The essay is meant to be a reflection, a conclusion of sorts regarding the topic proposed by the organizers of the "Towards beauty." It is meant to be about the problems of introducing aesthetics to public spaces. From the point of view of many disciplines. This academic event took place in the April of 2014 at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk. The Author assumed the perspective of an architect when contemplating the problems being discussed. This approach emphasizes the role that is played by the concept of the urban landscape. The work is composed of an introduction, which illustrates the reasons for adopting this perspective. This part is followed by a classification of the stances and academic research that has been presented in the delivered lectures and essays. This generalization has the form of a typology composed of five points, which describe the general issues that were discussed. The overarching thesis of this is essay is the statement that the choice of problems that have been discussed at the conference are the result of a contemporary model of thinking about the management of space, which results from a much too liberal approach that has been adopted after the socioeconomic changes that occurred in 1989. This begs the question whether the issues that are important in the context of the aesthetics of cities are effects the causes of which could lie in society's approach to its reality. Due to the aim of this essay being a commentary on the academic event that was the Gdańsk conference and a sort of reflection on the issues that were being discussed there, the Author decided not to provide it with a conclusion at the end. The Author's comments contained in this work are only a voice in the discussion and a complementation of the opinions that have been presented during the conference. The article is supposed to elicit a familiarity with the presented issues so that the reader can form their opinions, and, what is perhaps even more important, provide the foundation for future academic discussion on the topic of the beauty of the cityscape.

In the 17th century were functioned in England two types of public spaces: piazza type of squares, devoid of plants’ composition and green city squares of a garden nature, designed for the residents of the nearby houses. Both of these presented the high-class type of public space, which with the time became popular in many cities in Europe. The aim of the paper is to define the importance of these arrangements in urban landscape, including the identification of functions which they perform today in urban tissue of cities.

During 2017, the authors conducted an evaluation of so-called “veteran trees” in Warsaw — selected specimens with outstanding historical, landscape and natural values, but not taken under legal protection, situated within public space (streets, squares, public facilities) — as part of a pilot program for the Green Board of Warsaw. The following were examined: the condition of trees, the surrounding ground’s condition, spatial conditions. The presented results include an example of two locations — prestigious streets, on which legible systems of street tree plantings from the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved (Piękna Street, J. Ch. Szucha Avenue). The protection of old trees — living witnesses of history and the maintenance of the original spatial form — classic avenue arrangement in both cases are essential for preservation of the historical pre-war scenery of this part of Warsaw.

This paper presents a synthesis of research in the field of social activity in development of urban public spaces. Interest in social participation in which many groups sees a remedy to the problems of the city - including spatial chaos - has many causes. One of them is the lack of trust in the social side to the profession of architecture. The article indicates the possible cause of this state for which it was flawed legislation and the planning system, which in practice is not conducive to the formation of order, harmony and beauty, but facilitate the implementation of the narrow groups of interests, bringing the rank of designer as creator of the role of the investor's decision executor.