According to architect Siim Tuksam, landmarks have long served as navigation tools.

"The most archaic landmarks have always been church steeples, which can be seen from afar and which tell you when you're approaching the city – as well as where the city center is," Tuksam said.

"High-rise buildings have given rise to a different kind [of landmark], like business district skylines," he continued. "That silhouette is often a recognizable characteristic of the city."

Semiotician Tiit Remm added that landmarks generally help people orient themselves spatially, but their deeper significance depends on individuals' personal ties with them.

"People often can't pinpoint exactly where that smokestack was, or where the TV Tower is or Snail Tower is," he pointed out. "They haven't visited the base [of such a tower]; there's been no reason to. There's often also no meaningful space around it to relate to either. That's why the connection between large spaces and smaller ones can be quite empty."

According to Remm, how quickly people adjust to new views also depends on what personal connections and experiences they have, as well as the structure's significance.

"This broader significance too," he continued. "Whether it's not only spatially visibly distinct, but also meaningfully distinct somehow – that it's important, and holds shared importance. Has it been attributed with symbolic value? Whether that's ideological, like being associated with the Soviet era, or cultural and historical, as is often the case with churches."

Tuksam noted that while the absence of a familiar landmark can stir up momentary feelings of emptiness, people actually adjust to the new view pretty quickly as well.

"Sooner or later, a new urban fabric will develop there," he explained, noting that new buildings are slated to go up on the site of the now-demolished old district heating plant.

"It may feel new, maybe even foreign at first, but sooner or later, people will get used to it," he reiterated. "Hopefully they'll start to utilize it, and it will function as an active urban space instead of just being a closed-off area, especially in such an important location along the river in Tartu."

A 90-meter-tall smokestack, the last remnant of Tartu's old district heating plant on Turu tänav, was demolished the morning of October 19.

Last August, ERR reported that a new business and residential quarter will be built on the site. At the time, plans for the development allowed for either the preservation or demolition of the smokestack.

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