The credibility of illegal and informal construction: Assessing legalization policies in Serbia

Abstract

This paper explores the legalization of mass illegal and informal construction (IIC) in Serbia (with particular reference to the city of Belgrade). It analyzes the credibility of the socialist and post-socialist institutional frameworks on IIC predicated upon the “credibility thesis” – an evolutionary understanding of institutions and their path-dependent development. In the empirical analysis, the measures of state policies were interpreted, assessed, and summarized in accordance with the Credibility Scales and Intervention (CSI) checklist. During the 1960s, a restrictive urban policy and the impossibility of the socialist model to provide affordable residential space due to fast urbanization, IIC consequently became an alternative method for meeting housing needs. In the 1990s, the socialist development model was transformed into one that was post-socialist. A new wave of IIC ensued due to the privatization of land-use and tenancy rights, and its vast scale has been a key driver for accommodating flows of immigrants after the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During this period, the Serbian State stimulated policies that are more credible to facilitate, formalize, and condone IIC. It is concluded that IIC in Serbia cannot be fully averted while legalization policies have, to date, been unsuccessful and non-credible.