Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia

The role and importance of the city architect, once an essential element in the planning and development of cities both in our country and in comparable environments, has nowadays been lost in the complex legislation for spatial planning, which although redefines it, but does not define qualitative...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tomaž Slak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2023-01-01
Series:Igra Ustvarjalnosti
Subjects:
Online Access:https://iu-cg.org/paper/2022/IU-CG.2022.10.052-060.pdf
_version_ 1827297437866262528
author Tomaž Slak
author_facet Tomaž Slak
author_sort Tomaž Slak
collection DOAJ
description The role and importance of the city architect, once an essential element in the planning and development of cities both in our country and in comparable environments, has nowadays been lost in the complex legislation for spatial planning, which although redefines it, but does not define qualitative qualifications for it (other than a licensed architect and licensed spatial planner), or any executive powers and responsibilities. An overview of the situation especially in smaller municipalities (that is, excluding Ljubljana and Maribor), an overview of the legislation and the way municipalities operate in the planning of space in smaller cities in Slovenia shows the need to reconsider the introduction of this type of institute. Today, urban development takes place in the framework of differently structured and staffed departments for space within local communities (municipalities). The majority of decisions are left to the local community (in some cases even exclusively) by spatial planning professionals, selected in public tenders based on the criterion of the lowest bid price. Larger cities with a larger critical mass of the professional public take less risk in these decisions and are at the same time significantly better equipped in terms of personnel. The Spatial Planning Act (ZUreP) already in previous versions introduced the mandatory activity of a municipal urban planner, which was supposed to be synonymous with the previous definition of a city architect. In the article, a critical view of this institute is derived through analysis. The guidelines (as recommendations to the municipalities), warnings and references for further harmonization in this field also are given. For an easier presentation, an example of the organization of the institute of the city architect in the Municipality of Novo mesto, which was put into practice in 2014, well before the adoption of ZUreP-2, is added at the end.
first_indexed 2024-04-24T14:56:28Z
format Article
id doaj.art-3820f60a48dc461c88a8e2468a3c8a88
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2350-3637
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-24T14:56:28Z
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
record_format Article
series Igra Ustvarjalnosti
spelling doaj.art-3820f60a48dc461c88a8e2468a3c8a882024-04-02T18:19:28ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Igra Ustvarjalnosti2350-36372023-01-011010526010.15292/IU-CG.2022.10.052-060Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in SloveniaTomaž Slak0University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, SloveniaThe role and importance of the city architect, once an essential element in the planning and development of cities both in our country and in comparable environments, has nowadays been lost in the complex legislation for spatial planning, which although redefines it, but does not define qualitative qualifications for it (other than a licensed architect and licensed spatial planner), or any executive powers and responsibilities. An overview of the situation especially in smaller municipalities (that is, excluding Ljubljana and Maribor), an overview of the legislation and the way municipalities operate in the planning of space in smaller cities in Slovenia shows the need to reconsider the introduction of this type of institute. Today, urban development takes place in the framework of differently structured and staffed departments for space within local communities (municipalities). The majority of decisions are left to the local community (in some cases even exclusively) by spatial planning professionals, selected in public tenders based on the criterion of the lowest bid price. Larger cities with a larger critical mass of the professional public take less risk in these decisions and are at the same time significantly better equipped in terms of personnel. The Spatial Planning Act (ZUreP) already in previous versions introduced the mandatory activity of a municipal urban planner, which was supposed to be synonymous with the previous definition of a city architect. In the article, a critical view of this institute is derived through analysis. The guidelines (as recommendations to the municipalities), warnings and references for further harmonization in this field also are given. For an easier presentation, an example of the organization of the institute of the city architect in the Municipality of Novo mesto, which was put into practice in 2014, well before the adoption of ZUreP-2, is added at the end.https://iu-cg.org/paper/2022/IU-CG.2022.10.052-060.pdfcity architectmunicipal urbanistcompetenciesurbanismmunicipalitiespublic space
spellingShingle Tomaž Slak
Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia
Igra Ustvarjalnosti
city architect
municipal urbanist
competencies
urbanism
municipalities
public space
title Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia
title_full Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia
title_fullStr Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia
title_full_unstemmed Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia
title_short Role and Importance of the City Architect Institute in the Paradigm of Spatial Planning of Small Municipalities in Slovenia
title_sort role and importance of the city architect institute in the paradigm of spatial planning of small municipalities in slovenia
topic city architect
municipal urbanist
competencies
urbanism
municipalities
public space
url https://iu-cg.org/paper/2022/IU-CG.2022.10.052-060.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT tomazslak roleandimportanceofthecityarchitectinstituteintheparadigmofspatialplanningofsmallmunicipalitiesinslovenia