The chances for achieving urban social cohesion: case study of Belgrade informal settlement as a pilot project for new social housing

Abstract

This paper will enlighten the problem of illegal housing in unconventional way - by trying to understand the illegal settlements as areas of social/affordable housing and social integration. It will also discuss the possibilities of urban upgrading and regeneration of illegal settlements making them liveable places and areas which can be integrated into the Belgrade development. On one hand, Serbia is, like some other developing countries, facing the problems of socially and spatially incoherent urban development and of integration of special socio-economic groups, while on the other there is an issue of tackling the untamed urban growth in the form of illegal settlements in suburb areas. These problems are closely related to the lack of adequate affordable housing and its capacity. Having this in mind, it is understandable that Serbia is coping with even bigger problem of affordable and social housing than it is the case with developed EU countries. The pressure of these problems is more visible in Belgrade, Serbian capital since it deals with the demographic pressure and immigrants more than any other Serbian city over past four decades. As a consequence of this pressure many previously agriculture areas at the fringes of the city have become illegal urban sprawls. As the time has proven, the country did not manage to limit the informal growth in the acceptable manner, neither through restrictive policy and plans, nor through the legalization process. At the same time, being a severely hit by economic crisis in past few years, Serbia will not easily reform its housing policy and enable growth of the typical affordable housing which will meet demands. Having all in mind, this paper will try to present a different prospective which relies upon the integrative approach to these problems and which is based on the idea of new form of social housing and transformed and upgraded informal settlements. Furthermore, it will offer the directions and measures for the planning actions that would meet the objectives of social integration and cohesion and would contribute to the solving of social housing problem within the social sustainability development framework.