What Happens in a Stagnant City

what happens in a stagnant city the post-socialist transformation of Podgorica, Montenegro

slovenia croatia

BiH serbia

montenegro

Christine Doherty MArch + MUD Washington University in St. Louis Spring 2017

kosovo

italy

macedonia albania

a research document funded on behalf of Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts

the post-socialist transformation In World War II, Podgorica was bombed seventy-two times, practically razing the entire city to the ground.

After liberation, the Social Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began rebuilding the city, adding infrastructure and mass housing, but lacking enough integrity to accommodate the mass influx of people in the decades to come with the breakup of the Republic. The Yugoslav Wars brought nearly 300,000 refugees and internally displaced people to Podgorica, according to the UN Refugee Agency, making Montenegro the most burdened of all the exYugoslav countries, but the past decade has shown a constant decline in population and industry as the economy changed over time.

As a result, Podgorica is a unique situation regarding not only the typical challenges associated with transforming a socialist state into a republic (e.g. de-industrialization and demographic decline), but also adapting to a marketoriented democratic system and its struggle to join the expanding European Union.

podgorica

1

contents The Second World has dissolved, and while great efforts are focused to the Global South, post-socialist cities like Podgorica can offer other emerging solutions for urban development despite stagnation. This research document analyzes the transformation of Montenegro’s capital in attempt to understand the comprehensive approaches done by the United Nations and federal government in relationship to incremental tactics.

fall of communism what was the second world

3

yugoslav breakup

4

montenegro independence

5

disparity through transition podgorica

6

socialist city versus post-socialist city

7

the top-down

8

what happens to stagnant cities coping with urban shrinkage

9

incremental tactics

10

the connection

11

conclusions

13

references

15

2

fall of communism

what was the second world The Second World refers to the former industrial socialist states, largely encompassing territories under the influence of the Soviet Union. The concept was a construct of the Cold War in reference to geopolitical alliances, but became a category of countries between poverty and prosperity, many of which are now capitalist states.

While the terminology does not connote wealth or economy, there is a drastic difference in the stability of east European countries and their western neighbors.

1975 territorial construct first world second world third world

While the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism meant a shift in the world balance of forces, decommunism did not treat every country equally. State-run enterprises in socialist countries had little or no interest in producing what customers wanted, which resulted in shortages of goods and services. In the early 1990s, the general view was that there was no precedent for moving from socialism to capitalism, and very few institutions had interest in a complete transition to a market economy. As a result, many countries in Eastern and Southern Europe remained poor for many decades.

Montenegro faced various difficulties in the transition from a socialist economy to a market-based economy with its fight for independence and its place in the Balkan Wars of the 20th century. Its economy today is greatly impacted by its place in the former Yugoslavia.

3

the yugoslav breakup

1912

Balkan League

1918

Kingdom of Serbs,

2006

Independence

Prior to WWI, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina had been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire; Serbia and Montenegro existed as an independent state.

2016

Disputed Territories

In 2008, while under UN administration, Kosovo declared independence. However, according to the official Serbian policy, Kosovo is still an internal autonomous region, same as Vojvodina. According the UN, Kosovo is a Republic and Vojvodina is an autonomous province In 2012, Montenegro started accession negotiations with the EU. In 2015, Serbia is expected to start accession negotiations as well.

After WWI, the compo independent federatio and Slovenes.

After Milosevic begins h agrees to form a new sta and Montenegro. In May narrowly passed. Monte

Croats, and Slovenes

onent nations combined in 1918 to form an on known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats,

his UN trials for crimes against humanity in 2002, the nation ate, replacing Yugoslavia with a loose federation called Serbia y 2006, Montenegro held a referendum for independence which enegro became the 192nd member of the UN on June 26.

1929

Monarchy of Yugoslavia

1991

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

In 1929 the monarchy becomes a communist republic under Prime Minister Tito, now called the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia.

It was composed of six republics: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Montenegro.

Slovenia and Croatia declare independence in 1991, and Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declare independence in 1992.

Serbia and Montenegro form the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with Slobodan Milosevic as the leader, but this government was not recognized by the United States as the successor state to the former Yugoslavia.

