Revisiting the Contested Case of Belgrade Waterfront Transformation: From Unethical Urban Governance to Landscape Degradation

Dragana Ćorović (), Srđan T. Korać and Marija Milinković
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Dragana Ćorović: Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, Kneza Višeslava 1, 11030 Belgrade, Serbia
Srđan T. Korać: Institute for Political Studies, Svetozara Markovića 36/IV, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Marija Milinković: Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 73/II, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-28

Abstract: This paper examines two large urban projects within a defined theoretical and methodological framework. Firstly, we analyse how the city administration in Belgrade, in post-socialist Serbia, managed the initial steps of the transformation of a part of the old town into the new large-scale development, the Belgrade Waterfront (BW), on the right bank of the Sava River. The contested outcome of the land transformation process contributes to a recognition of the unethical decision-making and performance of the responsible city authorities. Secondly, the postwar planning and construction of New Belgrade, in particular its Central Zone, is critically examined from the aspect of radical urban landscape transformation and its impact on society. Through a critical examination of the spatial development of the socialist period, we aim to identify emancipatory architectural and urban practises that could be an alternative to contemporary spatial production and that might provide a notion of key strategies for (re)establishing corresponding forms of socio-spatial justice. The two aforementioned research subjects are examined using different research questions, methodological tools, and different theoretical frameworks, which overlap, merge, and combine in the part of the study where the obtained results are discussed.

Keywords: town planning; ethical decision-making; urban landscape transformation; critical architectural/planning practice; post-socialist period; socialist period; Belgrade Waterfront; New Belgrade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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