The expansion of Ljubljana onto the Ljubljansko barje moor

Abstract

Ljubljana began its southward expansion south relatively late because the characteristics of the Ljubljansko Barje moor had a hindering effect on the expanding process of the city. However, with the gradual development of industry and commerce and the growing number of immigrants, the process of urbanization gradually started to spread into this area. The beginnings of the expansion began in the 1960's and intensified from the 1970's on. Along with organized construction, unregulated illegal construction was very widespread and settled numerous areas that were later rounded out and individual parts of pre-viously still unurbanized areas. Supervision over these construction sites was poor and allowed uncontrolled settling, which in places dictated the directions of further urban development. Due to its proximity of the center of the city, the area considered in this study became increasingly impor-tant. The number of activities increased greatly, shopping centers and the infrastructure network developed, and the comprehensive solution of communal network is still in the process of formation. Although this study covers only a part of the entire city, numerous smaller areas within it developed that have their individual characteristics and differ greatly, which is reflected in the pattern of settling, the devel-opment of the areas, and the structure of the population. For this reason, the area studied is extremely heterogeneous and, as such, a challenge for further research.