Criteria of Sustainable Reconstruction and Acceptance of the Historic Town Squares in Serbia

Abstract

The common feature of contemporary approaches to urban reconstruction is sustainability. For a number of years now, there has been considerable research on the ecological, social and economic aspect of sustainability. In addition to these three pillars, the document Rio+20 introduced the crucial role of culture into the establishment and execution of the paradigm of sustainability. Sustainable tourism, cultural and creative industries and urban revitalization of heritage are the key economy sectors that generate successful local development and strengthen creativity. Public spaces, seen through the prism of sustainability, is the public and cultural capital citizens use, transform, enlarge and then transfer on to future generations. With this in mind, the reconstruction and improvement of the historic town squares as representative public space has particular importance, made yet more significant in our country, given that the regulation of first squares in Serbian towns in 19th and 20th century has been the result of state aspiration towards the European cultural milieu and its endeavor to determine national identity within the framework of European values.