The Danube, a Major Natural Element of the Traditional Urban Landscape

Abstract

The landscape is one of the factors that define the characteristic image of a settlement. The
natural settings represent the major and primary features of a site. Highlighting them is a
method of revealing its traditional image, given that the relationship between man and nature
used to be more significant in the past. Watercourses are almost always adjacent to the historical
city centres and water is the natural element along which traditional human settlements were
built. For this reason, in the revitalization process of historical city centres, the riverside or
maritime site should play important roles. The development of urban watercourses should be a
principle of urban renewal. The Romanian section of the Danube River has favoured the
development of representative urban structures. The development of the Danube Cliffs in Galaţi,
which restored the connection between the historical centre and the Danube, the street network
in the historical centre of Brăila, characteristic of the traditional settlements along the riverbank,
and the urban structure of Sulina are examples of traditional settlements in which the major
natural element dominates the urban landscape. This paper argues that the traditional
principles, by which historical settlements were established, emerging naturally and gradually
as a result of the communion between man and nature, should be reconsidered and applied as
principles of urban regeneration, through characteristic procedures. These procedures may
range from the preservation or reconstruction of traditional urban silhouettes to the
introduction of works of art in coherent ensembles, based on projects that complement
contemporary studies of urbanism.