Revisiting the Contested Case of Belgrade Waterfront Transformation: From Unethical Urban Governance to Landscape Degradation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Historical Background and Spatial Context of the Belgrade Waterfront
2.2. Theoretical Framework
2.3. Methodological Framework
- How did a decade-long, capital-centric urban development policy pursued by Belgrade’s city administration succeed in the radical transformation of a precious part of the old town fabric into privatised urban land by enabling large-scale investors to gain privileged access to constructing the business district and exclusive housing, while enhancing existing power asymmetries and inequalities within the city’s population?
- How did the unethical nature of urban land management decisions in the case of the BWP lead to the perpetual loss of meaning of the fabric of the old town along the River Sava for already socially disadvantaged Belgradians by their indirect exclusion from the new city district due to its scarce public spaces?
- How can the notion of urban landscape be used for understanding socio-spatial problems and recognising their concrete consequences for the urban and natural environment?
- How can the experiences of urban landscape transformation from previous epochs be utilised as a repository of knowledge and understanding of spatial and social relations?
- What achievements of socialist socio-spatial development can be utilised for future models of architectural and urban theory and practice as specific innovative impulses?
- Recognition of the relation between unethical features in urban governance and the degradation of the urban landscape in the post-socialist period in Belgrade;
- Insight into alternative architectural and urban models through examination of corresponding socialist socio-spatial development;
- Searching for and specification of the relevant socio-spatial criteria aimed at increasing disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge to establish more egalitarian socio-spatial practises.
3. Results
3.1. Belgrade Waterfront Project
3.1.1. The Elusive Process of Urban Megaproject Inception
3.1.2. The Master Plan of Belgrade 2021 (2016)
3.2. Searching for Alternative Practises
The Case of New Belgrade and Its Central Zone
4. Discussion
4.1. Recognition of Post-Socialist Paradigm
4.2. Learning from Socialist Paradigm
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
BWP | Belgrade Waterfront Project |
BW | Belgrade Waterfront |
EHC | Eagle Hill Company |
BWCI | Belgrade Waterfront Capital Investment LLC |
CZNBg | Central Zone of New Belgrade |
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Ćorović, D.; Korać, S.T.; Milinković, M. Revisiting the Contested Case of Belgrade Waterfront Transformation: From Unethical Urban Governance to Landscape Degradation. Land 2025, 14, 988. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14050988
Ćorović D, Korać ST, Milinković M. Revisiting the Contested Case of Belgrade Waterfront Transformation: From Unethical Urban Governance to Landscape Degradation. Land. 2025; 14(5):988. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14050988
Chicago/Turabian StyleĆorović, Dragana, Srđan T. Korać, and Marija Milinković. 2025. "Revisiting the Contested Case of Belgrade Waterfront Transformation: From Unethical Urban Governance to Landscape Degradation" Land 14, no. 5: 988. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14050988
APA StyleĆorović, D., Korać, S. T., & Milinković, M. (2025). Revisiting the Contested Case of Belgrade Waterfront Transformation: From Unethical Urban Governance to Landscape Degradation. Land, 14(5), 988. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14050988