IN A YEAR OF UNCERTAINTY, ONE THING WAS CERTAIN - THERE WAS BUILDING AND PLANNING IN BELGRADE!

A look back at the year 2021 leaves the impression of a civil struggle on all fronts - from the continuous transfer of responsibility from the authorities to citizens or a higher power, the collapse of the health system, through the fight against the adoption of harmful laws and even more harmful projects throughout the country, to the now standard struggle for everyone a tree, a park, a view, a stone and a drop of water. 

While the citizens were fighting for what should be taken for granted, the city administration was working at full steam. Only in Belgrade in 2021 did the Secretariat for Urbanism and Construction Affairs present to the public exactly 140 plans and urban projects. We had a record number in June, when 22 plans were published in 21 working days, and in the process, conveniently, there were also insights for Linijski park and PGR - General Regulation Plan of the City of Belgrade (which according to the planning hierarchy is at the very top and one of the most important plans for the city of Belgrade). What, however, was not found on the bulletin board of the Secretariat is the plan that we have been eagerly waiting for all year - GUP - General urban plan of Belgrade for the period from 2021 to 2041. In the simplest terms, if Belgrade were a house, the GUP would be the foundation, and urban planning in a city that does not even have a GUP, and almost no complete and updated PGR, would be equivalent to installing windows and a roof on an empty lot.

But let's see what was planned, built and built in Belgrade during 2021. Just to warn you right away, this is going to be a long text.

PROLOGUE - MAKIŠ (BELGRADE WATER FOUNTAIN)

We cannot begin the story of 2021 without referring to the very end of 2020 and controversial public debate about the plan for part of Makiški polje, in which, with the presence of police and private security, citizens were denied the right to participate guaranteed by law. This treatment of the plan, which could have irreversible consequences for the life of the citizens of Belgrade, since Makis is the main city water source, is unacceptable. Without repeating the public discussion, explanation and any consequences, the plan was adopted, and on November 22, 2021, they were on Makiško polje work began on the construction of the infrastructure and embankment of the future depot of the Belgrade Metro, with increased presence of the police and dissatisfied citizens.

TOP 15 URBAN MOMENTS OF 2021
(because 10 is too few)

15. BIGZ

The first half of the year was also marked by the sale of BIGZ and the planned conversion of the space into an office space, which led to the fact that artists who had been renting parts of the building as an informal art space for years had to leave the building. In the days leading up to the eviction deadline, protests were organized by the users of the building with the support of the general public, which were accompanied by promises from city leaders that the issue of a new space for artists would be resolved. Hundreds of artists stood behind the request that such a cultural space is necessary for the capital city, while the city administration was bursting with suggestions where it could be, but without the essential will to solve this problem. By misleading BIGZ users, some people gave up further initiatives and found temporary solutions for further work in the extremely precarious conditions in which they find themselves. Therefore, with the constant delay of the city administration, the possibility of realizing a new space for work and creating an alternative cultural scene of Belgrade died. It is important to note that the City did not recognize the importance of this place, as well as the moment in which people were thrown out onto the street, during the pandemic, when the income of artists was equal to zero due to epidemiological measures.

14. Slavia (bank + mythical hole)

This year, two beautiful views were planned for the fountain on Slavija - two construction sites. The first refers to the scope that includes the entire park known by the name Mitic's hole and the block next to which, among other things, the Hilton Hotel is located. This plan was met with great dissatisfaction among the public, completely justified, but what was actually disputed? In question is a public green area located on public land, which would be repurposed into commercial facilities according to the plan, and privatized upon adoption. Public green areas, and all other forms of green areas, are not and must not be seen and treated as empty/unused/unrealized areas in the city, which need to be privatized and commercial or other facilities built on them in order for investors to profit at the expense of the green areas that belong to us, to the citizens of Belgrade.

The numerous problems we face, which concern, first of all, excessive air pollution and the increasing number of heat islands, undoubtedly show the necessity of improving and increasing the number of public green areas. However, disregard for public interest and complete arbitrariness also affected the shaping of other plots around the roundabout. For example, on the other side of Kralja Milan Street, in the block where the National Bank is located, mixed city centers with a height of up to 8 floors are planned. without public green areas.

Urban legend says that the place where the "Mitićeva rupa" park is located is haunted, because all attempts to build it failed. It remains to be seen what will happen this time.

13. Blok 32

In September of this year, the PDR for Block 32 was approved. In the place that many recognize as the block where the Telekom building and the PIO fund are located, it is planned to replace the ALTA bank building with a commercial-residential building with a height of 82 to 120m (for comparison, in the case of residential the building has 27 to 40 floors; the height of Beogradanka is 101m).

