The urban block in Western Serbia boroughs in the 19th century

• Main Author: Kuzović Duško
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Belgrade - Faculty of Geography, Belgrade 2019-01-01
• Series: Zbornik Radova: Geografski Fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu
• Subjects: blocks of boroughs in Serbia; 19th-century urban development in Serbia; the boroughs of Western Serbia; a borough in Serbia; urbanism in Serbia
• Online Access: https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-7552/2019/1450-75521967015K.pdf
• ISSN: 1450-7552; 2334-9441

Boroughs in southwestern Serbia were created during the 19th century. Development began after 1830, primarily through the construction of planned settlements (Požega, 1832; Rogačica, 1839; Bajina Bašta,1858). Thereafter, the reconstruction of old settlements (Užice,1863) or settlements previously founded according to plans that were not respected began (Ivanjica, 1848). In the third phase, it was accessed by the regulation of the boroughs were formed on the routes of important roads (Kosjerić, 1892) or in addition to important church centres (Arilje, 1880). As one of the important elements of the settlement stands out the urban block. The paper research: the relationship between the block and the street/street front, block and plot, and block and neighborhood units. The geometry of the block in the planned townships was the result of a definition of the street network. Through the plans, the street network was first defined and the space between the streets was reserved for the block. The block was not the goal of the planning process but the traffic network. In the spontaneously formed towns, the main street was formed along the route of the roads. In Užice, through two plans (1863,1891) has been finished corrections of the geometry of the blocks, retaining the existing routes of the streets. The plotting within the block depends on the time and the way the borough was formed. In the plan of Požega (1832), only the network of streets and squares is defined (no parcels are planned within the block). The mistakes were partially corrected in the plan of Rogačica (1839), where the plots did not have the necessary site-related characteristics (centre zone of the settlement was not different from the periphery). The final improvement was made on the plan of Bajina Bašta (1858), where the plan envisages the parcel division into the block. The size of the blocks in Bajina Bašta was 75*100 or 75*150, in Arilje around 140*150, Kosjerić from 60*120 to 60*180 meters. The character and features of the boroughs urban block is necessary to understand as a result of the process of settlement development and the way of life of the local community. In this sense, a better knowledge of the way of forming certain elements of the block will lead to better and more efficient contemporary urban planning.