4

montenegro independence Other than disputed territories, political corruption was a major factor in the division of the former Socialist Republic. While the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, was headed on a downward spiral politically with leader Slobodan Milosevic, Montenegro realized the pragmatic opportunities that came with independence.

Economic improvement was expected, especially because former Montenegran Prime Minister Milo Ä?ukanović blamed the Serbian government for the economic decline, but the standard of living remained unchanged.

Despite implementation of reform laws and privatization of most of publicly owned companies, progress was slow and economic lethary followed.

economic lethargy The European Union had a GDP growth average of 1.8% in 2016. Only three east European countries--Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia--exceeded this amount with 3% GDP growth. The remaining countries struggled to pass 1%, despite many price declines, a devalued euro, and falling interest rates.

The main reason for the lethargy is the decline in eastern Europe’s labor force. The working age population shrank by around 10 million people in the period of 1990 to 2015, with the prospect of similar decline in the next 25 years because of low birth rates and increased emigration. Labor mobility increased greatly after the 2004 and 2007 expansions of the EU toward the east. After peak migration in 2009, the total number of residents from eastern Europe residing in the EU-15 states was 4.8 million.

By March 2016, over 6.3 million east European nationals emigrated to EU states, leaving the so-called Second World without a sufficient labor force. population growth rate (%) european union east europe (non-eu)

separate agenda Among the Balkan countries in the EU accession process, Montengro is already a few steps ahead other potential candidate countries. As of June 5, 2017, Montenegro became the 29th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO states the accession is aimed at encouraging democratic reform, bolstering trade and security and ultimately preparing the country for European Union membership. But the real goal may be to bar Russian warships from Adriatic ports, as Montenegro is the last country along this coastal expanse to join NATO. The invitation to NATO greatly divided the country not only for the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia, but also for Montenegro’s relationship with Russia. Moscow has already banned Montenegrin wine imports and has called on its citizens to stay away from the country, who account for some 30% of direct foreign investment. montenegro GDP growth rate (%)

montenegro foreign investment growth rate (% of GDP)

de-industrialization Montenegro’s economy has shifted from primarily industry to service sector, relying its coastal cities and tourism to fund the rest of the country. Yet as Podgorica is not a tourist town, industry has left and it is looking for sustainable income, given that its relationship with Russia may be in jeapordy.

5

disparity through transition

river commercial city parks medical undeveloped

podgorica Although considered medium by European standards, Podgorica is the largest city in Montengro, housing nearly a third of the entire country on 10% of its land. Most of the city’s urbanization occurred after World War II, when Podgorica became an industrial center for Yugoslavia. In 1981, Podgorica’s GDP per capita was 87% of the Yugoslav average. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav wars, and the UN-imposed sanctions, Podgorica’s industries were left without traditional markets, suppliers, and available funds. This, combined with typical transition pressures, led to a decline of the industrial base where many industries collapsed leaving thousands of citizens unemployed.

Few industries remained in the city, but Podgorica has not seen the success it had in its days as the Rupublic’s capital in the time of Yugoslavia.

6

the transformation The transition from a centrally planned to a market-based economy offered significant opportunities to increase the economic prosperity and social well-being of urban residents through more democratic governance. For many post-socialist cities with enough density and industry, the transition manifested those cities into centers of economic growth and service expansion (i.e. Belgrade and Bucharest).

socialist

an egalitarian society, with territorial equalization of living conditions ideology a centrally planned economy, with priority given to productive economic development and public property heavy industry is the tool for fast modernization housing is a social service

processes city planning is a part of centralized economic and regional planning, with an absence of a real, local selfgovernment state ownership, with total control of means of production economic activity is based on large, state-run enterprises, with a very limited private sector state allocation and control of housing with low rents and quasi-ownership rights for tenants

city homogeneous functional areas, with no suburbanization urban layout is limited to city center, tertiary functions, and residential blocks periphery regions consist of large industrial areas and extensive green spaces housing is typically high-rise concrete block structure, with poor infrastructure and services due to high rate of rural-to-urban migrations

However, many cities without sustainable industry, like Podgorica, experienced the negative reorecussions such as rapid social polarization, poverty, and environmental degradation. Without an economy more dependent on agriculture and resource-based industries, Podgorica’s high rate of urbanization did not work in its favor.

