Modern Transformations of City Riverfront - Comparison of the Riverfronts of Belgrade and Zagreb

Abstract

City riverfronts are parts of urban areas that have become increasingly interesting in space reconstruction and revitalization in the last few decades. This situation has occurred due to several different factors. The most important factor is undoubtedly the value of the land along the river and the possibility of forming high-quality spatial landscapes. In these parts of the city, in urban centres worldwide, attempts are being made to organise the entire life of the city. This research seeks to examine changes in the examples of the city riverfronts of Belgrade and Zagreb. These two cities are attractive for research because they were formed on the banks of the same river and have similar spatial-geographical characteristics. To research the mentioned changes in the paper, the spatial planning and urban documentation will be analyzed, focusing on the transformations of the riverfront of the two mentioned cities. It is important to emphasise that this paper seeks to examine the transformations in the last twenty years, i.e. in the 21st century. This research tries to summarise all the changes made to the city riverfronts and their effects on the spatial configuration of Belgrade and Zagreb. It also seeks to answer whether such space transformations are favourable or not, or what impact do they have on changing the broader image of the city. Based on the results, proposals and guidelines for future transformations of urban riverfronts will be given at the end of the paper.