Urban regeneration in the post-socialist context – the example of Belgrade

A transition from a socialist system in Yugoslavia to a laissez-faire economy in Serbia, as one of the ex-Yugoslav countries, made a substantial impact on the local culture of practice in urban and spatial planning. Among others, it undermined the notion of “public interest” or “general interest” in favour of private/individual interests, which paved the way for “investor urbanism”. The main aim of this research is to identify the characteristics of urban regeneration in current planning and development practice in Belgrade. To achieve the main research aim, we performed desk research and applied the historical lenses approach, analyzing legislation and planning documents as a framework for the urban regeneration in the inner-city area of Belgrade from the 1990s, with an emphasis on the most recent decade. The capital of Serbia was taken as one of the specific examples of post-socialist cities where the planning system and citizens-oriented values degraded in comparison to the socialist period. Area- and project-based approaches to the analysis of case studies along the Sava and Danube waterfront indicated that urban regeneration under the auspice of investor urbanism serves the government to support the creation of new symbols in the city silhouette and private investors to profit from emphasized development of profitable housing, simultaneously neglecting the development of public services and green areas. The transparency of planning processes regarding urban regeneration projects has been at a low level since the 1990s, with some tendencies toward achieving more inclusive planning practices in recent years. However, progress in achieving more just, or inclusive urban regeneration practices can be attained only through an intensive and continuous engagement of citizens, civil society, and independent professionals in both formal and informal public participation.