Self-Management of Housing and Urban Commons: New Belgrade and Reflections on Commons Today

Abstract

The concepts of collective management of housing and urban spaces are being revisited within the contemporary discussions about community-driven approaches and practices and, in particular, related to the revitalization of residential neighbourhoods. This research identifies the concepts of self-management and social ownership of housing in the post-World War II period in Yugoslavia as an important legacy of Yugoslav urban planning and housing policies. Although they were subsequently neglected, these concepts can contribute to contemporary global discussions about housing affordability and the role of community in ensuring spatial and social equality. New Belgrade mass housing blocks—the main site for testing the new dwelling concepts, in terms of both policies and modernist design—are the object of this research. The article is mainly a theoretical analysis of the issues of common interest and engagement, common good, and common spaces which played a decisive role in its design. The study applies interpretative and correlational research methods in re-theorizing these concepts and their underlying narratives. It traces how the perspectives on the collective practices and spaces evolved over time, revealing a correlation between changed social practices and the spatial deterioration of the New Belgrade mass housing blocks. The study highlights the importance of both collective practices and common spaces for addressing housing issues, emphasizing their instrumentality, and potentiality for rearticulating the dialogue between public and private, engaging citizens in interactive and inclusive decision-making and co-creation of the urban reality.

Stewardship of Industrial Heritage Protection in Typical Western European and Chinese Regions: Values and Dilemmas

“…Hence, it is difficult to find a suitable renewal and transformation investment scheme and capital investment in a short time. Much of the industrial heritage has been in disrepair for a long time, and the ageing and decay of buildings have become a common phenomenon [37]. If historical buildings dominated by steel lack daily maintenance and repair, the buildings are subject to rust, weathering, structural damage, or even collapse, which will also increase the maintenance cost of industrial heritage.…”

The Open Spaces of Post-Earthquake Skopje: A Planning Strategy for Architecture Beyond Capitalism

“…The urban public space of Yugoslavian architecture served as a form of urban commons for appropriation. Its subsequent demise through postsocialist neoliberal regimes, has happened throughout the cities with entangled proprietary relationships, particularly pertaining to the green areas surrounding residential blocks(Dragutinovic, Pottgiesser, Quist, 2022). The subsequent reintroduction of capitalism by force in the Balkans diminished the sense of collective achievement and ownership, and the open green spaces that were part of the pedestrian stratum of the city became seen as plots for buildings.…”

The Terms of Dwelling

“…Rousset (2022) studies the politics of localism in German architecture and planning by examining the ideal of the "small house" (Kleinhaus) as an antidote to the substandard tenement apartment in housing debates in Germany prior to WWI. Dragutinovic et al (2022) identify the concepts of self-management and social ownership of housing in the post-WWII period in Yugoslavia as an important legacy of Yugoslav urban planning and housing policies, emphasizing their potentiality for rearticulating the dialogue between public and private, engaging citizens in decision-making and co-creation of the urban reality. Ben-Asher Gitler (2022) explores mixed-use housing of the post-WWII period as an experiment that articulated urban hierarchies by integrating elements belonging to the different scales of the city into housing plans.…”