In addition, it is planned to increase the residential zone, create a commercial zone and a zone of mixed city centers. What is disputed? This plan envisages almost 4 times the height of the building (from 32m to 120m) than the maximum prescribed for this block. Also, the broader development plan of this area should be considered, that is, the neighboring block 39 (FDU), for which the draft plan is currently being drafted, which includes the construction of the MUP command center with a helipad, with an area of ​​180.000 m2 and a height of 50 m.

12. Green wreath

One good news - this plan does not envisage the conversion of green areas into commercial ones. Why? Because they are not there. The green border has not been green for a long time and its green areas are reduced to only a few trees in planters. What Zeleni venac (next to the market) is a somewhat unsightly part of the city, stained by traffic collapses, dirty and unsafe pedestrian crossings and bars in not-so-good condition. The good side of the plan is that it foresees the arrangement (only aesthetically) of pedestrian areas and passages, and the bad is that it foresees an increase in the number of floors of commercial facilities, which would increase their area from 1200m2 to 3800m2. The question arises, is the arrangement of one underground passage a sufficient reason to allow the investor to build a three times larger commercial complex and does it really have nothing to do with each other?

11. Serbian-Chinese industrial park 

This year, the city administration did not forget about the left bank of the Danube either. However, instead of an adequate sewage network, water supply, solutions to traffic problems and illegal landfills, the residents of Borča and Kovilov will get Serbian-Chinese industrial park even 480 hectares of agricultural land so far. Instead of making solving these existential problems a matter of national interest, the industrial park has taken that title, and the responsibility for solving health, sewage and traffic issues has been left to individuals.

In addition, this is not the first and probably not the last time that agricultural land is transformed into construction land, for the purpose of building commercial, mixed or industrial facilities. In fact, this has become a common practice in Belgrade and Serbia (read: Rio Tinto).

10. Goce Delcheva x Mihajla Pupin Boulevard

In September of this year, the residents of Novobeograd block 8, on the corner of Mihajla Pupin and Gota Delčeva boulevards, opposite the Health Center, were surprised by an urban planning project that foresees the demolition of existing commercial buildings in their block and the construction of new ones, over eight floors high. The purpose of the new buildings would mainly be housing, instead of commercial contents, as defined by the higher order plan (General Regulation Plan of the City of Belgrade) and as it is currently. This construction reduces the quality of life, complicates the already existing parking problem and damages the visual identity of one of the oldest blocks in New Belgrade. At the end of the year, the tenants became active in order to defend their space and started another in a series of neighborhood groups of New (and old) Belgrade that speak loudly ne usurpation lives of citizens for the personal profit of investors.

9. Vračar villas RIP 

The object of investors' attention was especially the central city zones, and especially those locations that were shaped by a valuable architectural heritage. However, they do not provide an opportunity for new construction unless the existing building stock is demolished. Thus, the year 2021 was marked by the demolition of witches' villas thanks to bureaucratic "gray zones", i.e. unclear procedures for the protection of buildings and spatial units. Skilled investors were more patient, and they waited for the moment when they could destroy (demolish) the protected cultural property and allow themselves to build on the freed space. The demolition of the house of Jovan Ilkić in Resavska, then the family house of Ivan Antić in International brigades, the devastation of the villa in Topolska 19, are just some of the reasons that caused a quick and violent reaction of the tenants and the organization of protests with demands to stop this destruction of cultural heritage. Among other things, in mid-December, an open letter was created, supported by dozens of public figures and experts, demanding the preservation of Krunska Street from the government representatives. There is still no adequate answer.

8. Spa wreath 

Residents of the Banjički venac settlement, near Zvezda Stadium, were angered by a plan that envisages the construction of residential buildings on the site where the Gemaks Tennis Complex is currently located. Future construction could threaten the stability of the slope located on the landslide and thus directly damage the buildings in the immediate vicinity. Citizens are already having problems with cracking walls.

However, this is only one of a series of problems that they face, and in the solution of which the city administration should invest funds. There is, first of all, the problem with parking, which we are all already used to, and then there are also problems with rain and fecal sewage, which cannot even satisfy the existing capacities of this area. One of the consequences of this problem is the frequent flooding of Autokomanda after each slightly heavier rain, which further results in large traffic jams and who-knows-what-other problems in this part of the city. Ignoring one problem of one settlement multiplies the problems of the surrounding ones, and often has a negative impact on the lives of a significant number of citizens. No local fight is completely local!

