Watercourse as Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Urbanism: Preservation approaches from Košice and Prešov in Slovakia

We examine the current architectural and urban planning approaches towards preservation and regeneration of historical and cultural values represented by watercourses in the urban structure of the city. Using the examples of two Slovak cities Košice and Prešov, the paper highlights the need for preservation and conservation of the watercourse corridors in the urban structure, even in the cases without the contemporary presence of water, as they represent significant cultural and historical values. Their preservation in the contemporary urban structure creates a base for the possibility of their future revitalization with the recovery of water, or the possibility of their future use as attractive tourist, pedestrian, bicycle, and green corridors with recreational and environmental functions.

Keywords: Watercourse; urban stream; mill water channels; cultural values.