Sacred spaces in hospitals – chapels or sacred gardens, as places of peace and tranquility, address spiritual needs of the patients and their families. The paper examines the elements creating the phenomenon of sacrum in the composition of the historical Stummer`s hospital in Topoľčany. Today the historical hospital complex is not used for its former functions and the question is how to preserve the sacred phenomena in the context of its future new uses.

Aesthetic functions of greenery in urban public space are examined using examples of cities in Slovakia, focusing on periods of changes of aesthetic principles. Greenery, tree alleys and public parks notably enter urban public space in the 19th century, with application of contemporary aesthetic principles. During the 20th century, bio-ecological values of vegetation rather than aesthetic functions move to the centre of interest. Today, lack of maintenance and conceptual planning are often reflected in poor aesthetic appeal of greenery.

The small scale green areas, urban parks, urban forests or natural green areas are vital components of the urban structure of cities. This paper, using examples from Bratislava, analyzes the successful and lost opportunities to apply the concept of green space as a strategy for urban regeneration and development, and discusses the ways to incorporate this concept in the teaching and educational practices in the fields of urbanism and landscape architecture.