Spatial Planning in Serbia

Spatial Planning deals with the optimal location of people, goods and services in a specific area. It focuses on organization, arrangement and equipment of a specific area to achieve better living of its residents.

Spatial planning is decision making process which establishes:

 1.general and specific objectives,
 2.analysis of existing resources and conditions for their use and
 3.strategies and ways of managing the process of achieving goals

Terms:Spatial Planning, Physical Planning, Regional Planning, Raumordnungplanung, Landesplanung, Amenagement du territoire.

Planning processes in Serbia edit

Spatial planning as institutionalized activity varies from country to country depending on political and economic system, levels of development and social values and institutions, from which take place different: objectives, methods of plans elaboration and implementation and planning position.

In the Serbian planning system, spatial planning is conducted at three spatial levels:

   * Local
   * Regional and
   * National 

And these three levels are regulated by national laws.

The new Planning and Construction Law from 2009 defines the following types:

   *The Spatial Plan of Republic of Serbia
   *The Regional Spatial Plan
   *The Spatial Plan of Local Communities
   *The Spatial Plan for Special-Purpose Areas

National level edit

The spatial development of the country and elaboration of spatial plans of lower levels are led by the Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia from 1996. It was produced and adopted in a critical period of different social, economic and political system, with the different relations with neighboring and European countries. The Planning and Construction Law from 2003 defined elaboration of the Strategy of Spatial Development for Republic of Serbia on the national level. Therefore, the Strategy was elaborated in July 2009. After that, the Republic Agency for Spatial Planning produced the Programme for Elaboration of the National Strategy of Spatial Development, but still there was not enough political will to adopt this document and to carry on the procces.

Regional level edit

On the regional level until now there are adopted only two regional plans, the Regional Spatial Plan of Kolubara Mining and Energy Generation Basin and Regional Spatial Plan of Administrative Territory of Belgrade. But seven other are in the process of elaboration. The Regional Spatial Plan of Administrative Territory of Belgrade (RSPATB) presents one of the main instruments for implementing ideas of sustainable development. It is based on the principles of Agenda 21, Habitat II, Aarhus Convention and other relevant declarations which bind the Republic of Serbia and the city of Belgrade to apply and to respect them during the process of plan elaboration and plan implementation. The work on RSPATB started in 2001 and the plan was adopted in 2004.

Local level edit

On the local level there are local/municipal spatial plans, which are being created more frequently, together with the Spatial Plans for Areas of Special Purpose. The barriers of these plans are in fact, organization and protection rules, together with the objectives of spatial development and land use. As Dejan Djordjevic says, local plans for now are the only wheels turning in Serbia’s planning and the main source of our planners existence.

Planning develoment stages - historical overview edit

Between the two world wars edit

The first urban-planning legal act in Kingdom of Yugoslavia was the Civil-Building code (Gradjevinski Zakon) from 1931, which at that time regulated the proper method for making of the regulation plans and there was also some additional regulations for smaller cities. This time period was followed by the presence of technical and planning-engineering dimension.

1945-1960 edit

During this time period there were established the first spatial planning organizations and establishment of the Republic authorities/bodies responsible for urbanistic affairs. Planning activity in this time period was influenced by the Soviet Socialist Republics Union model (Savez Sovjetskih Socijalističkih Republika - SSSR model), oriented towards to more technical dimension – the plan was made as a project. At the same time arrived the Regulation of the Master Plan from 1949 and important step was the creation of the Institute for Urban Planning -"Institute of Urbanism Belgrade"-[1]. Another important step was the establishment of the master plans for large number of cities and development of the first Regional Spatial Plans. An essential element of these plans is the fact that they were not obligatory for construction projects.

1960-1974 edit

During this time period the spatial plan get into the planning system of SFRJ. This was also the time of the new policy resolutions for urbanization and spatial development. At the same time Slovenia established the special law for regional planning and obligation of the creation of the regional and republican spatial plans.

1974-1980 edit

In 1974 Constitutional law obligate formulation of the spatial plans and the re-affirmation of the long-term planning system.

1992-2005 edit

The first spatial plan in Serbia was the Spatial plan of the Republic of Serbia which was approved in 1996 as a strategic document. Its elaboration was started in 1968. And it needed 30 years to be finished. This long period of elaboration process points to the detailed analysis that was performed to obtain high-quality documents.

Future development edit

The Republic of Serbia still lags behind many of its neighbors economically, particularly due to the high rate of unemployment (over 20%), low per capita GDP (3,525 US$), low competitiveness, uneven regional development.

References edit

  1. Borislav Stojkov, Metode prostornog planiranja, Geografski Fakultet, Beograd 2000.