Regulating market-led urban expansion in the new master plans of Sofia and Belgrade

Abstract

Like most European cities, cities in South-east Europe (SEE) have been growing throughout the 20th century, however, since the end of the 1980s, the mechanisms of urban growth and expansion have changed radically: from development fully determined by central planning to market-led urban development. This paper examines how planning in large SEE cities is coping with the challenge to balance the action of the market and achieve planning goals relating to the form of urban growth and expansion. As case studies we analyse the master plans of Sofia and Belgrade and their implementation. We have two research questions: first, whether planning in the two cities has considered the role of the market when defining its objectives, measures and solutions regarding the forms of urban growth and the development of in suburban areas, and, second, whether planning has been able to influence the market or cooperate with it in order to achieve its objectives in suburban development.