Understanding the City

Sparked by the increasingly intensifying spatial changes in Belgrade and the region and the (non)participation of citizens in creating their living environment, we find the enlargement of collective action necessary, as well as encompassing the wide range of guest and domestic programs at CZKD dealing with the topics of city development under one program umbrella.

In transitional and post-transitional societies in Belgrade and the region, space is one of the main resources of exploitation, while at the same time it never ceases to be a fundamental factor of society and quality of life. The questions of social development, social relations and quality of life are interconnected with the processes of spatial production, while civil action is connected to its understanding. In developing critical thinking and civil action, CZKD points out as necessary the understanding and conceiving of our cities’ development, exchange of knowledge and the development of dialogue and public discussions.

CZKD has many reasons for establishing this kind of program whole, since it is an organization dealing with culture and civil society, which has built it’s activity as a constructional and civil project, through conquering space and continuous public program. Invasive spatial changes in Belgrade imply a direct endangering and elimination of public spaces, which CZKD has been defying for the past 25 years, and intends to continue doing so in the years to come.

The program cycle “Understanding the City” consists of a series of guest programs at CZKD within the field of urban policies, urban development, architecture, architectural and cultural heritage, civil action and right to commons, and the CZKD projects directed at the mentioned topics, with a strong emphasis on the importance of (formal and informal) education.

Author and editor: architect / urban planning researcher Ljubica Slavković

* Within this program cycle, CZKD together with partners has lauched educative platform Interactive urbanism www.interaktivniurbanizam.com and together with Do.co.mo.mo Serbia has lunched a digital repository Archive of Modernism: https://www.arhivamodernizma.com/

*Cover illustration: Marija Maruna, for Toward Collaborative Planning project

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