Heritage of (non-)existing cities – on the Polish examples of medieval Świecie and Renaissance Krasiczyn

Abstract

This article analyses the urban heritage protection and spatial development policies of two model historical urban centres in Poland, whose spatial layout has been erased: medieval Świecie nad Wisłą (the Pomeranian region) and Renaissance Krasiczyn (the Subcarpathian region). Their urban layouts had a significant compositional factor (a town and castle complex in axial plan). The second element important in terms of landscape protection and spatial planning is their history: at the end of the eighteenth century and during the nineteenth century they had to be relocated. The analysis covers the spatial form during the period of their founding, the reasons for transformation, their present-day state of preservation, and the current spatial conservation and development policy. General conservation conclusions have also been formulated.