If you should read the "blood picture" city streets. The deadlines for works are most often missed, some beyond measure, so it is often forgotten when which construction site should be closed. If fortune favors the citizens of Belgrade, and the works are brought to an end, most of the completed projects are very quickly transferred to the phase of overhaul and renovation because they are badly tailored.
In that Belgrade became one big one construction site, both in the center and on the outskirts, its residents can see for themselves every day on their way to work, while walking or driving. Instead of the planned dynamics of works that correspond with the vision and the direction in which Belgrade is built and developed during the calendar year, we witness spontaneous works and short-term solutions. Nevertheless, some regularities can be observed despite the cacophony of city decision-making and the seemingly chaotic state of urban development.
THE CAPITAL IS SPREADED WITH DUST AND MUD
Along with the works, the citizens of Belgrade are also faced with side effects that prevent the regular functioning of the city. Rough works are accompanied by large layers of dust that fall on passers-by, the roads are muddy due to poor security, mortar is scattered everywhere, and trucks transporting rubble and waste often do so without the protection of tarpaulins. Protective fences on construction sites are more of an incident than a rule. On the other hand, the capital is increasingly slovenly and neglected, which does not befit the history and reputation of the city that succeeded Singidunum.
In all neuralgic points of the capital, such works are visited and regularly reported on by several citizens, among them Sanja Solarević, an activist and councilor in the Savski venac Municipality Assembly. She emphasizes that dust is a side effect of every construction site, but that the noise of the works and damage to the existing infrastructure, as well as non-compliance with the law, are a much bigger problem.
"We have an example where the residents of Mišarska Street were without water for several days in February 2024 because the contractor damaged the water pipes during the construction of a seven-story building in that street. The justification for the illegal work that led to the accident is, ironically, an emergency intervention due to a failure of an underground electric cable that was not there at all," explains the "Vremena" interviewee. According to her, construction is often carried out at the expense of the public interest, as in the case of the destruction of green areas, which, as a rule, are the first to suffer.
"In Belgrade, illegal, improperly marked and unsecured construction sites are becoming more and more common. The most common, but not the only, drawback is the absence of a prominent construction site sign. This sign, by law, must contain important information such as information about the investor, the responsible designer, and the contractor," our interlocutor explained clearly.
photo: marija jankovićWITHOUT PLAN, FENCE AND CONCERN FOR PEDESTRIANS AND DRIVERS: Bruise and shame that will never end - reconstruction of Bezistan on Terazije;...
DUST AND BREAKED-DOWN FENCE
There are numerous examples of the capital's refusal to adapt the works to the norms prescribed by the government. One of them, Bezistan Pass, is located a few hundred meters from the office of Mayor Aleksandar Šapić. This passage, officials say, was left without a ceiling under controlled conditions last year because it was not safe. In the meantime, the debris that fell on the benches and concrete then remained in the same place and in the same condition to this day, and the entire area is surrounded by a protective fence that is broken and dented. Instead of a solution, Bezistan, which was once a symbol of the city center, is now a ruined space left to decay.
Sanja Solarević assesses that the construction is destroying the cultural heritage of Belgrade, which is already at risk, and that the institutions that remain silent are responsible for this. "Despite the lack of power, the defense of the public interest is also possible and the proof of that is the great victory of the tenants of Knez Miloš 44 and Vojvoda Milenko 13", reminds the interlocutor of "Vremena". Then the republican urban inspection confirmed that the urban project against which the tenants protested had numerous irregularities.
A CLOCK IN A FIGHT WITH TIME
That the situation with city projects is alarming is most illustratively confirmed by the installation of a clock on Republic Square. Pompously announced as the return of the symbol of the city, with a unique appearance, weighing several tons and worth 100.000 euros, the clock installed at the end of February broke down after only five days. It is even more devastating and sobering to learn that the clock mechanism that the workers had to repair by hand is worth around five million dinars. As of this writing, the hands and mechanism have not been returned to the central town square.
