The study analyses the decision-making, planning and governance (DMPG) of urban mega-projects (UMPs) and elaborates on it in a case study of real estate financialization by the Belgrade Waterfront ...Project (BWP). In order to systematize numerous challenges in urban planning and governance that enabled the BWP, various analytical tools are applied. This approach combines the components of qualitative ex-post analysis, critical discourse analysis and stakeholder analysis. The analyses of the legislation and the DMPG related to the BWP indicate: (1) a regulationist state-led process as a 'top-top' approach in governance; and (2) the existence of certain controversies in the legal and planning approaches (e.g., lex specialis for expropriation, out-sourcing of planning decisions, a closed fast-track decision-making cycle, and the alienation of public construction land free of charge). It is argued that a combination of top-down political power, international business and limited citizens' participation shapes the BWP. Finally, an improved approach for governing UMPs is suggested which is based on greater transparency, an improved regulatory and institutional framework, as well as innovation in the urban planning and governance arrangements to facilitate challenges for ongoing UMPs.
After decades of rising awareness and undertaken actions, climate change is still one of several focal global challenges. Additionally, the latest report by researchers at the International Panel for ...Climate Change indicates that the crisis has deepened. With its comprehensive nature, spatial planning is one of the management tools responsible for dealing with climate change and combating its effects. Land use definition is the foundation on which we build mitigation and adaptation systems. It is a complex process that involves (or should involve) a range of stakeholders—experts, politicians, the civil sector, and citizens—in which the clear transmission of messages to stakeholders regarding the state of the art and planned actions is significant. The use of visualisation tools is one of the important ways to achieve this. This research aims to present a set of visualisation tools, applying them in analysis and decision making in the field of spatial planning with regard to climate change. We combined content analysis, colour-graded classification, and the spider method applied to the example of Serbia. The results showed that application of the suggested visualisation methods in combination with regular planning tools (maps) facilitates an understanding of the problem and its presentation to other stakeholders. In the case of Serbia, visualisation tools have shown that adaptation measures prevail over mitigation measures and that the effects of climate change addressed in spatial-planning documents do not significantly match the most challenging effects as perceived from the citizens’ perspective. These are aspects that should be corrected in the next generation of planning documents. The suggested visualisation tools are replicable, with slight adjustments to a specific case, to any other region in the world.
Over the last three decades, Serbia has moved from a mixed centrally planned – deliberative – self-governing economy to a market-based economy, but key institutional reforms are still not complete. ...Based on the contextual framework of post-socialist countries and theoretical background, this research focuses on the interaction between spatial regularization and existing planning instruments versus urban land market and land-use policy, and their impact on urban expansion in the Belgrade metropolitan area (BMA). The intention is to clarify the implications of urban land use policies and their (im) balance with planning instruments and the land market. The contextual framework of post-socialist Serbia, the transformation of its urban land policy as well as the land development management in the BMA illustrate complexities of spatial regularization, further emphasized by the delay in introducing and adopting new urban land policy. Key findings include: extremely inefficient urban land use and excessive urban sprawl (in the last two decades the urban area has tripled; with high urban land consumption of 670 m2 per capita compared to other metropolitan cities); and important role of urban land policy (existing, still untransformed instruments contribute to urban sprawl).
•The paper discusses spatial regularization and urban land policy in a post-socialist society.•Existing planning instruments and untransformed urban land policy induce excessive urban sprawl in Belgrade.•Belgrade has extreme urban land consumption (670 m2/per capita) compared to other metropolises.•Massive illegal construction is the dominant form of urban sprawl in Serbia.•This research proposes indicators for measuring urban sprawl and sustainable land use.
One of the biggest and most important mountain ranges in Europe, the Carpathians, is being threatened by different human activities. The Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable ...Development of the Carpathians (the Carpathian Convention) represents one of the international efforts to protect the biodiversity of this area through multilateral cooperation. Serbia is one of the signatory parties, where the area protected by the Convention currently coincides with the Đerdap National Park (ĐNP) boundaries. Serbia mainly lags in protocol and amendment ratifications, which is suspected to hinder the potential benefits regarding the sustainable development of this region. By analyzing the selected sustainability indicators for the years 2003, 2011, and 2019 we tried to enlighten if developments were sustainable. The data were also presented by the spider evaluation method. Despite certain limitations in data availability, research showed that there are positive economic and environmental changes, despite depopulation and aging of local inhabitants. However, major efforts are still to be undertaken, especially regarding environmental sustainability and implementation of national and international regulation.
Since the beginning of its post-socialist transition, Serbia has been going through a major political and economic crisis, thus isolated from the mainstream trends of the European integration and ...convergence. The country's comparative advantages and competitiveness have worsened in terms of two key aspects, that is, its structural qualities and its territorial capital. The economic recovery after the year 2000 assumed a form of "growth without development", mostly based on poorly legitimized transition reforms, whereby Serbia's inherent unsustainable spatial development patterns have been perpetuated. Today, Serbia finds itself in the position of an economic, ecological and financial semi-colony of a few powerful international political, economic and financial actors, paralleled by the collapse of its strategic thinking, research and governance. Rather bleak development prospects for Serbia call for prompt further research on predictable development scenarios. Therefore, we have discussed the key issues in the current planning system and practice and analysed the basic elements of the prospective future using the scenario approach.
