Urbani izziv Volume 24, No. 2, December 2013
: 81–95
(Articles)
UDK: 711.4(497.4 Ljubljana)"36"
doi: 10.5379/urbani-izziv-en-2013-24-02-001
Author
Darko Šarac
Ljubljana, Slovenia
darko.sarac@gmail.com
Title
The influence of wars on settlement formation and development: The case of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Even though there are many historically proven facts about the formation of Ljubljana in literature, a great number of important issues about the origin of the settlement at present-day Ljubljana still remain to be studied in detail. Among the issues that have not been covered in sufficient detail in historical literature as well as in the literature on the urban planning and architecture of Ljubljana are the influences of wars and warfare on location selection and the development of the city. To explore this topic, a thorough and systematic study of strategic and military influences in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East has been carried out. The development of Ljubljana was carefully studied from prehistory to the Middle Ages, when Ljubljana had a triple settlement core: Old Square (Sln. <i>Stari trg</i>), New Square (Sln. <i>Novi trg</i>) and Town Square (Sln. <i>Mestni trg</i>). The findings help indicate whether Ljubljana’s first settlement core (Old Square) was formed by chance or whether this location was selected due to the influence of wars in the area.
Key Words
influences, wars, areas, settlements, locations, urban planning