The emerging community planning in the super‑blocks of New Belgrade

Abstract

The development of New Belgrade, initiated in the post-war period, was based on the Modernist concept of urban structure. The planned central zone was never built, but the local community places, as urban hubs for meeting and gathering, have been developed within the initially conceived open public spaces. Considering their importance for establishing and strengthening local communities, the article focuses on the development tendencies detected in emerging urban hubs of the residential Blocks 37 and 38. Unlike many other blocks of New Belgrade, which have been exposed to drastic changes of their original Modernist structure, their authentic setting have remained mostly intact since their construction in the 1970s. Therefore, they are selected as the examples of a new process of community planning which has followed the activities of place making. Triggered both by the changed patterns of use and the specifcities of original spatial features, these changes also infuence the local neighborhood while shifting the perception of the previously neglected open public spaces. The emerging hubs are analyzed on the level of networks, confguration and places, providing an insight into ongoing transformation of both the space and the local community.