Green areas in public space ‒ factor activizing urban waterfronts

The problem described in this study concerns the processes accompanying the revitalisation of waterfronts in urban public areas. This article has been an attempt to analyse the latest waterfront transformations and to extend the knowledge on shaping of public green spaces in riverbank areas.

The purpose of the study was to analyse and introduce the typology of urban green areas located along the waterfronts, concentrated around continuous walking or cycling routes. Another assumption of the author was to indicate the factors determining the vitality and activisation of these areas.

The applied research methodology was based on factors shaping the coastal space, which the author presented as a group named “waterfront linearity”. Moreover, his paper examines the latest waterfront revitalisation undertaken in Rouen, Bordeaux, Lyon.

The conclusions found in this paper constitute an important element of research studies devoted to the ways of shaping green areas in the immediate vicinity of rivers as well as studies in the area of environmental psychology.