European coastal landscapes. From the method to the case study of Mangalia

The dissolution of the traditional compact city is leading to a new dispersed and fragmented city­territory, comprehending many open spaces, some of which abandoned and degraded. The recent environmental feeling together with a new culture of sustainability led to new urban planning concepts and practices putting green areas and natural spaces at the centre of planning interest. Green infrastructure represents a tool able to regenerate fragmented open spaces present into contemporary city-territory. This research proposes a methodology integrating the regional vision of the green infrastructure and punctual regeneration of sensitive areas of the city, using efficiently the urban acupuncture approach. The proposed methodology has been applied to a medium-sized Romanian coastal city, Mangalia, near the Black Sea, a notable historic city which has been erased by the transformations of the socialist dictatorship. Nowadays the city is threatened by a poor-quality residential expansion. The design solution provided an initial verification of the feasibility of the proposed method.