The settlement network of Serbia: From the past to the prospective

Abstract

Serbia is suffering the consequences of crucial geopolitical changes during last decades, up to date. The very fact that the political position of Serbia has been under permanent changes in terms of borders and political systems of 7 (seven!) states (After the WW2 the states have been in sequel: NRJ, DFRJ, FNRJ, SFRJ, Serbia and Montenegro, and finally Republic of Serbia.) clearly indicates to permanent demographic changes, changes within the settlement network and transformations in settlement structures. From the geographic aspect the settlement is determined by: population duration (the presence or history of the settlement), organised and utilised functional areas and its territorial boundary in the narrower (border settlement) and broader sense (the boundaries of the settlement territory), the name, form and physiognomy, demographic, and internal and regional functional properties. Serbia was, at the end of the twentieth century, a centralised state at all levels, with the largest municipalities in Europe and no mid-level administration, with the exception of two provinces and the City of Belgrade. The new attempts with decentralisation of Serbia, two-level regionalisation (regions and districts), the new proclaimed policy of polycentrism and functional networking of municipalities around 24 cities could open new prospective for more dynamic system of settlement networking based on functional interests. The role of smaller towns and linking villages in wider urban systems should therefore be one of the major contributions to a more developed Serbia in the future.