The key objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the historical
context and development of construction land and its relations to urban
development in Serbia. The paper discusses global ...developmental contexts,
legal frameworks and changes of the Serbian urban land policy from the end of
the 19th century until today. We emphasize the delay of reforms in Serbian
urban land policy as a consequence of the complexities of legal framework,
especially under the conditions of the economic and societal transformation
(after 2000). The paper presents the original results of the historical
changes of the legal system in the field of urban land policy and its
connection with the system of spatial/urban planning. Also, we provide
recommendations for the future urban land policy, which include further
transformations of the legal framework in the post-socialist/transitional
period. There is a long lasting need for readjusting the current planning and
urban land policy in Serbia, as well as for introducing new urban land policy
tools.
nema
This paper studies the changing roles of planning and the market in the
context of urban growth and suburbanization in the capitals of Serbia and
Bulgaria, specifically with regard to the ...socio-economic changes experienced
in Southeast Europe over the past decades. With a focus on the post-socialist
period, the work also examines specific features of the socialist period, so
as to make important distinctions between the two. The research question in
this paper is: Is planning or the market responsible for the form of growth
that has occurred in Sofia and Belgrade? One methodological problem for the
study is that in reality, most urban processes are to a degree both market
driven and centrally planned. Thus, it can be difficult to distinguish
between the distinct roles and outcomes of planning and the market. To solve
this problem, the paper analyzes situations in which either planning or the
market is dominant, so as to be able to clearly determine the impact of each
mechanism on the resultant development. The paper concludes that urban growth
and suburbanization are generally engendered by market forces, whereas the
role of planning is to improve and refine the action of the market. When
planning ignores the market, it results in failed or inefficient urban forms.
However when planning is absent, urban development fails to meet reasonable
standards.
This paper analyses the implications of participatory urban design in
Belgrade, namely of the series of recent unsolicited activities that has
contributed to setting up a specific micro environment ...in the neighbourhood
of Savamala. Its main aim is to promote bottom-up urban development, surpass
current profit-oriented trends, and benefit from sociospatial contradictions
as opportunities for creativity and participation. The Savamala neighbourhood
is among the most important landmarks in Belgrade. Endowed with rich
historical heritage and extraordinary spatial potential, Savamala is now a
traffic bottleneck with intense pollution, urban noise and socio-spatial
conflicts. In order to set up an engine for urban development, several
streams of participatory activities have been launched by NGOs and IOs, such
as: online campaigns and networking, informal research activities, pop-up
events and instant actions for societal progress and bottom-up economic
activities. The Actor-network theory (ANT) methodological approach
demystifies the circumstances of participation and the role of various actors
in building pathways of urban transformations in Savamala, while the
Multi-agent system (MAS) proposes the framework for tracing their behaviour
at the neighbourhood level. A complex post-socialist framework presents a
challenge for these participatory activities to provide opportunities for
urban transformations, based on social interest rather than on real estate
speculations. In the lack of official strategies and institutionalised
support, the MAS-ANT method involves estimating whether an economy of social
exchange could contribute to improving the quality of life and functionality
of urban systems.
nema
Like most European cities, cities in South-east Europe (SEE) have been
growing throughout the 20th century, however, since the end of the 1980s, the
mechanisms of urban growth and expansion have ...changed radically: from
development fully determined by central planning to market-led urban
development. This paper examines how planning in large SEE cities is coping
with the challenge to balance the action of the market and achieve planning
goals relating to the form of urban growth and expansion. As case studies we
analyse the master plans of Sofia and Belgrade and their implementation. We
have two research questions: first, whether planning in the two cities has
considered the role of the market when defining its objectives, measures and
solutions regarding the forms of urban growth and the development of in
suburban areas, and, second, whether planning has been able to influence the
market or cooperate with it in order to achieve its objectives in suburban
development.
Both the characteristics of Serbia?s urban land policy, the delay in reforms
and land development management of the Belgrade Metropolitan Area (BMA)
illustrate the complexities following the ...reshaping of institutional
framework under the conditions of economic and other uncertainties of
societal transition. The negative implications of the prolonged crisis on the
new urban development policy and urban land tools can postpone the
establishment and application of guidelines for limiting the urban sprawl.
This paper presents a brief literature review, as well as the current urban
land policy and land-use efficiency in the BMA. Traditional urban land tools
will be shortly described, followed by recommendations for limiting sprawl.
There is a need for readjusting the current planning and urban policy
regarding the urban sprawl, from an urban ?command-and-control? approach to a
?learn-and-adapt? approach. We suggest the introduction of more innovative
and flexible urban land policy tools.
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