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Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Nis, Niš, Serbia
Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Nis, Niš, Serbia
Public space is a highlighted topic in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The City of Niš has undertaken the process of Voluntary Local Review, and selected, among others, to report on the progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 11, including the indicator related to public open space (POS). This paper explores the phenomenon of POS, with a particular focus on residential areas. Global practices are discussed to provide background on the issue, along with some particularities of Serbian context involving legislative and planning treatment of POS. Current state of POS is explored in the territory of the City of Niš, as well as exploitation and maintenance challenges. These findings are used to establish context-specific POS typology and discuss potential pathways towards inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable local communities.
This paper resulted from activities within two projects. Part of the research was conducted for the project Voluntary Local Reviews: Evidence for Greener, Resilient and Sustainable Urban Recovery in Eastern European and Central Asian Countries in Transition, implemented by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat and its partners UNECE, UNDESA and UCLG. Also, this research was supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, #GRANT No 7572, Reclaiming Public Open Space in Residential Areas: Shifting Planning Paradigms and Design Perspectives for a Resilient Urban Future - RePOS.
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