen for each gardener to store its own equipment. Paired with some sheltered benches it gives the opportunity for people to meet spontaneously.

Also the uses of different types of gardening could make the social aspect a lot more intense. You have the traditional plot gardening system where each gardener has a plot, about the size of 100m², enough the feed a family with two kids. By adding ‘square meter plots’ for small families, or maybe to paired it with educational purposes, and ‘raised plots’ for the older generation, the Plot Park could become a place where people from different layers of the society meet on a regular base.

Organizing communal activities, like gardening workshops, not only amplifies this community feeling, it also enhances the ecological awareness amongst the gardeners. This way they learn new garden habits like integration of com-post bin and banning the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, which are important for the sustainability of these gardens.

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Communal activities like gardening workshops

Square meter plots for smaller families or educational purposes

Garden house as a central gathering place in the gardens

Encourage the correct use of compost bins

Raised plots for elderly and wheelchairs

Typical plot garden structure

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development areagarden plots green radialagricultural plotsdevelopment areacommunal spacegarden plots viewing angle of next page image

N0 250m N0 250m


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For new developments, we use the same strategy as the developments that are already present on the site. This way we separate them from the typical radial development and they stand alone as objects in the landscape. Off course they still are linked to the city but a clear difference is visible. In the radial the fabric is pretty dense, the buildings structure the fabric. The new developments are in the middle of a green open space where the green is the structuring element. These areas could be filled in as residential expansion area but also with freestanding objects as is the case in Stožice Sports Park.

For example the development in the extension of the university faculties leaves place for a new masterplan of student housing. Using the plot gardens as a buffer zone between the radial development and the masterplan gives us a double reading. On the one hand it clearly aligns the edges of the former green wedge. These plot gardens, as identity of the Plot Park, form a clear starting point of something different in the city. On the other hand it also starts to integrate with its surroundings, it attracts people from all around starting to become a central meeting point. It makes the plot gardens visible in daily live rather than pushing them away to the edges of the city.

DEVELOPMENT AREAS

Satisfying the growing pressure of urbanization, caused by the network city, by allowing developments areas as object in the landscape.

Development area as an object in the landscape Plot gardens as an object in the city

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Plot gardens as a central meeting point, clearly visible in the city landscape as they form the new identity of the green lobe (viewing angle marked on previous map)

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Plot gardens as a central meeting point, clearly visible in the city landscape as they form the new identity of the green lobe (viewing angle marked on previous map)

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Many agricultural field lost their direct connection to line villages cause of the new developments in the lobe. But still, these areas are qualitative spaces on their own. By merging the plots together and giving them to the local residents, they could be used as recreational parks. They work as a connecting platform between the city and the different community gardens. Making also the plot gardens around the Štajerska cesta, on the inside of the wedge, accessible. All the communal garden houses are situated on the edges of the park.

A sequel of new park elements arises around the green lobe. The green spaces lighten the densely built radial developments and give some breathing space to the city.

RECREATIONAL PARKS

Creating recreational parks as intermediate spaces between the gardens and the city developments.

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development areagarden plots green radialagricultural plots development areacommunal spacegarden plots

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recreational park

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Agricultural plots in the center of the green lobe stayed more or less un-touched by the new developments. They are still well enclosed by a road network for the agricultural vehicles. It forms a system on its own of easily accessible fields, a system that is directly linked to the original line villages. It’s important that this structure keeps preserved in order to maintain the agri-cultural activity in a denser becoming city. It forms the open green core that characterized the green lobe for years.

AGRICULTURE

Preserving the agricultural activity, where it still works efficiently, to let the open landscape form a green core in the city

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development areagarden plots green radialagricultural plotssystem for agricultural vehicles

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agricultural plots

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The city of Ljubljana put a lot of effort in the renewal of the river banks of the Sava river, a positive initiative. However, after the construction of the bypass, the Sava valley isn’t as reachable anymore for the citizens of Ljubljana. Also the new infrastructural development of the Štajerska cesta does not implement a thought out connection for bicycle of pedestrians to cross this bypass.

The establishment of the green radial runs through the project of the green lobe and reconnects the inner city with the Sava valley. It complements the existing network of bicycle and pedestrian routes and crosses the important POT-route.

At the same time, the green radial forms an important element of the Plot Park. It passes through its variety of spaces, crossing and connecting all the facets of the redeveloped green lobe.

Designing a green radial, running through the green lobe, that forms a connection between the inner city and the Sava valley by bridging the bypass of the concentric city.

Existing network of bicycle and pedestrian routes Contribution of the green radial, completing the network

GREEN RADIAL

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development areagarden plots green radialagricultural plots

possible development

communal spacegarden plots

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green radial POT-route

recreational park agricultural plots

viewing angle of next page image

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The green radial crossing the different facets of the Plot Park (viewing angle marked on previous map)

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BRIDGING THE BYPASS BY THE TOMACEVO ROUNDABOUT

The green radial needs to bridge the bypass in order to establish a connec-tion between the city and the Sava valley. The search for a qualitative and efficient connection brought me to the Tomačevo roundabout. It’s a giant work of infrastructure that forms the intersection between the Stajerska cesta and the northern bypass. With its cross-section of 250m², it leaves a large open area inside of it unused. With some earthmoving interventions, this round-about seems to have opportunities that could form the input for a landscape approach.

