The Transformation of Dorćol Power Plant: Triggering a Sustainable Urban Regeneration or Selling the Heritage?

Ivan Simic, Aleksandra Stupar, Aleksandar Grujicic, Vladimir Mihajlov and Marija Cvetkovic
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Ivan Simic: Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Aleksandra Stupar: Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Aleksandar Grujicic: Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Vladimir Mihajlov: Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Marija Cvetkovic: Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: The power plant “Power and Light” (1932, Belgrade) was the first one to generate alternating current in Serbia. Situated along the Danube river, it represented a part of an industrial area positioned in the Dorćol neighborhood, close to the urban core. Since 2005, the whole area has been exposed to a significant transformation into a luxurious residential and commercial complex, triggered by the intentions of private investors and directed by the ideas of changing city authorities. Considering the unpredictable local context created by the dominant post-socialist transitional economy, the article focuses on the sensitive relationship between the social sustainability of the ongoing urban regeneration plans and the emerging neoliberal forces targeting the areas of industrial heritage. Consequently, the case of the Dorćol ex-power plant and the anticipated changes in its urban surrounding are analyzed according to the selected principles of social sustainability. Revealing numerous controversies, both on the level of preferred urban policies and their questionable application, this case addresses the problems of heritage (re)use and regeneration in an environment of fast-shifting governmental priorities and financial flows, with reduced receptivity to sustainable solutions.

Keywords: urban regeneration; industrial heritage; social sustainability; neoliberal urban transformation; post-socialist transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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