Sustainable Land Use Principle as Employed in the Revitalization of a Zinc Spoil Heap Located in Ruda Slaska, Poland

Part of the project called Implementation of Sustainable Land Use in Integrated Environmental Management of Functional Urban Areas - LUMAT comprised the revitalization of a zinc spoil heap in Ruda Śląska, Poland. The first step was meeting the local community conducted by the ARCA Studio in order to learn their expectations and propose ideas for the area development. The next step was making a thorough study of the area conditions by the IETU Institute and the HORTUS Studio. The area in question is located in the neighbourhood of a densely populated settlement and could be potentially used as a recreational place. The main problem to solve was the remediation of the spoil heap area due to its high contamination by heavy metals. An additional danger was the steep slopes of the spoil heap. The 2017 design created by the HORTUS Studio provided a broad program for the spoil heap surface remodeling by covering it with protecting clay and soil layers. Besides, the majority of the area is turned into a meadow with plants possessing special protection features for phytostabilization. Part of the area is dedicated to the gradual rebuilding of the plant cover species composition. In order to protect the local biodiversity nearly all the designed plants are native. Some parts of the existing plant cover are left to demonstrate the historical metallophyte plants together with a hump of the original spoil material. The functional program meets the local expectations, having been consulted several times with the local community and their authorities. The recreational program contains a playing field, grill spots, view points, outdoor fitness, a playground, bicycle jumps, field hammocks and educational paths. To support the local identity a playground is designed with the object forms taken from industry; the educational paths provide information about the following issues: history of the local industry, features of the spoil heap deposits, local architecture, natural plant communities and birds living there. The aim of the paper is to show the complexity of re-designing postindustrial brownfields with relation to sustainable land use, biodiversity protection and respect for local identity.