Valorisation and revitalization of heritage alongside Danube river: case study of Smederevo castle

Abstract

The topic of heritage in general has been emphasized many times on different occasions, regarding its significance as a historical legacy of a country and its people, region or a city. The issue of heritage valorisation is sensitive due to the context relation and specific regulations, as it is the case with Serbia. The particular topic of this research is the valorisation and proposals for revitalization of heritage alongside the river Danube. As a case study a part around the old City castle of Smederevo is selected. Besides being rich in cultural, historical, tangible, but also intangible heritage, this area is researched as a part of an Interregional European project called DanUrb. Revitalization of this, until now, neglected and not used area is of utmost importance both for a site and for a contemporary city of Smederevo. In addition, some consultations occurred with local authorities upon this task. Research methodology used in this particular paper was based on extensive literature review and classification of data gathered from Serbian legislative and planning documents as well as other primary and secondary resources. Regarding aforementioned, selected case study area method of expert observations is also applied. For further qualitative results criteria and indicators (C&I) network is used to determine specific characteristics of heritage, such as: scale, category, type of protection and current condition. Overall aim of this study is not only mostly delicate valorisation of medieval architecture, its classification, and identification, but also to propose some methods for integration of creative industries with the aim of revitalization of that important, but rather neglected and poorly protected heritage area alongside Danube in Serbia.