New Belgrade: gray realm running into black‐and‐white by STEALTH.unlimited (Ana Dzokic and Marc Neelen)

New Belgrade today, from flickr by Luka Tomasevic New Belgrade ‐ New Belgrade (today over 300 000 inhabitants) has been iniated in 1947 in a symbolic act to become the capital of a new country – the Socialist Federave Republic of Yugoslavia*. While set‐up as a both prototypical as well as a breathtaking example of modernist planning, it has not been completed during the lifeme of Yugoslavia.

* from 1946 unl 1963 called the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, then renamed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Belgrade master plan 1951, on the le side New Belgrade planned from tabula rasa, from ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ construcon works 1948‐onwards, Palace of the Federaon and hotel Yugoslavia, and youth brigades, from ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ Palace of the Federaon in 1961, from ‘Novi Beograd: osporeni modernizam’ CK (Central Commiee of the Communist Party), completed in 1965, from ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ housing blocks 1 and 2, prefabricated construcon works, from ‘Novi Beograd: osporeni modernizam’ housing blocks construcon works, from ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ model according to realised and planned projects, from ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ students protest 1968, from weekly ‘Vreme’, 12/2008 New Belgrade central zone model, from ‘Novi Beograd: osporeni modernizam’ An Open City ‐ If incompleteness is one of the characteriscs of the open city, then the fact that New Belgrade has been le uncompleted by its socialist planners and developers qualifies it as an open city. But how does it work out when a city that is conceived in one socio‐polical system now gets ‘completed’ in another socio‐polical system? Does its openness prevail? unfinished blocks end 1970s, from ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ A Democrac Space ‐ The first wave of non‐regulated transformaons and infiltraons into the open spaces and structures of New Belgrade have been massive in number but small scale and individually driven. One could claim that they brought a democrasaon of use of the city structures and its land. petrol selling, self‐organisaon 1990s, photo Natasa Rajkovic hybrid public and private city transport, self‐organisaon 1990s (sll present today) wild housing on the city periphery, self‐organisaon 1990s, photo Bas Princen street trade along one of the New Belgrade boulevards, self‐organisaon 1990s street trade kiosk street trade solidificaon phase small scale trade facilies with the support of city government newcomer Chinese community takes over underused shopping center in the block 70 riverbanks occupaon by restaurants, clubs, recreaon facilies…, photo Bas Princen new concentraons, so called ‘flee market’ next to the railway staon New Belgrade A Grey Realm ‐ Belgrade’s grey realm is defined by the stretchability of its plans, regulaons and the economies that come with this. The grey realm of small‐scale semi‐legal intervenons paved the way for much larger and (in terms of access to parcipants) much more monopolisc developments. When this process is over – what sort of the city will it be? Will its greyness turn it gradually into black‐and‐white? ‘predatory’ economy monopolised development, 2009 ‘predatory’ economy office developments, 2009 former CK turns office building with a shopping mall, 2009 University village public‐private investment, 2009 University village public‐private investment, 2009 predatory economy along the highway, 2009 empty block – future building site, 2009 this presentaon has been made by STEALTH.unlimited (Ana Dzokic and Marc Neelen) for the second session of In Between held in Amsterdam on January 16 2009 black and white visual material sources: ‐ book ‘Beograd 1945‐1975’ , by Uros Marnovic and Branislav Stojanovic, published in 1978 in Belgrade ‐ book ‘Novi Beograd: osporeni modernizam’ (New Belgrade: Contested Modernism), by Ljiljana Blagojevic, published in 2007 in Belgrade ‐ weekly Vreme, 27 December 2008 all the images without credits by STEALTH, under cc by‐nc‐sa