An unhygienic Roma enclave at the Aleksinac town with crowded houses and narrow streets and with a very poor infrastructure.
This slum under the Gazela Bridge in Belgrade was formed of “barracks”; Roma usually construct such type of houses with non-building materials.
Top right: The „Partaja“ area with narrow and deep parcels constructed according the Building Law 1932, which has been inhabited by Roma and other poor people who move from villages to towns after the Second World WarI. Small flats usually comprising a room and a kitchen have been built with solid materials. Some of these areas exist in Serbian cities today, which is presented at top right photos.
Old city mahala is usually a compact group of houses situated on very small parcels, where domestic life is mixed with economic activities. Narrow streets and alleys form an irregular block pattern. This type of settlement usually originates from end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century and could be seen in Southern Serbia. “Partaja” is a very narrow and deep parcel where houses (mostly composed of a single room + kitchen) form a row on one parcel side. The yard is in the front of the houses, and toilets are at the end of parcel. “Partaja” originated in the first half of the 20th century Central Serbia and was a way of solving pro-poor housing not only for Roma, but also for general population. Unhygienic settlement, inhabited also with general population as well as with Roma, come from second half of the 20th century and could be seen all over the country. The main feature is that poor houses were building mostly with building materials, but settlement doe not have infrastructure. Slum is the worst type of settlement, inhabited with extremely poor Roma. Lack of communal infrastructure and the use of nonbuilding materials for “barrack” home construction are some of features. This type originates in the last decade of the 20th century. Part of an old village now included into city is a type very similar to unhygienic settlement. The only difference is the plot size, which is a remnant of the relatively spacious yards and gardens from the previous era of rural life. This type dates back to the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Suburban settlements could have characteristics of any the previously described types. It could be a group of non-living containers (Krusevac), small ghetto formed at an old agricultural base (Bangladeš, Novi Sad18), or IDP camp (Salvatore, Bujanovac) 18
NGO Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization, Novi Sad, started few years ago with upgrading living conditions in Bangladeš. City of Novi Sad accepted this initiative and work today on repairing infrastructure, flats etc.
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