post-socialist

stratified society with growing social inequalities and differences in living conditions ideology market economy with neo-liberal approaches, with priority given to supranational institutions and private property de-industrialization and out-sourcing housing is commodity

processes Re-establishment of local self-government and city planning privatization of enterprises growing role of smaller enterprises, with the private sector taking the predominant role abandonment of state housing construction with priority given to private developers that leads to diversification of flats and increased rent restitution of land and dwelling, and reduction of tenant rights with increasing housing costs

city growth of city periphery and suburbanization growth of tertiary functions brings specialization and de-centralization of regular activity sudden industrial blight brings unemployment abandoned infrastructure along urban fringes decrease in housing construction in favor of higher-class construction of private homes in enclaves outside city center (which then encourages urban-to-rural migration to the suburbs) 7

the top-down Since the city’s sprawl beginning in the 1960s, various institutions implemented different tactics to deal with issues of housing, government, and culture. While many of these buildings were not built as resilient factors, many remain as prominent features of Podgorica’s cityscape today.

housing A housing shortage existed all throughout the Eastern Bloc in 1975, especially after a severe cutback in state resources available for housing. Many cities in the former Yugoslavia were filled with large system-built apartment blocks. Housing construction not only suffered from considerable organizational problems, but also quality of finishes and sanitary conditions. Only 85% of these housing units had indoor plumbing and heating, and 90% held more than one person per room.

center city housing

blok 5 housing

institution The United Nations and other large entities also played a significant role in shaping Podgorica’s cityscape. In an effort to re-establish the city as an economic center, business, commercial, and institutional construction began rapidly in the late 90s. This new development brought new city parks, plazas, and even a zero-emissions office building. The UN, the British Embassy, and other external funding organizations are continuously planning strategic investments to further the city’s development as the country’s capital.

UN eco building + millennium bridge

university of montenegro

culture In an effort to bring more people to the city, government officials also began reshaping the city with new public spaces and buildings, like a cultural center, which was a new program type to the city. However the issues with many of these quickly-constructed buildings were the same: many times the funding went dry and the construction was cheap. Podgorica’s population boom came to an abrupt halt and quality of life could not improve.

city community center

8

what happens to stagnant cities

top-down center city improvements

avanturisticki park

UN eco building

millennium bridge

university park

downtown

mixed-use high rise

old town

main bus station

sports field complex

airport

coping with urban shrinkage Urban shrinkage implies a city lost at least 10% of its population in ten years. Not only does population decrease mean a high unemployment rate and industrial decline, but also the degradation of the built environment. In Podgorica’s case, this meant the many housing units built in the Yugoslav era that quickly began deteriorating.

The city began to focus on revitalization efforts for the degraded housing quarters, as well as the post-industrial areas in the city by changing their current functions. With adaptable spaces, the city is more likely to progress.

9

bottom-up center city improvements

small business As the prevalence of vacant buildings is apparent in many post-socialist cities, the past couple decades have shown a transition in use. By changing the lower level of the concrete block structure, residents of Podgorica can open personal shops, in addition to chain and department stores. Many of these small business are restaurants, hair salons, and clothing stores.

informal market Food stores throughout the city are plentiful and relatively inexpensive, given the country has a de-valued euro. But the agriculture industry has sustained many Montenegrins through its turbulent history, and it has become very common for the people to sell their surplus informally, at markets throughout the city or a stand near their home.

non-planned communal space People will always find a place to gather whether it is in a specifically designed space for people or not. Podgorica has many space and new parks which the people also use regularly, but certain undeveloped places in the city have become an informally-recognized public gathering space.

incremental tactics Large-scale development projects are rarely a negative for any city, and Podgorica drastically needed infrastructural improvements for all its suffering in the 20th century. The city is currently underway for transportation development involving a more direct route from Belgrade, Serbia, to the Montenegro’s coastal city, Bar. This, among other comprehensive projects are expected to increase Podgorica’s population and economy.

But many issues the city still faces--sanitation, local transportation, amenities--need to be scaled from a local level. Regardless of what Montenegro provides for its city residents, the people of Podgorica need to create and empower their own lives.

10

the connection Adaptable and diverse spaces are always ideal for any scale of urban planning in order to respond to the environment and its people. Yet a key factor in designing successful and connected cities will always begin with people--not necessarily their response, but the amount within a given space.

