"Cold, stony, dehumanized": Unexpected outcomes of revitalization on the sensory landscape and ambience of public space: The case of Cathedral Street (Ulica Tumska) in Płock

Abstract

This paper shows how changes to the appearance of a street after the revitalization process influence the perception of the street, its sensory landscape and atmosphere. The example of Cathedral Street (Ulica Tumska), the high street in Płock, an average-sized town in Poland, is used to prove that such changes may bring some unexpected results by evoking negative emotions among the residents. The results of the study conducted using focus groups show that the contemporary ambience of Cathedral Street cause negative sensations perceived in four dimensions: touchscape, seescape, soundscape, and smellscape. Those feelings seem to be even stronger taking under consideration positive memories of the street before revitalization. As a result of the negative atmosphere of Cathedral Street and the unpleasant emotions it evokes, the residents’ activities conducted on the street are reduced only to fulfilling the most necessary needs. Such conclusion results in a postulate that when designing or redesigning public spaces we should always be aware of the consequences for the ambience of the street and the need to generate positive emotions.