The dissertation thesis deals with the possibilities of the intensification of existing residential complexes from the era of mass housing – housing estates. The opinions among the inhabitants of housing estates and experts about how a residential structure of housing estates should evolve are not united. Also for this reason the current development of existing housing estates is made by spontaneity and urban-architectural misconception. The goal of thesis was to map the actual state of housing estates and examine the possibilities (potentials, limits) for intensification of existing housing estates taking into account the key factors of compact city structure and to process the findings into the principles and recommendations for its application. The theoretical part focuses on the definition of key terms (intensification, residential complex, housing estate) and clarifies the issue of intensification of the housing estates in terms of current knowledge and author’s opinion on this subject. The research part of the thesis analyses the structure of the selected model housing estates within the city of Banská Bystrica based on the assessment methodology of the potential for intensification created by the author and looks for relationships between the evaluated categories. The methodology of the thesis is based on identification of the basic characteristics of compact urban structures that are classified into the categories and compared with the characteristics of model housing estates. Assessment of the potential for intensification is evaluated for each housing estate in each category. Afterwards, these results of evaluation are compared and analysed by the linear correlation analyses. Findings of the thesis show a great diversity of housing estates and a need for an individual approach, but the results also point out some general characteristics of the structure of housing estates in the context of intensification, emphasizing the importance of the perception of the city as a complex system. In the terms of research it seems that the housing estates with their reserves for application of diverse forms of intensification can play a crucial role in the effort to shape a compact, sustainable city.