Magdalena Marx-Kozakiewicz

For more than 150 years, Brzeźno was a popular and frequented seaside resort with characteristic development, characteritic of what? You need to specify this or use a different adjective extensive, well cared-for park and a grand pier, yet the place was able to retain an intimate climate. The history of the resort started around the middle of the 19th century, when spa objects and facilities were built next to the medieval fishing hamlet. The place, which later became a seaside district of Gdańsk, had its heyday in the first half of the last century. In the post-war years, Brzeźno fell into decline, lost its historic development, former infrastructure, character and significance; although it was not completely forgotten, it played the role of a residential district. The beginning of the present century brings the commencement of the revitalization process of the partly preserved fragments of the former spa, which may signify a new era in the development of the former spa resort. Brzeźno’s asset is still its location at the seaside, traces of its historic identity and close connections with Gdańsk. Using the potential of the place and restoring it to its former function will be possible if the actions undertaken at present are not limited to the fragmentary revitalization of some elements of the complex, but also provide for the introduction of a diverse functional programme and harmonious spatial growth, including reconstruction of the atmosphere of the old Brzeźno.

Berlin is one of the most dynamically redeveloping European metropolis of the last decades. But how is the process of change proceeding in the urban structure in the capital of the biggest (in terms of population)1 European country? The author is concerned with the methods of reshaping the urban tissue, especially of the service segment, in the central area and in the distant residential districts of the eastern Berlin. The idea of the article concerns also the effects that were brought by the programmes and projects connected with the functional and spatial unification of the two, previously disconnected, parts of Berlin. Attention was paid to places, where the city life concentrates in its various forms.