Regardless of the number of well-intentioned changes Podgorica has underwent, its population density has continuously been its downfall. On average in the past twenty years its population growth rate has been listed as 0%. Without a densifying city, Podgorica cannot experience the phenomena of urbanization that seems to catalyze a city’s success. People bring commercialism, localized investment, social policy, and hopefully a stable economy. Podgorica has the right elements to welcome urbanization, but the connection between these elements will help the city transform from stagnation to growth. commercialism

university

compact neighborhoods

transportation

11

the connection The four elements--commercialism, university, compact neighborhoods, and transportation--have been identified for their systematic impact on a city. These factors, among others, can be utilized in a way not only to connect people to their needs, but also initiate resilience from a local level. A city attracts people with economic opportunity, but economic stability comes from a city connected through regional systems, education, community-based planning.

regional systems The most direct interpretation of connection implies functioning public transportation within and around the city. Podgorica’s urban area is only 108 km2 (42 square miles) so a large-scale urban transport system is not necessary as its several bus lines suffice. While Podgorica accounts for 30% of Montenegro’s population, the city holds about 40% of the country’s entire workforce, and many of these people rely on public transportation.

Yet a city needs to be connected throughout its region, not only within the confines of the metro area. Currently underway is the Belgrade-Bar Motorway, which will connect the Serbian capital Belgrade, and Montenegro’s main seaport Bar. Along with Italy, Montenegro and Serbia are lobbying to list the route with the Pan-European Corridors.

With increased trade and industry going through Podgorica, more people, investments, and tourism will be entering the city thereby strengthening the economy.

With general access going through the city, people can accommodate their needs and begin business at a local level. Construction began in 2015 and is expected to finish in 2020.

belgrade-bar nudo-drune current inter-state

education As a higher education institution, the University of Montenegro is also a public entity that has access to networks of knowledge, power, and finance. While its primary role is to deliver higher education and routes to better employment, a university is a spatially-integrated catalyst for urban regeneration. The key drivers for any university’s development are lack of space, competition with other institutions to attract and retain the best staff and students, and the need to generate diverse additional income streams, especially through research translation and professional training opportunities. Effective spatial development, which generates a healthy relationship with surrounding urban areas and communities, and other urban agents (city councils, local enterprise partnerships, third sector groups, and regional development agencies), is increasingly recognized by higher education institutions as fundamental to achieving all these goals.

The university was founded in 1974 but already has over 21,000 students and made several humanitarian efforts to the city. One program the university began recently is “Blood is not Water,” which is voluntary blood donation. As a large university, any outreach program will benefit the city, but to coincide the university’s development with Podgorica’s, an academic and urban relationship must be respected by all actors.

community In Montenegro, planning is done at three different levels, corresponding to a hierarchical structure of planning and approval process: spatial plans, general urban plans and detailed urban plans. While spatial plans exist for 83% of the territory, the general urban plans cover about 5% of the territory in most of the 21 municipalities, while detailed urban plans exist in about one third of the municipalities with general urban plans.

Similar to other countries in transition, this type of rigid planning has become a significant barrier. Most municipalities, like Podgorica, have resorted to amendments of older plans and ad hoc changes responding to development pressures (mostly for large-scale commercialism and high-end housing). Typically, the complex legal stipulations involved hinder social improvements to the built environment.

Though the local government may not be at fault for unclear frameworks regarding development, the complicated manner for local improvement needs to be resolved--specifically in terms of affording more sitespecific urban planning. If not, the lack of transparency unintentionally acts as an incentive for illegal building.

By re-designing Podgorica’s comprehensive land management to include local actors at a neighborhood scale, city residents can hold active roles and responsibilities in shaping their own intimate communities.

Already Montenegrans have been diffusing the border of federally-planned and ad hoc building with social infrastructure. The balance of community life shows the government needs to be proactive, not reactive to the people.

restaurants

schools

The illegal housing, or informal settlements, in Podgorica does not necessarily mean shelter for the poor. The informality of the development is only used to overcome the complicated permit procedures and unrealistic land management constraints.

