Abstract:  The article focuses on the interplay of built and lived spaces and its impacts on atmospheres in public spaces using the example of large housing estates in East Germany. These neighbourhoods were affected by the demolition of vacant residential buildings and infrastructure due to shrinkage, but have recently experienced an unexpected influx of new residents, accompanied by processes of marginalisation. Thus, the estates remain “left‐behind” in terms of both built and socio‐economic conditions. Changes in spatial layout, infrastructure provision, and population, in turn, influence the perception of atmospheres in public spaces. Based on theoretical approaches from phenomenology, anthropology, and architecture theory, “atmospheres” as interactions between built and lived space were identified. Map‐based walking research with representative groups of residents across all three neighbourhoods provided insights into residents’ perceptions of place. The findings reveal how built materiality affects residents, how people give specific meanings to certain places and infrastructures and, accordingly, develop certain feelings, all together forming urban atmospheres. The results reveal case‐specific and more general principles of urban atmospheres, enabling conclusions relevant to the adaptation and conversion of large housing estates into liveable and sustainable neighbourhoods.

Keywords:  built and lived space; left‐behind places; spatial feelings; urban regeneration

Published:   15 April 2026

Issue:   Vol 11 (2026): Left-behind Places or Spaces of Possibilities? Shrinking Cities as Foregrounds for Urban Transitions