Urban regeneration in the historic core of Smederevo: a tool to redesign and network open public spaces for a prospective tourist destination

Abstract

One of the main specificities of European cities is the richness in cultural heritage and historic layers. This advantage has been profoundly used to develop many of them into high-class destinations for cultural tourists. However, this process has been differently reflected across the continent. This is very evident in traditionally more isolated Southern Eastern Europe, which is discovering this potential right now. Hence, cities in this region need viable and efficient tools to accelerate it and catch a step with the other European regions. Urban regeneration is one of the most convenient tools for the cities with rich and dispersed cultural heritage and historic fabric. It is a particularly useful tool in open public spaces, as they proactively affect nearby environment. Therefore, the urban regeneration of open public spaces can both (re) design crucial places in the city structure and network them to have a broad impact on the entire city. The aim of this research is to examine the previous statement in the City of Smederevo in Central Serbia. Cultural heritage in Smederevo is abundant and the city is ideally positioned at the Danube, an arising tourist route. Nevertheless, these potentials have not been adequately utilised to transform the city into a new cultural tourism destination. The research intends to identify the main open public spaces in Smederevo and propose new solutions for their redesign and networking. This is implemented in accordance with the theoretical fundamentals of urban regeneration and current assessment of the city historic core. The final intentions of the research are to present the variety of possible ways to use urban regeneration as a medium for socio-economic redevelopment of Smederevo, in favour of both local population and prospective tourists.