Informing of the Citizens on Town Planning Procedures in the Transition Period

Architect, Branislav Popovic, Manager of the Division for Planning and Construction of the "JP Parking servis", Beograd (Public Parking, Parking Service, Belgrade). Architect Valerija Popovic, Institute for Traffic, "C.I.P.", Belgrade

Address: st. omladinskih brigada 12 , 11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia

e-mail: popval@Eunet.yu

It is necessary to define all steps - Procedure of the course of the planning document in the conditions of undeveloped publicity of the local management operation, is an important prerequisite for better understanding of the solution from the plan by professional and citizen public.

INTRODUCTION

In the day to day contacts of the Secretariat for Town Planning of the City of Belgrade with the investors, their opponents, professional and civilian community (public, municipal, town and republic administration, mutual distrust of the presented arguments in the work can be noticed. The published Procedures of the work with the clients and competent authorities in the conditions of the undeveloped public quality of the work of the local administration, have proved to be one of the important conditions for better mutual understanding and for further promotion of the administration work.

Social context – competence of the local administration:

Migration processes resulting from the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, wars, economic-social crisis have left scars on the city map as well.

Belgrade comprises 16 municipalities . Six suburban municipalities have independence (except as regards work out of the General Plan). Ten central city municipalities of unequal size, degree of construction and development, morphology and topology of the settlements, do not have a crucial influence upon the process of town planning. The Municipalities and the City issue the licenses for construction, as per the town planning documentation prepared by the Secretariat for Town Planning and Town Planning Bureau

In the property-legal sense, the construction land is government-owned. It is allotted by the city or by the Municipality, depending on the purpose of use and size of the future structure. The adoption of the plan is carried out through the City Assembly .

NUMBER OF COMPLETED FILES AT THE SECRETARIAT FOR TOWN PLANNING FOR PERIOD 1991-1999

Table 1

No

Position Description

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

1

Number of received files

3.755

5.477

8.841

11.381

13.269

11.254

12.192

2

Number of completed files

3.431

4.837

7.742

9.821

11.536

9.570

9.454

3

Realization percent (2/1)

91

88

88

86

87

85

76

4

Number of pending files

324

640

1.099

1.560

1.734

1.684

2.738

5

Number of employees

25

37

41

41

41

49

49

6

Number of received files per employee

150

148

216

276

324

230

249

7

Annual realization (number of completed files per employee)

137

130

189

240

281

195

193

 

PRESENTATION OF WORK COMPLETED WITHIN THE COMPETENCE OF THE SECRETARIAT FOR TOWN PLANNING ACCORDIING TO THE TYPE OF FILES FOR A PERIOD 1991-1999

Table 2

No.

Type of File

 

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

1

Decisions about preparing town planning

5

16

13

14

21

1

18

13

2

Procedure of making plans

 

0

0

0

67

51

22

27

34

3

Authorized plans

 

1

11

10

16

7

5

5

16

4

Town planning licence

For legal entities

0

118

368

241

77

208

222

257

For natural persons

0

521

667

1.395

874

2.091

2.216

1.736

All together

0

639

1.035

1.636

951

2.299

2.438

1.993

5

Town planning concurrence with the project

For legal entities

0

265

604

215

125

154

159

136

For natural persons

0

324

581

874

597

793

802

553

All together

0

589

1.185

1.089

722

947

961

689

6

Information on the purpose of use of the lot

0

1.650

2.052

4.100

5.351

7.943

5.950

5.461

Procedure of issuing the licenses:

It has been noted that there is a procedure which is not in conformity with the social economic conditions. The system of work was laid in such way that it did not coincide with the requirements of the citizens, investors, users of the surrounding area, nor with the requirements of the profession. However, carrying out of such procedure on the local level is formally and legally lawful, still it is not satisfactory for the work and public relations.

Graphic presentation 1

Graphic presentation 2

Out of such paradoxical situation the realization in the space does not cause anyone’s satisfaction, and the procedures prove to be a constant and their own goal. There comes to the conflict between the City and the municipalities, which causes still greater confusion. That creates discontent with the citizens and investors and suspicions as regards the intentions and procedures of those administrations.

Structure of the requirements and scope of work:

At the times of the competence of the Municipalities, since 1992, the majority of licenses have been issued to large civil engineering companies. The construction was financed from the common funds (approximately 20000 apartment annually).

Graphic presentation 3

 

The procedure was respected, even though there was some sporadic illegal construction. The number of requests was quite smaller (work!). The planning documentation was subjected to the requirements of the large investors. In smaller number of cases there appear individual investors.

At the beginning of the 1990, with the developing crisis, crash of the system of present financing, the structure of the requests changed drastically.

Graphic presentation 4

There appear extra-institutional capital. So that the investors are not credited through the exhausted banks. There came to mass atrophy of all streams of work. It was rarely that the license was required prior to the legal construction; most frequently because of: sale of the building, threat of pulling down, the individual interest was dominant, (reconstruction of the attics, basements, laundry rooms, corridors, construction of smaller houses or business premises). Public structures and areas were very rarely built.

 

Graphic presentation 5

 

The absurdity of the consequences of the illegal construction and procedure are such that as per the average of issuing 2000 town planning licenses annually, it would take approximately 50 years for legalization of all illegally constructed structures in the last decade.

 

Information – publishing of procedure

A banner has been published with textual and graphic enclosures. The banner explains and directs the client towards competent authorities, explains steps in the work, scope of necessary documentation. In the form of a brochure the material was copied and distributed to the parties free of charge. The forms for submitting the requests were made and distributed. The parties had the opportunity to get informed about the course of the work. Unfortunately, the information and procedure presently existent, have not encouraged them.

The new concept of action within the service has been formed; the instruction for work with the clients has been prepared. The co-operation with the municipalities has been achieved in all stages of work (which has not been the case up till then). The Ministry, Municipal administration and municipalities have been made familiar with this material:

The work has been made public , however not on a satisfactory level. It is necessary to restructure the administration completely, to determine new and accurate competences, in order to establish the confidence of the public in the work of administration.

The right effect would be achieved if after having studied this enclosure you would convey your experience, from the practice and theory of work of the local administration. In that way you would help in purposeful adoption of the decisions which await us definitely.

 

 

See detail

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. International Manual of Planning Practice, Edition 1992, ISoCaRP, 1995, IsoCaRP
  2. Information accompanying the partie’s requirements submitted to the Town Planning Secretariat, Authors: Branislav Popovic, B.Sc.Arch; Jozef Stanglicki, B.Sc.Arch, with associates, (Town Planning Saloon, 200, Nis)
  3. Guests and Aliens, Saskia SASSEN, The NEWPRESS, New York 1999
  4. Planner’s Response to the Cultural problems Caused by Migration, IsoCaRP, 32nd Congress 1996
  5. Authors: Branislav Popovic, B.Sc.Arch, Svetlana Dimitrijevic

  6. Report on the Work of the Secretariat for Town Planning of the City Administration Competent for the Town Planning Affairs for the period 1997-1999 (survey since 1991), Assembly of the City of Belgrade, Branislav Popovic, Secretary of the Secretariat for Town Planning.
  7. Town Planning and Politics. School of Architecture of the University of Belgrade, 1995, Editor: dr. Nada Lazarevic
  8. Strategy of Town Planning in the Conditions of Uncertainty, School of Architecture of the University of Belgrade, 1996, editor dr. Nada Lazarevic-Bajes, mr. Miodrag Ralevic