In the first conceptual section, you can see that the roundabout made its own split level between the higher landscape of the green lobe and the lower lying landscape of the Sava river. The infrastructures define the landscape in-between these areas.

If we disconnect the landscape from the infrastructures and straightening it with its surroundings, the roundabout gets a secondary role and is more like a guest in the landscape.

By letting the landscape follow its own logic and smoothen the connections between the two landscapes, it is possible to form a fluent connection running through this ravel of big infrastructures. The green radial forms its own route, independent from the huge infrastructures from the fast traffic, structured by the landscape. This way, we could use the green space inside of the round-about to form a connection in an efficient way.

Unusable green space inside of the Tomačevo roundabout

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Conceptual floor plan and sections of the Tomačevo roundabout

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EPILOGUE

The Plot Park gives a new identity to a fragile piece of green that was very important in the history of the city. The growing urbanization pressure and overgrowing city models tend to take the upper hand. The Plot Park strategy develops the area in such a way that it coexists with the visible elements on the site and you can still feel this simultaneity of these different city models.

The urban gardens, that form the fundamental element in this strategy, are a very relevant theme that lives among the citizens. These gardens form the identity of the area and together with the plot structuring principles, it forms a strong framework for this green lobe. The Plot Park is a place for everyone: from tourists to local gardeners out of every class. This makes it a qualitative green structure as an asset for the city. Together with the Tivoli Park and the Castle Hill, Plot Park forms a reinforcement of the city structure of the green wedges, even though the other superimposed city models are crossing this wedge.

The suggested strategy isn’t fixed, but forms an interesting vision that could be used for the further development of the green lobe. It emphasizes how the landscape can deal with possible developments and how these develop-ments can fit in the landscape without suppressing its character. This way we preserve some green by making place for a recreational and socio-agricul-tural park in the middle of a densely developed city.

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BASE MAPS

Map of LjubljanaZemljevidi slovenskega ozemlja (source), Ljulbjana, Digitalna knjižnica Slovenije (NUK 2005-2015), consulted on 03/06/2015, http://dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:img-QQHSGUSN

City maps of Ljubljana KARTOGRAFIJA, City map of Ljubljana, Geodetski inštitut Slovenije, Map Collection of the NUK, photographed in September 2014

Map of LjubljanaGOOGLE, Google Maps, consulted on 03/05/2015, https://www.google.be/maps/

City map of Ljubljana KARTOGRAFIJA, City map of Ljubljana, Geodetski inštitut Slovenije, Map Collection of the NUK, photographed in September 2014

Base for satellite imagesMICROSOFT CORPORATION, Bing Maps, 2015, consulted on 04/05/2015, https://www.bing.com/maps/

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1980

2014

2014

IMAGE CREDITS

Aerial picture of the green lobe in 2012Skyscrapercity, 2012, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1565622&page=3

Historical map of 1880Zemljevidi slovenskega ozemlja (source), Ljulbjana, Digitalna knjižnica Slovenije (NUK 2005-2015), consulted on 03/06/2015, http://dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:img-QQHSGUSN

POT-route since 1985Wikipedia, 2015, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_of_Remembrance_and_Comradeship Leftover space between Stožice Sports Park and housing Google Street View (Google Maps), 2015, consulted on 03/06/2015, https://www.google.be/maps/

Construction of the Štajerska cesta in 2008Skyscrapercity, 2008, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=702030

Garden house as a central gathering place in the gardensLandezine, 2014, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2014/12/champ-de-biere-by-v-olz/

Square meter plots for smaller families or educational purposesWALDEN ROBBIE, 2015, robbiewalden, consulted on 03/05/2015, http://www.robbiewalden.com/diy-raised-garden-beds-pinterest/

Raised plots for elderly and wheelchairsMonar cares blog, 2012, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://monarcaresblog.com/2013/06/26/the-benefits-of-outdoor-activities-for-aging-adults/

Communal activities like gardening workshopsLunariafarm, 2014, consulted on 03/06/2015, https://lunariafarm.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/notes-from-forest-gardening-workshop-with-eric-toensmeier/

Encourage the correct use of compost binsChristof tuin, 2015, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://christoftuin.nl/productoverzicht/77/compostbak.html

Unusable green space inside of the Tomačevo roundaboutDEADMEAT, shutterstock, consulted on 03/06/2015, http://www.shutterstock.com/nl/video/clip-7377478-stock-footage-huge-roundabout-with-traffic-

lights-shot-from-air-cars-driving-under-roundabout-while-vehicles.html?src=search/8nNKWt2kViG1i4KKAuFjGA:1:9/gg

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plot park, a landscape strategy for a green lobe in the netwerk city

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