Understanding City Growth _ Decoding the Void: Anatomy of urban residualities

The accelerated growth of the city caused by a large population influx as a result of political and social changes in the last thirty years has led to major changes in the urban fabric of Belgrade. Citizens of the capital city often talk about the threatened identity of the city, problems in functioning, inadequate infrastructure, pollution. In contrast, there are unquestionable qualities, 7000 years of uninterrupted urban history, the position at the confluence of two large navigable rivers, the overlap of numerous cultural influences, but also countless demolitions and rebuilding as a consequence of life on the limes, turbulent history and war destruction that repeats itself every 40 -50 years. The urban identity of Belgrade is formed by buildings, objects and interspaces created in all historical periods. Cultivating the spirit of a place means recognizing and marking significant memory and material layers of the city.

What today makes Belgrade recognizable on the urban map of Europe is precisely the material testimony of a long continuity of existence through fragments of preserved traces and with the culmination of the inter-war and post-war period of modernism. We invited LINA fellows, young emerging creatives, to Belgrade to give an insight into the development potential of Belgrade from their perspective through various media. This year, the focus is on New Belgrade, more precisely the Bežanija settlement/village and opposed brutalist mega structure of Bežanije blocks 61, 62 and 63. This border territory in permanent transformation, at the meeting point of the rural environment and the structure of mega blocks, is a great challenge for urban planners and architects. The first part of the Understanding City Growth, as part of the 2024 LINA Architecture Programme, the residency period, was dedicated to the research, meetings and workshops. During their stay, LINA fellows, in addition to the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange experiences, achieved cooperation with representatives of various institutions and organizations, local residents and representatives of different generations. The later period, upon their return, was dedicated to analyzing and defining the proposal. The last one was the joint exhibition “Understanding City Growth” during the BINA 2024 festival, organized in the BINA pavilion. For the occasion of the exhibition all fellows gathered again in Belgrade to present their proposals that would contribute to improving the situation and quality of life in the neighborhood, preserving the identity of the place and transformations in accordance with the requirements of modern life and the needs of the residents.

Having in front of us the results of the work of all six LINA fellows teams, it can be concluded that by applying different methodologies, in a certain sense, they all came to similar conclusions. The first obvious fact is that even after almost half a century since the construction of the new housing blocks, there is a clear division between the old rural matrix of the village of Bežanija and these structures of Blocks 61-64. These very different, but very close residential areas largely function separately and without insight into the history of some and the specifics of others. The second conclusion is that since the creation of urban plans relating to the entire territory and since the construction of blocks, there have been significant changes in political and social system, lifestyle and standards and that it is necessary to rethink the situation on the ground and make certain changes that would contribute to the quality of life of citizens.The identity and order of the old matrix of the Vojvodina settlement Bežanija, as the oldest settlement on the territory of New Belgrade, is threatened, and the memory of the place is also suppressed. However, within the settlement itself there are oases of common life and self-organization of residents who are fighting for the survival of their community. It is precisely these values, in the opinion of LINA fellows, that should be preserved and for the purpose of which the community should be strengthened and support provided by the system, through local authorities and institutions for the protection of monuments, culture and education.

On the other hand, when analyzing the blocks created in the period of the 70s of the last century, and which are still being extended, LINA fellows conclude that despite the former planned construction, the passage of time, changes in lifestyle, but also often insufficient maintenance or inadequate use of space, clearly indicates the need to first of all rethink and adapt public spaces to new conditions, habits, but also to global phenomena such as climate change, which dictate different needs of residents. When studying the assigned territory, LINA fellows also recognize positive models of appropriation and spontaneous use of public space by citizens such as spaces for gathering and socializing, bocce ball court, etc.

