Coordinator Dr. Nikola Krunić, senior research associate
In order to set and implement the crucial priorities of sustainable development defined at the EU level, every EU candidate country should research and define its national development goals and spatial development strategies. The Republic of Serbia, as a future member of the EU and having in mind the perspectives and strategies of Europe’s development, should define its plans and implementation instruments specifically related to sustainable spatial development after 2021.
It is necessary to innovate current guidelines for spatial development, defined through the Spatial Plan of the Republic 2010-2020, and continue them with new research based on current trends in energy development, economy, infrastructure, harmonization of regional disparities, demography, urban and rural development, resource use, social development, environmental protection, and biodiversity, climate change adaptation, etc.
The basic idea of the research is to determine the perspectives, renew the strategic framework, and give guidelines for the implementation of plans and improvement of the spatial and urban development management system based on a synthetic assessment of the problems, potentials, and limitations in the spatial development of Serbia.
It is necessary to identify new opportunities and strategic frameworks and propose guidelines for improving the system of planning the integrated spatial and urban development and its implementation, considering current trends, phenomena, and processes. Integrality is manifested by looking at the overall problems of spatial development from several aspects: territorial, socio-economic and environmental; then taking into account the sector strategies and development plans (horizontal integration), and at the (supra) national, regional and local levels of manifestation and governance (vertical integration).
The specific objectives of the research are:
Defining policies, priorities, and procedures for integrated management and direction of the spatial development of Serbia with appropriate institutional and organizational adjustment of the planning system;
– Improving the methodology, establishing principles, procedures, and modalities for coordination and participation of actors, and relativization of conflicts and conflicting interests in the management and arrangement of space, primarily in areas of specific purpose;
– Establishing a new role of urban centers and systems in achieving integrated urban and rural development as a driving force of sustainable and inclusive economic growth, improving urban security and the socio-economic structure of the population, and achieving a higher quality of life and environment;
– Developing and improving instruments for implementation of planning documentation;
– Conceptual and methodological improvement of the approach and participation of actors in the assessment and adoption of territorial and strategic decisions on spatial and urban development and their impact on the environment;
– Providing adequate geoinformatics (GI) support for efficient spatial management by collecting spatial data, providing spatial information, monitoring the state and processes in space, and implementing plans.
Particular research results in 2022 are:
Defining policies, priorities, and procedures for integrated management and direction of the spatial development of Serbia with appropriate institutional and organizational adjustment of the planning system;
- Improving the methodology, establishing principles, procedures, and modalities for coordination and participation of actors, and relativization of conflicts and conflicting interests in the management and arrangement of space, primarily in areas of specific purpose;
- Establishing a new role of urban centers and systems in achieving integrated urban and rural development as a driving force of sustainable and inclusive economic growth, improving urban security and the socio-economic structure of the population, and achieving a higher quality of life and environment;
- Developing and improving instruments for implementation of planning documentation;
- Conceptual and methodological improvement of the approach and participation of actors in the assessment and adoption of territorial and strategic decisions on spatial and urban development and their impact on the environment;
- Providing adequate geoinformatics (GI) support for efficient spatial management by collecting spatial data, providing spatial information, monitoring the state and processes in space, and implementing plans.
Particular research results in 2022 are:
guidelines for institutional-organizational adjustment; improving the cohesion, integration, adaptability, and effectiveness of natural resource management and strategic planning for the development of special-purpose areas; determining the place and role of urban centers and systems, determining the development areas in establishing new relations in space, as well as the pillars of economic opportunities and socio-economic transformation of society; improvement of urban-rural connections; methodological and procedural improvement of assessments of territorial and strategic impacts of planning solutions on the environment; establishment of a methodological framework, standards, principles, tools and services for GI support.