Revitalization through recovery. Transformation of roads into human-friendly spaces on selected examples

The aim of this paper was to analyse the measures taken to revitalise traffic routes and convert them into pedestrian zones. For the purpose of the paper, four cities were selected where heavy vehicular traffic was introduced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The examples cited are Paris for the revitalisation of the boulevards of the Seine in UNESCO-listed sections, Madrid for the reconstruction of a section of the M-30 ring road cutting off the city's western districts from its centre into traffic tunnels covered by a linear park covering several ten hectares, Utrecht as an example of redevelopment reconstructing the historic course of a city moat, Maatsricht as an example of revitalisation of a degraded area using innovative engineering techniques and with the important participation of local communities. On the basis of the available sources, an archive search was carried out and a descriptive analysis of the historical and current state was developed. In addition, maps were drawn up showing the extent of the area under analysis, with the location of schematic cross-sections showing the state before and after revitalization.