During the last ten years Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, has transformed itself from a sleepy post-socialist town into a contemporary European city, and a ever more popular tourist destination. With a systematic approach towards regenerating public space the city has received  the European Prize for Public Space in 2012, and has earned the prestigious title “European Green Capital 2016”.

The main street of the city is the Slovenska street (the Slovenian road), which crosses the city in the north-south direction. The street was always a place of urban progress: here the first skyscraper was constructed, the first modernistic housing block… It is also the stage for many important events in the city, such as the marathon and the annual cycling race, various demonstrations, and the record-breaking square dance of the city’s high-school graduates.

In 2012 the city issued a call for proposals, in which four prominent architectural offices participated: Dekleva Gregorič architects, Katušič Kocbek architects, Sadar + Vuga and Scapelab. After preparing their porposals it soon became apparent that the problem is much more complex than it appears. The Slovenska street is the main public transport artery in the city centre, and more than 1600 buses per day flow through it. Coincidentally it collides with the main pedestrian promenade, linking the city centre with the central Tivoli park. It is surrounded by important institutional buildings, such as the national bank, and the ambient is listed as protected heritage.

The four offices thus decided to continue the project as a common, synthesis solution. In a design process which lasted more than two years and included a host of experts in fields ranging from concrete to botany, they created a solution which seems simple, but is very nuanced.

The completed renovation is planned as the first phase, and in the future, the street renovation will continue all the way to the inner city ring.

The New Slovenska Street project is based on cutting-edge concepts in public space design. Despite the large volume of pedestrian and bus traffic it is designed as a “shared space”, a space, where users participate equally, and height differences are reduced to a minimum.

Through narrowing of the roadway there is now more space for pedestrians, cyclists and restaurant and bar gardens.  A new tree line of manna ash trees was planted on the eastern side of the street, which is lit by the afternoon sun. The manna ash trees are resistant to the urban environment, and will adorn the space with white flowers in the spring and bright yellow foliage in the fall.

The new Slovenska street is thus a manifest of the future of the city of Ljubljana. It is a visual transformation of the central city of the capital; but more important than the visual aspect is the functional aspect, in which public transport, pedestrians and cyclists are given a key advantage in moving through the city. The street is, as it has always been, a place of becoming – a place where the city shows what kind of future it strives for. In this case, it is a future, where public transport, pedestrians and cyclists are given priority over the automobile, and where they coexist in harmony.