12

conclusions In 2001 the United Nations General Assembly committed that “Everyone will have adequate shelter that is healthy, safe, secure, accessible and affordable and that includes basic services, facilities and amenities, and will enjoy freedom from discrimination in housing and legal security of tenure.” Specifically, the agenda included improving informal settlements in growing cities. As a bearer of IDPs in the post-Socialist transformation, Podgorica continues to face the issue of informality, and recognizes its place in the urban revolution of globalization.

informality In tandem with the lost concept of Second World comes the misuse of the term Third World, or now what is considered the Global South. Informal settlements and city growth in Asia, Africa, and South America have been linked together for their exclusive geographies and acute urban boundaries. An informal settlement in Medellin, Colombia for example, is clearly two-dimensional: the housing infrastructure matches the hourglass social structure extremities.

However post-Socialist countries have a different concept of informality. In a Socialist city, housing was a given as a universal right with the government providing a multitude of concrete housing blocks for all its residents.

In the transition to a market-oriented economy, along came the commodification of housing and amenities.

Because Podgorica’s capricious history involved abrupt change of policy, the city never incorporated any type of legalization process for the thousands of immigrants who came within a decade. This is not to say the city’s informal settlements are cheaply hand-made structures; most people went through local regimes to build shelter when the communist housing offered no more room. The current issue Podgorica needs to resolve with its informal settlements comes to a matter of policy and control, not infrastructure.

informal housing underway

growth Yet to build capacity does not equate building a city. Podgorica is making comprehensive decisions with the ideal to draw in more people, but the city’s current economic standing proves the investment will not equal the return. The proper institutions have already been placed throughout the city, such as up-to-standard health care, high-level education, proper transit, and space for entrepreneurship. Plans for upper class housing (shown below) and expensive retail space do not serve as connectors for these urban elements. Not only is the construction typically time and financially consuming, they do not offer guaranteed sustainable resilience.

Podgorica needs improved housing, but with the shrinking middle class, this type of construction can only appeal to a small percentage of city residents. With the myriad concrete block housing available due to population loss, there is little incentive to drastically upgrade quality of life for an unobtainable price.

re-revolution Podgorica is not a quickly developing city, but nonetheless it is part of a phenomena affecting cities worldwide.

Globalization is creating networks across nations with capital, goods, and services, but it is also fueling global inequality. The revolutions across the world in the late twentieth century proved the city is a medium for social change, as well as an instigator for twenty-first century challenges.

Former Soviet bloc countries had their revolutions in the transition to post-Socialism. The creation of a marketoriented democratic system worked favorably for some cities and catalyzed urban growth. The dynamics involved for success in these cities were a balance of spatial and temporal networks that brought people and a new type of industry. Podgorica, similar to other cities in Eastern Europe, has had turbulent changes in population, policy, and economics in the past few decades which has adjourned in stagnation. In order to activate the city, Podgorica needs to identify the factors already sustaining the city, and instill new connectors for economic growth. With the institutions already put in place working with neighborhood-scaled programs, Podgorica can not only empower its people, but encourage others to start their life in the city.

A re-revolution of Podgorica means acknowledging its history and relationships with the former Yugoslav states, but also inciting new relationships at a local level, as well as across nations. Situated in the beautiful country of Montenegro, the capital city can demonstrate the social, economic, and even ecological implications involved in a transition city, and how comprehensive and incremental tactics must work together for a new revolution.

13

montenegro: podgorica’s backyard

references

karver cafe (former turkish bath)

Brugmann, Jeb. Welcome to the urban revolution: how cities are changing the world. New York: Bloomsbury Press,

2010. Print.

Clark, David. Urban world, global city. London: Routledge, 2010. Print.

“Eastern Europe’s Lethargic Economies.” PIIE. N.p., 07 Feb. 2017. Web. 17 June 2017.

Edgar, Christopher. Self-made cities. New York: UN, 2009. Print.

Johnson, Glen. “Tiny Montenegro is about to become part of NATO. Here’s what you need to know.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2017. Web. 17 June 2017.

Judah, Tim. “History - World Wars: Yugoslavia: 1918 - 2003.” BBC. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 June 2017.

“Montenegro Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP - data, chart.” TheGlobalEconomy.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 \

June 2017.

Multpl. Montenegro GDP Growth Rate. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2017.

Shah, Jinita, comp. Planning sustainable cities: global report on human settlements 2009. London: Earthscan, 2009.

Print.

15

Подгорица a city in transition