4.2.5. Projects

Projects are individual ad hoc initiatives with a given timeframe, which can be used for the implementation of permanent or provisional transformations of sites. They are extremely heterogeneous in terms of nature, objectives, design and level of success. Various examples show how projects can contribute to regenerate abandoned areas, like the Dublin Docklands (Ireland) which started in 1997, the South Harbour in Copenhagen (Denmark) started in 1995 and the Royal Seaport in Stockholm (Sweden) started in 2008. The same has been done in other parts of Europe, like the Vila d'Este in Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal) works concluded in 2015, the Industrial Park Borská Pole in the City of Plze ˇn (Czech Republic) in 1992 and the Miasteczko Wilanów initiative implemented in Warsaw (Poland) since 2002. Although diverse in some aspects, all the projects deal with recovering, ecodesigning and promoting a healthy life-style. Efforts at reducing the human footprint have been made in the case of the Eco-Viikki project in Helsinki (Finland) implemented between 1999 and 2010, which demonstrates how new living standards can be successfully combined with a minimal impact on the environment. Similarly successful was the Caserne de Bonne in Grenoble (2003–2009), the first eco-district in France. From the sustainable land-use perspective, the crucial factor is that the shapes of the buildings were compact to reduce land consumption and urban sprawl. More community-oriented, but also successful, are the transformation of Vacant Urban Areas (1996) in Berlin (Germany) into attractive parks and vibrant public spaces [63], and the case of Rotterdam (Netherlands), where houses in deprived neighborhoods (since 2014) were simply bought up by the municipality and given

away for free to anyone willing to invest a certain amount in renovation and promising to live there for at least five years [64].

However, projects can also fail or create unexpected or unwanted effects. Regeneration initiatives can produce gentrification like the Urban Development Project of Hyllie developed between 2007 and 2013 in Malmö (Sweden) that ended up with an image of housing "wealthy white westerners" [65]. If not well-designed, regeneration projects may channel a pro-market authoritarian approach, as the cases of Skopje 2014 (North Macedonia) and the Belgrade Waterfront of 2015 in Serbia demonstrate. While both pursue the rehabilitation of strategic urban areas, local community interests take a back seat vis-à-vis private investors. Finally, some projects explicitly provide for overexploitation of natural resources like the Nessebar and Sunny Beach seaside development in Bulgaria since 1958, the Ranca Resort implemented since 1990 in Romania and the third Istanbul Bosphorus Bridge Canal Project in Istanbul in Turkey (2013–2016) [66].
