A city center is a starting and end point of numerous and various movements of a city, so called "basic paths focus". Therefore, it is strained by the tensions of the centrifugal and centripetal courses of the city and its denizens. The center unifies variety of high and low level activities, and concentrates the characteristics of a wider area and imposes a high degree of social communication and contact. In each city tissue, the center represents the most attractive and unique ambient unit, due to a high concentration of various activities taking place in it. The center regardless of its characteristics, functions and category, exists only as a part of an urban system - it is functionally connected to the gravity area and structurally to the city as a system.

Small urban streams are an important element of blue-green infrastructure that is often underused, especially regarding storm water management. In addition, small streams in dense urban areas often seem to be polluted and devastated, or even buried underground. This paper discusses the problems and challenges that occur in urban areas regarding small streams and creeks, and explores how their revitalization can help in shaping more resilient communities. The study explores two cities, Graz and Oslo, and their best practice examples in revitalizing urban watercourses. As a valuable natural ?blue? capital, small streams can reduce the city?s risk of flooding from intense rainfall and strengthen the ecosystem. At the same time, small urban streams are cost effective, proactive and attractive elements of urban landscape. Research identifies the benefits that the process of revitalization of small urban streams brought about to the selected case studies regarding the environment, public health, social interactions, land use and adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, the research establishes urban planning guidelines for revitalization of watercourses that could help in setting up policy framework for adapting inherited urban settings to climate change.

This research examined changes in the microclimatic parameters affecting thermal comfort in three residential settings with various urban forms in the city of Niš, Serbia, that underwent intense post-socialist urban densification. Outdoor microclimate was modeled for summertime conditions in two scenarios, before and after transformation, by using ENVI-met software. The obtained results offer quantitative data on microclimatic conditions in the chosen settings and comparisons between scenarios. Findings revealed significant variations in the transformed scenarios, with distinct patterns in specific open spaces: a single mid-rise development forming a square in a high-rise setting showed a wind speed decrease, a daytime mean radiant temperature increase despite lower temperature, and an increase in humidity; extensive low- and mid-rise development in a green high-rise setting generated the highest temperature increase at night, notably reduced daytime and slightly elevated the nighttime mean radiant temperatures, and presented inverted temperature and humidity patterns in urban canyons during the day and night; dispersed densification in low-rise setting manifested the highest wind speed increase, significantly increased the daytime temperature, and mostly raised the nighttime mean radiant temperature. Urban design strategies for sustainable public open space that enhance the resilience of densified areas include using shading from transformed western/southern-edge buildings, avoiding small partly-framed spaces and fragmented grassy surfaces, implementing urban gaps to support nighttime cooling, and framing public open space with trees.

At the beginning of the 20th century, urban planning of the American cities was founded on the strong capitalist system and vast available land area. After a long period of planning, which was suited for the use of automobiles, nowadays the deficiencies both in the urban structure and social sphere are very obvious. Modern planning is striving to prescribe guidelines for urban design and thus create a continuity of cityscape and emphasize the pedestrian character of the area, particularly in central city zones. Town planning in the USA comprises local regulations which are suited to the needs of individual cities. Particularly important are the implications which certain town planning regulations have on the design of physical structures in the central city zone, which is the research goal of this paper.

Although the postsocialist construction of large shopping facilities had significant implications on the urban structure of Central and Eastern European cities, the complex spatial, functional, and social relations between shopping centers and settlement centers at the local level have not been fully explained. This paper addresses this issue by exploring the center of Medijana municipality in the city of Nis, Serbia and the impact of two shopping centers in its restructuring. The compatibility of shopping centers with a district/neighborhood center is assessed on the basis of functional, spatial, and socioeconomic criteria, for which a set of measurable indicators is established: diversity and functional integration, design and physical integration, survey data on the use of shopping centers and perception of users, and the economic performance of shopping centers. Despite the significant spatial and functional transformations of the Medijana center caused by construction of the shopping centers, the results indicate their low compatibility. Furthermore, the findings confirm the need for improving the quality of the social life in this urban center. Research identifies those key elements of urban design that integrate shopping centers into the central urban fabric: (1) diversity and integration of uses, (2) high densities, (3) well-designed public space, and (4) established pedestrian links.

Small towns are highly exposed to urban shrinkage, but the attention to them has still been weak in the research, especially in Serbia. Therefore, this study deals with small towns in the Region of Southern and Eastern Serbia, with the goal of elaborating a typology of small towns based on shrinking characteristics. Shrinking small towns were first mapped and then grouped using principal component and cluster analysis. The results indicate that the patterns of shrinking differ and that four clusters of shrinking towns with distinguishable specific characteristics can be identified. This research contributes to understanding of different causes and trajectories of small shrinking towns and suggests a possible application of presented methodology as an urban planning tool.