A Nineteenth-Century Industrial Area in Kaunas’s Naujamiestis: Analysis of the Development and the Concept of Regeneration

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, the current suburb of Kaunas formerly known as the Carmelite district (Kaunakiemis village before that) became an industrial district of the city of Kaunas. The district started developing at the foot of Žaliakalnis from homesteads along the Girstupis stream, followed by a church and a monastery near the Nemunas River, and soon became home to a railway station and industrial complexes. In attempts to give the district a more representative appearance and further consolidate the function of transportation, a bus station was built during the period of the First Republic of Lithuania. Unfortunately, the prevailing social situation in the district did not allow these aims to be fully achieved. The construction activity of the second half of the twentieth century, coupled with the closing of industrial facilities and the shrinking of the builtup area, further threatened the existence of the district. When the Karmelitai (Carmelites) district was annexed to the historical part of Kaunas known as Naujamiestis (New Town) in 2012, a decision had to be made about which phases of historical development were to be preserved and on what basis the area was to be further developed.