While leaders have promised that the clock will be able to automatically switch from winter to summer time and vice versa, other issues are more important to taxpayers. In addition to the price of 100.000 euros, which many doubted, the dilemma arises as to how it is possible for another expensive project to have shortcomings already at its start. For Stefan Simić, a councilor in the Belgrade City Assembly, setting and breaking a clock in just a few days is a paradigm of the state of affairs in the capital.
"When we put everything together, the clock on Trg republike is perhaps a mirror of how Belgrade works at the moment. Personally, as a councillor, I did not believe that it happened, but when I saw that the city's urban planner Marko Stojčić confirmed that it was true, that the clock would be repaired under the valid guarantee, we should not be surprised when bigger things happen. This clock is a canopy in miniature, proof of how projects are implemented in the capital. In any case, it is a confirmation of the thesis that Aleksandar Šapić sees his job as a hobby, and that the people of Belgrade are his hostages", explains Simić for "Vreme".
According to him, it is not serious that the city has absolutely no strategy and reminds of the mayor's promise that a lighthouse will be installed near the BIGZ building. "Maybe his lamp will break on the first day, we'll just have to see," adds our interlocutor.
photo: marija janković...works at the corner of Kosovska and Vlajkovićeva streets in the center of Belgrade;...
TRAFFIC IS LIKE DRAWING MATCHES
The issue of the lighthouse and the new roundabout is again paying attention to what the government wants from traffic in the capital. When it comes to the expansion of the traffic network and the efficiency of projects, it cannot be said that Belgrade has had a vision in recent years. Not far from the office of the mayor Aleksandar Šapić, in the very center of the city, the works were completed in Nušićeva Street, which became a two-way street for traffic. It was also decided to ban left turns into Makedonska, which caused great dissatisfaction among drivers. At the time of writing this text, the works in Kosovska Street, which have been going on for weeks, are still not finished. Belgrade has become a real core of infrastructure works, testing the patience of drivers and passengers.
However, one of the most concrete indicators of the crisis of ideas is the case at Autokomanda, near the highway. Three and a half years ago, the City planned to create a "park and ride" system at that location. The goal of the investment was to create a network of parking places where citizens would leave their cars and still use public transport, which would stimulate less use of private vehicles. The contract for the project, worth 214 million dinars, was awarded to the well-known company "WD Concord West" owned by the president of KK Crvena zvezda Željko Drčelić. The city also released a video of the new parking spaces and invited drivers to come, but instead of cars, excavators arrived. The places for drivers where the "South" station is currently being built hastily were demolished.
Stefan Simić from the Movement of Free Citizens has no doubt that this project is proof of the absence of a plan, which was ultimately paid for by the citizens with their own money. "The city has no idea, nor a short-term or long-term plan on how it should develop. That's why we have rebalances two months after the adoption of the budget. The 'Park and Ride' project was built and then demolished, but to this day we don't know how much it cost and where the material went. Not far from there, you also have Kumodrashka Street, for the reconstruction of which 70 million dinars were invested and which is already falling apart. When someone says that there is no money, it is clearly a lie. Money there is, but it is not distributed in the way it should be", underlined the councilor.
photo: marija janković...how to get to the Assembly - entrance from Kosovska street
THERE IS MONEY, BUT IT IS WASTED
International and domestic experts confirm that projects are implemented with discretionary decisions, and money is squandered to the limit of liquidity. The new year began with the news that the budget of the City of Belgrade will be under the supervision of the IMF due to non-domestic operations. The Government of Serbia has agreed to put the city's finances under monitoring, and we will find out more details in the summer when the report is before the competent institutions. Just in the summer, but in 2025, domestic auditors noticed deficiencies and abuses in the financial operations of the City of Belgrade, which is why they proposed the dismissal of Mayor Šapić. Until then, the citizens of Belgrade have to avoid holes in the asphalt and run away from clouds of dust.
