Factors Determining the Ways for Shaping the Landscapes of Municipal Cemeteries in Szczecin: Proposals of Changes in the Shaping of Municipal Cemeteries

Abstract

The city of Szczecin is the capital and the largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship and currently has six active cemeteries, the area of which is 204.62 ha. Cemeteries constitute a significant part of green areas in the city with a large potential for passive recreation places for residents. The aim of the research was to attempt to characterize the landscape of municipal cemeteries in Szczecin, as well as to formulate proposals for actions that would improve their current condition. On the basis of research and analyzes, the authors pointed out that the factors that influence the shaping of the landscape of Szczecin cemeteries are varied and can be generally divided into legal, spatial, historical, economic and cultural ones. It was found that the Central Cemetery, as a listed historic object, has the greatest landscape values, however, it lost much of the original landscape and cultural values due to post-war neglect and destruction. The remaining cemeteries are of secondary importance as objects of limited importance and functions of district cemeteries. Their condition is worse, and their landscapes are the least diverse. Cemeteries in Szczecin have a fairly high share of high greenery, and the low greenery is limited mainly to lawns. In order to create a climate favouring to walks and resting, the cemetery areas should be enriched with aesthetic and well thought out plant compositions from shrubs and perennials, designed by a landscape architect. It is proposed to create common garden units where the distance between the graves would be larger and it would be possible to create small plant arrangements. In addition, it is observed that cemeteries lack beautiful and original tombstones, which is why the return to exhibitions of cemetery art forms an important aspect. This would create the possibility of presenting modern and valuable stone art products and inspiring forms of plant arrangements at the graves. This is only part of the authors proposals, which are quite universal and can therefore also be applied to other municipal cemeteries in Poland and abroad.