18 Belgrade's Post-Socialist Urban Evolution: Re Ections by The Actors in The Development Process

18 Belgrades post-socialist urban evolution:
Reections by the actors in the development

process
Sreten Vujovic and Mina Petrovic

Department of Sociology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade
18.1
Introduction
This chapter describes Belgrades post-socialist urban development by focusing on

key analytical questions related to the distribution of power among actors in the
development process and the means through which this power is exercised. Urban
sociology typically distinguishes four main types of actors considered relevant
to the scene: 1) political actors those who define strategic developmental aims
by balancing entrepreneurial goals with public interests; 2) economic actors
players, primarily from the private sector, who utilize urban resources necessary
for their activities; 3) spatial experts those who operationalize development
strategies through urban planning practices linking all of the actors involved in
urban development; and 4) inhabitants the multilayered users of the city (Bassand
et al., 2001). Only the first two groups have direct influence on the legal and
institutional changes shaping the urban development process, while the strategies
of all actors are constrained by the institutional legacies of the past (Nielsen et al.,
1995).
In view of this analytical context, several theses relevant to Belgrades post-
socialist development are discussed below:
1. Political actors still hesitate to introduce a new legal and institutional framework
for the development process, thus causing a delay of comprehensive urban
transformations.
2. While the influence of economic actors increases in importance, political
voluntarism fuels corruptive behavior that leads to rather chaotic spatial
development.
3. Due to blocked socio-economic transformation, illegal strategies have flour-
ished, confronted by a predominantly reactive political response.
4. Urban planners operate within an environment of insufficiently defined laws
and weak enforcement of regulatory acts, which marginalizes their position.
5. The influence of citizens on urban planning and development is negligible,
except for the cumulative effect of widespread illegal construction practices.
361
K. Stanilov (ed.), The Post-Socialist City, 361383.
2007 Springer.
362 Vujovic and Petrovic
The presentation of our study is organized in two sections. First, we describe the
legislative framework of laws, policies, and normative acts aimed at governing
urban development in Belgrade. We also sketch the socio-economic and spatial
context in which the legislative framework has been developing since 1990, we
trace its main impact on urban growth and discuss the position of certain actors.
Secondly, we assess the main characteristics of Belgrades urban evolution in the
last 15 years from the perspective of several main groups of actors in the devel-
opment process. We faced considerable problems concerning the availability of
reliable data needed for our study resorting to the use of various fragmented data
sources including official statistical publications,1 legislative documents, adminis-
trative and NGO reports,2 and scholarly research.3 In addition, we interviewed 15
professionals practicing in various areas of urban planning, most of them from the
Urban Planning Institute and the University of Belgrade.4 The majority of them
have professional experience dating back to the 1980s and 1970s, which gives them
a long-range perspective on Belgrades urban development. The interviews were
conducted in September and October of 2005. For the purpose of our study, we also
analyzed a number of interviews given by the city mayor, the city architect, and
the city manager to three daily newspapers (Politika, Blic, and Vecernje novosti)
during the period from February to November 2005.
18.2
Legislative and contextual framework
During the socialist period, Yugoslavia was marked by a system of socialist self-
management, which placed greater importance on the development of market-type
relations in the economy than any of the other socialist countries in Europe. This
strategy was a significant factor in achieving a higher standard of living and a
lower level of under-urbanization5 compared to the other members of the Eastern
Block. By the 1980s, the capital Belgrade was acquiring a distinct cosmopolitan
flavor, hosting several international film and music festivals, and showcasing the
presence of major international hotel chains such as Intercontinental and Hyatt
Regency. Nevertheless, the foundation of the political and economic system was
typically socialist and, after 1989, Belgrade was confronted with similar problems
as the other post-socialist capitals. Many of these problems worsened considerably
with the demise of the Yugoslav federation and the ethnic wars of the 1990s,
delaying substantially the start of much needed socio-economic transformations.
18.2.1
Changes during the Milosevic regime
The delay of reforms was not just a consequence of the wars, but a main strategy
of the political elite to keep its power at any cost and for as long as possible.
Due to the strict international isolation of Serbia imposed by the UN, there were

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18 Belgrades post-socialist urban evolution:

Reections by the actors in the development

Sreten Vujovic and Mina Petrovic

This chapter describes Belgrades post-socialist urban development by focusing on

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