- Stormwater Management as a Green Solution to Support Environmental Quality: A Case Study from Serbia    click here to open paper content883 kb
by    Sretovic, Visnja & Brkovic, Matija | visnja_sretovic@yahoo.com   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
We will present the project for the Kumodraz stream basin in Belgrade – one of the pioneering projects in Serbia that used sustainable stormwater management to protect the natural water cycle, enhancing ambient values and creating new public green-space.
Abstract
In the last decade, Serbia started to adjust its spatial development policies and programmes in
accordance with the climate change requirements and needs– a decision which has been backed up by
signing and ratifying the Kyoto protocol in 2007, and continuous work on harmonizing its regulation
with the EU standards. These efforts have given a new and to some extent different platform for
urban and spatial planning. The Spatial Development Plan of Serbia for the period 2010-2020,
National Strategy on Sustainable Development and other national development documents have placed
the problem of climate change among the major themes to focus on in the next decade.

Integrated urban water management is among the subjects that many countries have placed high on
their agenda when dealing with urban issues and climate change. The same is in Serbia. From the
point of view of urban development, the rainwater and its management is of particular importance,
and more and more often is getting in focus of professional attention. The issue has been explored
by hydrologists, urban planners, landscape planners and urban designers. It is considered as a
constituent with capacity to contribute to the overall urban quality, and effective component of the
adaptation and mitigation strategies and procedures.

A large number of Serbian settlements still use a combined sewer system, without separation, or any
treatment of rainwater. Concerning such a routine, there is a general awareness about the importance
of the rainwater harvesting and purification. Urban planners and designers are starting to talk
about the importance of urban stormwater as a resource for the creation of ambient qualities and new
public green-spaces, and some recent development programmes and strategies clearly illustrate the
ongoing change. New decentralized open small-scale systems for rainwater collection, use and
treatment, that keep urban stormwater runoff exposed as an ambiental value, and use of the existing
landscape as a tool for its successful integration, are very effective at minimising the impact of
climate change on the natural water cycle.

Although this approach is still in its inception in Serbia, it is gradually finding its way into the
urban and spatial plans. This paper will present the project for the rainwater system of the
Kumodraz stream basin in Belgrade, as one of the pioneering projects which has recognized the
importance of the new approach. The case of Kumodraz also serves as an example of the good practise
for other similar places in Serbia.
Keywords
stormwater, integrated planning, environmental quality
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