The impact of demographic processes on the functional urban regions' development in Serbia

Abstract

Based on the relevant theoretical and methodological approaches and settlement-demographic components, in this paper is determined a functional urban settlement structure in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Chronological overview of the changes in urban settlement`s population from the postwar period to the present was intended to show the relations between demographic processes and development of the functional urban regions, to determine the degree of spatial differentiation of the territory of the Republic of Serbia and to establish the trends of the settlement formation as one of the factors of spatial and regional development. Small functional urban regions (whose center consists of urban settlements with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants) are proposed as the instruments for decentralization of the territory of the Republic of Serbia. On the basis of current functional urban structure and spatial demographic polarization of the Republic of Serbia, generally are given the possible planning directions with the aim of rational regional development of the entire area.