Quasi-agricultural land use in southern peri-urban zone of Belgrade

Abstract

In intensely cultivated areas like those around Belgrade a considerable proportion of the land with a largely agricultural appearance (little less than 10%) is not a regular part of commercial farming. Locally this proportion can be much higher, especially in more urbanized areas and when the agricultural structure is relatively weak. The phenomenon is called 'quasi-agricultural' land use, because it looks like a (part of a) farm but strictly speaking isn't that. Compared to agricultural lots we are dealing with extremely small units (mostly less than 1 ha) though lots of more than 10 ha are also found. About a third of these lots are fields of agricultural land with no building on them. No conclusive evidence could be gathered as to how many of these fields are managed by hobby farmers or by nature conservation bodies, what proportion is in reality (though unofficially) part of a commercial farm. From field observations one would be tempted to say that most of these, as well as about 40% of the lots that contain both an agricultural field and a building, are managed by a commercial farmer. The answers to a questionnaire in one of the 6 municipalities included in the survey make us think, however, that commercial farmers make use of only a minor fraction of these lots. Scattered dwellings with no more than a yard or a garden, together with hobby farms which by definition include agricultural land are the most important types of quasi-agricultural land use. Although a considerable proportion of the holders of these lots are locally based and have family ties with commercial farmers in the area it is not wrong to consider the lots without agricultural land as 'hidden urbanization': occupied by people who derive most of their income from towns or undertake urban-like activities on their lots. Although disused farm buildings are given a new span of life through conversion this 'urbanization' process is strongly by most planning authorities: it involves the juxtaposition of potentially conflicting types of land use. Besides, much of this scattered urbanization is found to take place in relatively new buildings, which never had an agricultural function, despite the difficulties of getting planning permission for them. The study shows that hobby farming takes up about 2% of the presumably agricultural areas in Serbia, probably even less. In the light of the need to reduce agricultural surpluses it sound like a viable proposition to start encouraging this form of land use. It hardly conflicts with commercial farming and would be less of a burden to public funds than set-aside arrangements and the like.

U prigradskim zonama velikih gradova sve je uočljivija pojava da se zemljište koje se u katastru vodi kao poljoprivredno, koristi u drugačije svrhe. Ovo kvazi-poljoprivredno korišćenje zemljišta rezultat je procesa urbanizacije ruralnih područja, a karakteristični vidovi namene su stanovanje, poslovanje, vikend-izgradnja, te drugi načini korišćenja zemljišta karakteristični za relativno male udaljenosti od gradskih aglomeracija, uvećanu vrednost i frekvenciju prometa zemljištem, kao i socijalno-ekonomske i kulturološke promene u sistemu vrednosti među vlasnicima. Istraživanjem su obuhvaćena 3438 poseda na 6 izabranih lokacija južno, jugoistočno i jugozapadno od Beograda.