The Spatial Transformation of the River Waterfront through Three Historical Periods

What is it about?

Urban renewal of the coastal area has regained importance in recent years. The main problem with the city's coastal area is often the insufficient utilization of its potential. The paper analyzes the process of urbanization and treatment of the waterfront through the three historical periods: 1. traditional city, 2. during Modernism and 3. contemporary urbanism. Belgrade is chosen as a case study because it is located on the banks of the two rivers the Sava and the Danube, and throughout history, rivers had a significant role in the urban development of the city. A polygon for the methodology of urban morphological research for this paper was the contrast between the Old Belgrade and traditional city core and the New Belgrade created on the principle of the modern movement in architecture. The paper aims to research the relationship between the city and the river waterfront by the method of compare spatial-temporal transformations and to reveal the positive and negative elements of each period of urbanization. The result of the analysis indicates a changed treatment of the river waterfront through the time - from the fortified city isolated from the river to the gradual descent of the city center near the coast. JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2020), 4(2), 27-36. https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2020.v4n2-3

Featured Image

Why is it important?

1. Introduction One of the most significant areas in cities all over the world is the waterfront area. The position of cities on the banks of rivers has always played an important role in their development. Belgrade as the capital of Serbia has an exceptional geographical location at the confluence of two international rivers - the Danube and the Sava. Rivers are an integral part of Belgrade`s urban tissue with about 150 km of length of river banks. During the long history, the rivers Sava and Danube play a specific role in the life and development of Belgrade where various cultural influences meet. Many development potentials are recognized in the entire Danube basin and it is very important for the establishment of economic, functional and cultural networks with Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine (Radosavljević, 2008). The Belgrade fortress build by rivers is the oldest part of the city at which archeological layers from pre-history to today are noticeable. Belgrade has been often destroyed and rebuilt through these historic periods: Celts (3rd century B.C.), Romans (during the first centuries A.D) and Slavs (from the 7th century A.D.). Later it was settled by Hungarians, Serbs, Turks, and Austrians. The city did not descend on its rivers because there was fear of protecting the city from numerous armies that attacked from the river or natural disasters such as floods. During the industrial period of the 19th century, the coastal areas were intensively used for the production and exchange of goods. The economic prosperity of cities was based on their ability to utilize coastal resources, but it also led to the degradation and pollution of these urban spaces. From the sixties of the XX century, where the process of regeneration started in Britain, the possibility of waterfront renewal and the idea of ​​creating a new identity of cities by coastal area becomes a significant topic among the planners (Marshall, 2001). Belgrade used its coastal area for centuries for defense purposes, so that only in the 20th century began to descend on the coast and conquer the left bank of the Sava by building New Belgrade. The ambivalent attitude of Belgrade towards its rivers is a logical consequence of these events through time. However, through the decades-long urban development of the city, many potentials of the waterfront area have remained unused. The shores of the Danube and Sava represent a significant part of an attractive, but inadequately used urban space. In the last few years, there have been plans for several potential huge sites in the coastal zone (Marina Dorćol, Port of Belgrade, Belgrade Waterfront Project) for their transformation with ambitious reconstruction proposals to future purposes.