Compact city or dispersed form reality: Banja Luka case study

Abstract

According to recent urban theory and research, many cities have transformed from formations with recognisable centres, periphery and precise edges to large, dispersed tissues that penetrate deep into their hinterland. Contrary to these findings and experience of dispersity, the ideology of a compact city dominates urban policy and planning practice. In the context of the City of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the research elaborates on the incompatibility example between the spatial strategies of compactness (defined in the Spatial plan of the City of Banja Luka) and the dispersed character of urban form in reality. The morphological study demonstrates different urban form patterns arising from the relationship between buildings, open spaces, and landscapes. In contrast to urban form characteristics, the planning documents analysis shows the spatial strategies of densification and compactness in the urban form planning narrative. The research contributes to the characterisation of the dispersed urban form by developing the methodological model founded on the landscape theory tradition. Moreover, the research affirms a more substantial consideration of urban form and urban morphology in spatial planning.