Matej Niksic

• Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Ljubljana was the first post-socialist city awarded with the title European Green Capital. The title awarded by the European Commission is given to a city that is achieving high environmental standards, is setting ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development, and can act as a role model to inspire other cities a...

This chapter explores the potential of young people to be involved in placemaking, reflecting on challenges facing such involvement and taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Backed by studies in Cork, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Stockholm and Volos, it addresses the question how to use placemaking to change the city into a more inclusive...

The article addresses the issue of preserving and upgrading the spatial identity of Slovenian settlements and landscapes, which is declaratively defined in strategic spatial development documents as one of the important goals of Slovenia’s spatial development. On the case of the municipality of Idrija and based on the review of the findings of impo...

Priročnik je namenjen lastnikom eno- in dvostanovanjskih stavb v občini Idrija, ki razmišljajo o prenovi ali novogradnji. V pomoč bo tudi načrtovalcem, arhitektom, gradbenikom in izvajalcem del, kot so krovci in fasaderji ter občinskim svetovalcem s področja graditve in umeščanja objektov. Daje osnovne informacije o tem, kaj je pri gradnji in preno...

The Public–private partnership (PPP) is an important instrument in planning and implementation of public infrastructure projects, including urban projects that influence the dynamics of urban development. Implementation of development oriented urban projects is crucial for raising the quality of life and preserving the competitiveness of cities. Ci...

The special issue "Public Space for Local Life" is the result of a call for paper launched following the international conference "PUBLIC SPACES FOR LOCAL LIFE. Shared values in diversified urban communities as a foundation for participatory provision of local public spaces" -- a joint event of the EU Human Cities partnership & AESOP Thematic Group...

The traditional thematic realms of urban design, such as liveability, social interaction, and quality of urban life, considered to be closely related to urban form and specifically to public space, have long since been recognised as important, and have given the discipline a certain identity. The book Realms of Urban Design: Mapping Sustainability...

Lack of financial resources has become one of the main issues in fulfilling social and physical needs in urban development. The declining levels of public resources make the collaboration between public and private investors necessary. When facing the challenges of ageing population, shared investment may contribute to the appropriate development o...

This paper discusses how the structure of urban public open space is created and interpreted in the mental image of its users in the case of Ljubljana, Slovenia. It reveals how spatially continuous urban open space is physically interconnected into the overall spatial structure of the city and how it is defined by a variety of the built form compon...

For decades, the reduction of urban inequalities has been a global political issue. It is seen as a matter not only of human dignity but also of social prosperity and resilience. However there is a common perception that inequalities in cities are increasing and are now at levels that are well above the levels of previous decades, which is well sup...

This paper discusses urban walkability and its relation to urban justice. Firstly the paper reviews the literature on walkability and the diff erent aspects of urban justice embedded within it in terms of social, environmental, health, transportation and economic conditions. This review sets the scene for a case study of Ljubljana, capital of Slove...

Citizens are increasingly becoming an important source of geographic information, sometimes entering domains that had until recently been the exclusive realm of authoritative agencies. This activity has a very diverse character as it can, amongst other things, be active or passive, involve spatial or aspatial data and the data provided can be varia...

The aim of INSPIRATION is to establish and promote the adoption of a strategic research agenda for land use, land-use changes and soil management in the light of current and future societal challenges. Main objectives are:  Formulate, consult on and revise an end-user oriented strategic research agenda (SRA);  Scope out models for implementing th...

The aim of the Coordination and Support Action INSPIRATION is to achieve in a the bottom-up approach the developing, delivering, match-making and promoting of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for land and the soil-sediment-water system, land-use changes and soil management addressing the societal challenges in Europe. The main objective of WP2 “De...

The importance of simultaneous treating of the constituent elements of space on a detailed level of urban design is debated in this chapter. Three aspects are given particular attention when defining these elements: the physical form, the patterns of use of place, and the perceptual dimensions of space. These are based on physical and functional de...

This paper presents a methodology that use volunteered geographic information (VGI), cyclist GPS tracking and Open Street Map network, with network based kernel density estimation. It investigates optimal location for cycle paths and lanes development. Recently completed research provides cycling data for Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was conducted over...

Članek predstavlja metodo za prepoznavanje kvalitativnih in kvantitativnih razsežnosti odprtega javnega mestnega prostora v uporabnikovi doživljajski sliki. Temelji na domnevi, da odprti prostor mesta v miselni predstavi ni zvezni kontinuum, kar v splošnem velja za njegovo fizično pojavnost. Odkriva, kje in kako doživlja meje konkretnega odprtega j...

The article presents a method for recognising qualitative and quantitative dimensions of open urban space in the user’s perceptual image. It stems from the hypothesis that the open urban space in mental perception isn’t a uniform continuum, which in general applies to its physical phenomenon. It discloses where and how users experience the limits o...

Notranji razvoj mest se v sodobni urbanistični praksi kaže kot ena najbolj vzdržnih oblik razvoja mest, ki ima številne prednosti pred širjenjem mest na nova zemljišča. Poleg vseh prednosti pa odpira tudi dileme, kako novogradnje umeščati v že izoblikovano urbano okolje, da ne bi sprožili estetske ali funkcionalne degradacije in hkrati ne bi bila k...

In contemporary urbanistic practise internalised city development is proving to be one of the most sustainable forms of city development and has many advantages over urban expansion onto virgin land. Besides all advantages it nevertheless triggers numerous dilemmas, how new buildings should be placed in already formed urban environments without cau...

Physical limits of public urban spaces (morphological aspect) have an important role in the design of city image. It is not only the form; the process of visual perception that is established with the presence of the observer, is also important. The theme is dealt with by morphological and visual approaches. The first focus on research of physical...

The competition was organised with the desire to stop the futile quest in which design of the transport knot in Ljubljana and all connected projects, has found itself. Following changed social and political circumstances and the international tender for participation, one hoped for fresh solutions unhindered by local disputes. However not many such...

Constantly increasing motorisation in Ljubljana demands serious consideration about future traffic management in the city and region. The reintroduction of the tram system that would connect the wider area as a tram-train system and integrate with other transport modes is one of the possible solutions. Without changes in present travel habits it is...