Participatory planning in the urban development of post-socialist Serbia

Abstract

In recent decades (especially in the most developed parts of the world), researchers, urban decision makers, planning managers and politicians are devoting much greater attention to the opinion of the local population, as long-term experience has shown that meaningful, integrated, interactive and continuous public involvement in decision making will increase the quality, legitimacy, and overall social, economic and environmental efficiency of a planned development.

Especially in more developed democratic societies, citizens are demanding and gaining more power in decision making, and at the same time they have much more influence in planning the development of their own urban environment. This is also being supported through the development of related legislation (hard and soft laws), and traditional/formal and new/informal instruments that have particularly been enabled by the development of ICT.

After explaining the contextual factors, this research will provide a brief historical overview of participatory planning in Serbia. Current trends and tendencies in public participation in post-socialist Serbia will be analysed in more detail, and related legislation compared with some of the countries in the region. A case study of Savamala neighbourhood in Belgrade will be used to portray the multiple actors that exist in a small urban area, and their relations. Beside the traditional participation tools, the paper will propose new instruments suitable for application in post-socialist societies.