Towards Collaborative Governance

The second in the series of public discussions about the conditions and problems of the planning system in Serbia, titled „In search for public interest: The reach of urban planning“, was held in CZKD on November 17, 2020, with audiences’ online participation.

The event was conceived as a seminar, with presentations by invited speakers followed by a discussion. The participants were experts in different fields – urbanism, urban sociology, spatial planning, public law, cultural policies and management – and representatives of public institutions, universities and civil society.

Presented research and discussions problematized the issues of defining and defending public interest in urban planning from the perspectives of different academic disciplines and professional activities. The participants focused on the following aspects, important for understanding the topic (in order of speaking):

Planning and public interest: Conditions and preconditions – Prof. dr Marija Maruna:

What is the purpose of planning and what is the role of the planner? Which are the characteristics of the two dominant models of planning (rational and collaborative) and how is public interest defined in them? When is spatial development observed as a product, and when as a process? What are the basic preconditions for planning in the contemporary democratic society and how are the relevant social forces understood? Which characteristics of the social and economic frameworks are important for the area of urban planning in Serbia today? Which are the problematic sides of the current planning model in Serbia?

Transformation of the institutions of defining and defending the public interest – Doc. dr Danijela Milovanović Rodić:

Why is there a discrepancy between the value systems, concepts and commitments of public institutions visible in our laws, strategies and plans, working methods and accomplished results in the domain of planning and management of spatial development? Why are the concepts of democracy, rule of law, participation and sustainable development at the same time increasingly present in the discourses of both our political elites and institutions of the system, and increasingly absent from the practices of development management? Where does the difference between the prescribed and the implemented come from and how to harmonize them? Is collaborative approach just another mantra, utopia, means of manipulation, or the only way out in defining and defending the public interest?

On behalf of the project team Milica Ristović presented the first two research steps of the case study Makiško polje.

Public goods and city space – Prof. dr Ksenija Petovar:

Can public goods survive without the active citizens and their associations? Which are the tendencies of usurpation of public goods if we know that in totalitarian regimes public goods lack legal and experts’ protection (left to the dictates and arbitrary decisions of the ruling groups), whereas in democratic regimes the rule of law and self-organized citizens constitute the fundaments of defense of public goods? Does the tendency of rise of authoritarian forms of government in Serbia increase the risks for public goods and accelerate their usurpation and destruction? Does that mean that in Serbia usurpation and destruction of public goods will continue as long as the citizens and their associations are not strong enough, loud enough and networking on a mass scale to become a threat for the authorities at all levels (local, national)? Likewise, does that mean that the authorities themselves would not protect and improve the public goods unless they are forced to do that by the citizens and their associations? Nota bene, establishing the rule of law is a default precondition.

On whose behalf do the urban planners work: Public interest in urban planning – Ana Graovac and dr Jasmina Ðokić:

What is public interest in urban planning? How is the question of public interest understood by planners, decision-makers, citizens and professional communities? Is public interest established by institutions through their requirements, by politicians through their decisions, or by wider public through informed debate?

Which are the topics of public interest which should be discussed? How are they discussed at the strategic levels, at the levels of specific regulations, and use of space? Can architectural competitions today successfully reconcile the disparate perspectives and levels of analysis pertaining to the public interest in Belgrade?

These questions were answered by using an example of preparation of urban plans for the banks of the river Sava, focusing on the current issue of Makiško polje water source.

Implementation and effects of the strategy of urban development – dr Siniša Trkulja:

Urban development strategy of the Republic of Serbia is a public policy document. How is public interest established in public policy documents? Who defines the public interest – experts, citizens, investors, politicians, officials? The experience of work on the first public policy document in the area of urban development at a state level in the period 2017-2019 answers this question. What were the challenges of working on that strategy? What are the challenges of its implementation? Work on the action plan for the first three years of its implementation is currently under way. How to reconcile public interest with other interests in a given area? What is the best way to secure constructive participation of the citizens in formulating and implementing public policies?

Environmental protection as public interest: Implementation of the Aarhus Convention – Assoc. prof dr Mirjana Drenovak Ivanović:

Why do legal cultures and legal traditions play key roles in the protection of rights to healthy, safe, ecologically balanced and sustainable environment? – What is the role of an individual in environmental protection conceived as public interest? – Has the eleven-year implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Serbia resulted in better informedness and adequate inclusion of the public in decision-making procedures pertaining to activities with environmental impact?

Toward plural futures: Cultural heritage as public good – Doc. dr Višnja Kisić:

Why has the concept of cultural heritage, since its „inception“ in the modern nation-states, been inextricably linked with the concept of public good? How does not only state law, but also public international law, protect cultural heritage as common good of the entire humanity? How has cultural heritage as public good and public interest been „defended“ in the last two hundred years, and how was it „usurped“ by public institutions and professions which should indeed protect public interest? Which are the contemporary problems and dilemmas pertaining to these legal and institutional frameworks? And, finally, what about some new approaches – more plural, democratic and participatory?

The discussion was moderated by Ljubica Slavković.

A more detailed analysis of the aforementioned topics will be issued in a separate publication „In search for public interest: The reach of urban planning“ (CZKD, 2021), which will also be available online at the platform Interactive Urbanism.