All these insights, created during a short residential stay, once again confirm how useful exactly this kind of transdisciplinary analysis, contact with the local community and citizens are, as a preparation for further planning and corrections in order to improve the current situation on the ground. A discussion with local urban planners organized during the opening of the exhibition: Božana Lukić (Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure), Žaklina Gligorijević (Society of Female Architects) and Ana Graovac (New Planning Practice) confirmed this position and indicated the need for precisely this type of analysis and preliminary work that would largely contributed to the quality of urban plans but for which there is often no will due to financial, but also circumstances dictated by the market, investors demands and politics.

Collaboration with LINA fellows Alberto Roncelli & Nicole Vettore (Denmark/Italy) 

Decoding the Void: Anatomy of Urban Residualities in New Belgrade Blocks 61, 62 & 63

The project Decoding the Void: Anatomy of Urban Residualities explores the meaning of urban residualities in the context of New Belgrade and tries to build a deeper understanding of the opportunities and qualities of public space in modernist blocks. If residual spaces (or urban leftovers) are a common by-product of city growth, that emerge from the constant juxtaposition of different programmes and typologies and the never-ending transformation of places, when approaching New Belgrade Block 61, 62, 63 defining residual spaces seems to acquire a certain level of ambiguity, and, in a way, not to be possible at all.

Residuals usually results from unintentionally planned urban reality, unregulated growth, infrastructural over imposition and a lack of integration between functions. According to Solà-Morales’s definition of Terrain Vague (1995), these spaces are “outside the city’s effective circuits and productive structures” and are elements without specificity that provoke unfamiliarity and confusion to those who encounter them. Although none of these conditions are present in the 1 square kilometer area designed by Darko Marušić, Milenija Marušić and Milan Miodragović on Svoboda's urban plan (1965), a number of elements fail to actively participate in the life of the city and appear as uncared and neglected parts of public space. Contrary to traditional residuals, these spaces are not the spatial products of unplanned conditions, but they emerge from well-planned spaces designed to fulfil a specific purpose and be part of a coherent urban settlement. 

Today, the area has lost approximately 38 000 square meters of green space (-43%) and has undergone a densification of 72 000 square meters of new building footprints (+31%). Half of the agricultural village of Bežanija has been demolished and the rest seems to be segregated, awaiting an uncertain fate. It is therefore necessary to understand the reasons for the generation of these spaces, their qualities and strengths, and whether they can represent an opportunity for future urban implementations, supporting processes of densification or acting as key elements of new ecosystems of care. 

What kinds of spatial residualities have been produced by the New Belgrade’s Block 61, 62, 63? How do the locals interact with these residualities? How is the ownership of these spaces perceived? What has prevented them from flourishing? How do they vary between the blocks and the village of Bežanija? “Understanding uncared, underused, and abandoned portion of public space is a crucial factor to establish and test new processes of regeneration. Discussing their ambiguous perception, their qualities, and their impact inevitably gives us a new perspective on the city. We hope the project can be helpful for opening up healthy discussions for the future of Blocks 61, 62 & 63, but also to be relevant to the wider New Belgrade and other post-war modernist areas with similar conditions.” (Excerpt from the text in 19. BINA catalog by Alberto

Roncelli)

Decoding the Void: Anatomy of urban residualities is presented in three parts:

Part I: A Catalogue of Neglected Spaces (Mapping)

Over 300 residual areas within Blocks 61, 62 & 63 have been identified, analyzed, and categorized. These areas collectively cover approximately 30,000 square meters, constituting around 5% of the total site area. Qualitative and quantitative aspects have been examined and compiled into a detailed catalogue. The "Grafted City Project" mapping methodology, consisting of field mapping, photo registration, interviews and GIS mapping was used and expanded.

Part II: Oversized, Undersized, Fit (Understanding)

Efforts have been made to comprehend the reasons behind the neglect of these spaces, with a focus on investigating the relationships among infrastructure, buildings, open areas and residuals. Quantities have been contextualized to understand their potential impact on the site.

Part III: Prototypes (Visioning)

This section presents the potential redefinition of open spaces starting from the exploitation of the urban residuals. A series of prototypes, and design tools are proposed and explored. The Block 62 was used as a 'pilot

Block'.