Magdeburg town code and its impact on the Lithuanian towns cityscape

This work contains analysis of Magdeburg legal norms and it’s impacts on development of Lithuanian towns, their cityscape and planning structure. Medieval Magdeburgian rules of law can be treated as the urban – architectural regulations influencing the structure and architectural expression of cities. Municipal grant enabled cities magistrate comprehensive and integrated approach to urban development, although could not guarantee the social, cultural and economic prosperity for the city. Size of main residential and auxiliary service territory, size and form of main town square, size of allotments of town residents, squares, adjacent territories and type of development on the main streets and squares, firefighting requirements also the urgency to build main administrative building (Town Hall) were coded in the privileges of Magdeburg town foundation. Other provided privileges such as privileges for ethnic communities and confessions had big impact on a town view too. Magdeburg rules and the current urban development regulation have many similarities. In the past, the central government – the ruler, giving the privilege of Magdeburg, often referred to therein and the basic requirements of urban development. Further – the city manager or his authorized owner regulates the development process by its legislation, while the city magistrate, under the privileges granted by the provisions of the legislation and the subsequent development is carrying out the administration of the city. Nowadays, the process is similar. Central government institutions (the Parliament, the Government, and the Ministries) adopt legislation governing the development process itself, the main provisions or requirements, and municipal institutions are complying with these provisions by virtue of their expertise. Currently some Town Halls (which often and today remain the central and most important landmarks of squares, historic urban core), survived from earlier times, the historic parts of old town with the old craft guild buildings represents the traces of Magdeburg city code. Also in many cities have survived valuable features of urban structure (the network of streets and squares plan, the character of streets and squares, examples of ethnic communities and different religious confessions architecture), which now figure as an urban heritage. All this compared with the integrated management experience of Magdeburg type cities in certain scale is disappointing. Unfortunately the current legal framework is not flexible in combination of cultural heritage protection and urban development moments. As a result, many valuable historical urban architectural peculiarities of the cityscape, remain misunderstood and underestimated in the course of planning and design