The impact of geopolitical processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina on urban development and cultural identity

Abstract

The historical-geographical development of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) in the area of the fusion of Western and Eastern Christian civilizations and the Orient resulted in ethnic and religious heterogeneity, occasional political crises and ethnic conflicts that shaped the cultural identity and character of the entire development. BH was separated from the Yugoslav community in the conditions of the civil war. After the war in 1995, a complex administrative-territorial organization of the new state was established, based on the ethnic and religious affiliation of the population. At the same time, the transition of the socialist social system took place, as well as other geopolitical processes and social changes in the Western Balkans initiated by globalization. The paper focuses on cultural disintegration and changes in urban identity and development of cities through the analysis of the six largest urban centers as indicators of social changes in BH. The results of the analysis suggest that there has been a cultural differentiation of society, which is reflected in changes in the ethnic and religious structure of the population and their spatial distribution. Economic stagnation and depopulation of urban centers, as a consequence of the civil war and social reforms, were confirmed by a comparative analysis of statistical indicators of economic and demographic development. Cultural changes were determined by relevant scientific methods and approaches: historical-geographical method, comparative analysis of statistics of demographic indicators and changes in spatial distribution, ethnic and religious structure of the population, and economic changes by analysis of employment in sectors of the economy. The scientific results of previously published papers devoted to some of the mentioned problems, primarily economic development and population dynamics in BH and its large cities, were also taken into account. In this paper, social changes are observed through the cause-and-effect relationships of geopolitical and cultural processes (political, economic and cultural disintegration), social and economic reforms (ownership transition and deindustrialization) and their manifestations on cultural identity and the development of urban centers.