Strengthening the Social Sustainability of Super-Blocks: Belgrade’s Emerging Urban Hubs

Aleksandra Stupar, Predrag Jovanović and Jelena Ivanović Vojvodić
Additional contact information
Aleksandra Stupar: University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Predrag Jovanović: University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Jelena Ivanović Vojvodić: Association of Belgrade Architects, Belgrade International Architectural Week - NGO, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: Focusing on the social aspect of sustainability, this article provides insight into the process of spatial and functional reconsideration of open public spaces in two selected super-blocks in Belgrade, Serbia. Although their spatial typology is similar, one of them was created during the 1960s in New Belgrade, a new administrative center of the city based on the principles of functionalism, while the other one was built during the 1970s, as a part of urban reconstruction conducted in the central areas of Belgrade (Vračar municipality). The beginning of the 21st century has brought new challenges to open public spaces, reflecting the post-transitional changes of the Serbian socio-economic context, as well as the contemporary urban needs of inhabitants. Consequently, both blocks have developed new gathering places for their local communities, although applying two different approaches, spontaneous/informal (New Belgrade) and formal (Vračar). Considering the specificities of both initiatives and the relationship between local communities and the open public spaces of super-blocks, the comparative analysis is conducted in order to identify the occurring social, spatial, and functional modifications, and the achieved level of social sustainability.

Keywords: social sustainability; local community; super-blocks; open public spaces; gathering places; placemaking; participatory process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/903/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/903/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:903-:d:313172

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().