7. Block 37 

We begin the story of Block 37 with a big BRAVO for perseverance and persistence and a big thank you to these emperors and empresses for the example of "what can be done, when it is necessary". You've probably already heard, but the team from Block 37 was surprised one morning by the completely unexpected start of work on the field in front of their windows. We can write a whole new text about the harmfulness of the project, but we want to focus on their struggle. The residents of this block will remember the year 2021 for several weeks of day and night camping around the construction site in extremely high temperatures, for conflicts with the police and private security (and only for defending the public interest), and for several months of piloting through the misconceptions that the city authorities led them into . The most recent event happened recently, when for the umpteenth time, the deputy mayor of Belgrade, without any authorization, announced via his Facebook status that the city would buy the land and thus solve their problem. Since it means nothing, the residents of Block 37 did not settle. As their story has not yet received an epilogue, they are also determined in the fight to save their block from further usurpation.

6. Line park 

At the end of September 2021, a detailed regulation plan for the "line park" was adopted, the focus of which was the green belt on the site of the old railway tracks from Pancevac to Branko bridge. However, in addition to the linear park, the plan also enables the construction of a residential and business complex of 200 square meters in Marina Dorćol. The investor is the Czech company "Sebre", the same company that plans to invest in the construction of Kosutnjak. The plan allows for the construction of a sports complex of 000 square meters and the expansion of the existing tennis courts from the current 30 ha to 000 ha, all at the expense of green areas. The Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments sent a remark during the public review that this expansion and construction of the sports complex represents excessive construction in the area of ​​the Kalemegdan Fortress, which is an unacceptable violation of our most important cultural and historical heritage. However, the Planning Commission did not accept this opinion and the plan with these changes was adopted by the City Assembly.

5. Meter

Even if you spent 2021 under a rock, there's a good chance you've at least heard the story about the subway. There are some on this topic people, more expert on these issues than us, have already written a lot, but it would not be right to leave him out of this exclusive top list. The most important thing to note about the subway is the small but very significant civic victory at the public debate after the publication of the plan, which, it seems, did not even consider the public interest, let alone integrate it into the plan. With great pressure from the public, the objection of UG Po meri metro was adopted and it was accepted that the southern branch also forks in the routes to Petlovo brdo, Vidikovac and Cerak, instead of just connecting "empty meadows" on which gigantic urban projects are planned in the future.

On the other hand, what is also important to mention and must not be forgotten is that on that occasion all objections from the Faculty of Civil Engineering (presented by Dean Vladan Kuzmanović, Dejan Gavran and Sanja Fritz) were rejected. As we have already pointed out, on November 22, works on the construction of the infrastructure and embankment of the future depot of the Belgrade Metro began in Makiško Polje, with an increased presence of the police and disgruntled citizens.

4. Gondola

In March of this year, it seemed as if the public interest had won when the Administrative Court made a decision to uphold the organization's lawsuit RERI and cancel the building permit issued by the Ministry of Construction for the preparatory work on Kalemegdan for the construction of the gondola. However, with the presentation to the public of the draft Budget and the draft Plan of General Regulation of Belgrade (in December 2021), it became clear that this is not the end of the story about the Kalemegdan-Ušće gondola, because it is part of both (current) documents. Let us recall that the preparatory work for the construction of the gondola began with the felling of 150 healthy trees on Kalemegdan, and that is only the beginning of the harmful effects that this plan has on the environment and the preservation of Kalemegdan as one of the most important cultural and historical monuments.

3. National Stadium

Another plan that also includes the conversion of agricultural land to construction is the plan for the National Stadium project. Whether you like football or not, this plan is hard to accept as necessary and profitable, both financially and in terms of public interest. Why?
1. Area: This project envisages construction on about 1 m140 of agricultural land, of which the stadium itself will cover about 000 m2. For the sake of comparison, the area of ​​320 m000 corresponds to the area of ​​two Kalemegdans, half of the Great War Island, 2 Ušće shopping centers, 1 Jevremovac Botanical Gardens, 140 Belgrade on the water and one of the largest organic apple plantations in Serbia.
2. Capacity:  The plan also states the estimated capacity of the stadium, which is 60 visitors. That figure is equal to the entire population of the narrow area of ​​the city of Leskovac (000, the 60th largest city by population in Serbia), and larger than the population of Valjevo (288), Užice (14) and many other cities.
3. Price: Finally we come to the price. In the Republic budget, in the part that lists capital projects in the next three years (2020 - 2022) and the money needed for their realization, the stadium is not mentioned anywhere. The only place in the 2020 Budget Law where this project is mentioned is the approved project loans. In that place, it is stated that the state will borrow 250 million euros for the purpose of building the stadium, but it is not specified where it will be borrowed, but the generic item "funds, corporations and banks" is written. We will remind you that this was also declared a project of national interest, so it is particularly questionable how that interest is determined.

