Regional disproportion encapsulated - Case studies of Južno pomoravlje and Timočka krajina regions of Serbia

Abstract

Present discourses consider regionalisation as an inevitable strategic action in guiding development processes that have the spatial implications. In Serbia, where regional disproportions have been growing larger during the last two decades, some of the major issues that brought to the relative lagging back of the country in comparison to its surroundings can be summed up as: extremely uneven regional development which exceeds the ratio 1: 10 between its most and least developed regions; weak territorial cohesion; insufficiently used, underused or wrongly used territorial capital; and the issue of competitiveness. In the paper we especially focus on the most lagging back regions in Serbia, i.e. Južno pomoravlje - in the south, and Timočka krajina - in the east part of the country. Juzno pomoravlje is featured by territorial fragmentation (intra-regional differences) and insufficient integration in Serbia as a whole, as well as by unfavourable socio-economic conditions which get worse in the period of transition. Timočka krajina is a region with prolonged economic stagnation, which is, above all, manifested in the constant depopulation and emptying-out of its settlements, especially in the mountain, remote, and border parts of the region. Both regions have recently been prioritised in elaboration by the Regional spatial plans, and some of the findings will be presented here