The plan that did not enter the top 15, and it is convenient to mention it here, is the PDR of the area along Vinogradska Street, the municipalities of Novi Beograd and Surčin. Not only does this plan represent investors' newly acquired interest in Surčin (read: the National Stadium, due to its close proximity), it also perfectly illustrates the situation and contributes to the wave of mass transformation of agricultural land into construction land.

2. Spatial plan of RS

The Spatial Plan of the Rublica of Serbia, which is also the umbrella planning document of our country, went through the public inspection procedure this year in the period from April 5 to May 5. For such an important and complex document, it is already completely inadequate to apply the legal minimum of 30 days of public inspection, especially if that inspection coincides with the Easter and May Day holidays, which was the case now. In a period when the majority of the public is on vacation and, simply, busy with other things, it is unacceptable to put such an important document for inspection and analysis. This actually informally shortened (already minimal) the opportunity for citizens to participate in the drafting of the most important planning document of our country. In addition, the presentation of the plan, which is required by law during the public inspection, was not held. This kind of procedure by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, which in this case is responsible for the development of the plan and determines the duration of the public review, clearly shows the determination to deliberately exclude the public from deciding about our future.

1. PGR Belgrade, i.e. New Year's plans

It is in the first place because the attempt to slip such an important document under the radar by putting it on public view during the holidays is so devastating that it represents the ultimate winner of the current government's unscrupulous treatment of the public interest. For the 360 ​​pages of only the textual part of the plan, 30 days of public inspection were left, half of which is the period of the New Year and Christmas holidays. And while we are fighting for space, we should also start fighting for a well-deserved rest, which also comes as a legitimate form of struggle.

The importance of PGR cannot be overemphasized. It is one of the most important documents defining the spatial development of Belgrade. His task is to take a comprehensive look at the space and plan the construction area in more detail, define traffic and infrastructure systems, public facilities and complexes, and define in more detail the planned purpose of the areas and the way of further implementation (through a detailed regulation plan, urban design, etc.). Therefore, it represents a document of essential importance for the spatial development of the entire city of Belgrade and the quality of life in it, and as such, it must be developed with respect for the principles of public participation and broader social dialogue.

As we could see, this is neither the first nor the last time. We "celebrated" the Easter and May Day holidays with the Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia, and now, between trout and pork, we will read the PGR of Belgrade and the National Housing Strategy, as well as 3-4 other plans that include smaller areas.

Honorable mention

It turns out that even 15 is not enough, but in order not to write (and you read) this text until the end of 2022, we decided to briefly mention some other events and initiatives that are also worth remembering.

Prokop

Another inspiring citizen's initiative gathered against construction on a landslide near the Prokop railway station. Watch a great show Marko Žvak - In the jaws of Prokop, everything you need to know is right there.

Dorcol welcomed Dušanova

Also, we would like to congratulate the residents of Dorćol for welcoming the end of the works in Dušanova Street, which at one point seemed like it would never happen. Two drives again!

Genex

At the proposal of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, at the session of the Government of Serbia held on November 03.11.2021, XNUMX. Residential and business center "Geneks" was designated as a cultural asset. We hope that this also means tidying up the plateau, putting the abandoned part into operation, and that the facade ceases to be a billboard!

Belgrade on the water - a debt to the city and the building of 100m

Continuation of rampage, both urbanistic, procedural, and overall bragging. Since the public review of the changes and additions to the plan lasted only 15 days, it was decided to abandon almost all of the limiting factors for investors. And on top of all that, the Report on Local Self-Government of the Council for the Fight against Corruption from November 2021 states that "Belgrade na vodi" doo owes the city of Belgrade 100 million euros. Let's repeat, a hundred. million. euros.

It all looks like the Hollywood Wild West, we just hope the cardboard facades don't fall off at some point.

Law on Expropriation

One of the reasons for an incredible number of people taking to the streets was the Expropriation Law. We have nothing to add on this topic except bravo and thank you and let's move on!

It seems like this year lasted at least six (sorry if we missed something, it was too much for us too). Not to be too strict, there were also some nice victories, and we hope that there will be many more in the next one. Next year is also a new opportunity to unite and fight for a just and solidary city where people live with dignity and where we also decide on the future we want! Congratulations to everyone - we pushed through. Happy New Year - here we go again!