Belgrade’s urban transformation during the 19th century: a space syntax approach
Abstract
This paper focuses on the change in terms of spatial structure of the city centre of Belgrade occurred during the 19th century with the urban renewal and sprawl. Space Syntax methodology was used in order to analyse and quantify the spatial configuration properties of the old town inherited from the Medieval and Ottoman period, but also to understand the changes produced by the remodelling of the borough during the Principality of Serbia according to the academic architectural style. A scan from the Radoje Dedinac plan of Belgrade from 1815-1830 conserved at the City Museum of Belgrade has been used in order to capture the old town morphology. Despite an abundant literature describing the incredible metamorphosis of the oriental part of the old town, the sources that have scientifically evaluated the urban transformation produced are very few. The Space Syntax methodology helps filling this gap. Axial maps of Belgrade between 1815-1830 and of nowadays have been generated and analysed in order to capture spatial intelligibility and synergy of the city before and after the urban transformation. Finally angular segment analysis has been used to understand the spatial morphology of both the organic urban form and the modern grid system.
References
Al-Sayed, K., Turner, A., Hillier, B., Iida, S., & Penn, A. (2014). Space syntax methodology, 4th ed. (p. 118). London: Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
Attila Aytekin, E. (2016). The production of Space during the period of Autonomy: Notes on Belgrade urban space, 1817-67. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 18 (6), 588-607.
Bafna, S. (2003). Space Syntax: A Brief Introduction to Its Logic and Analytical Techniques. Environment and Behavior, 35(1), 17-29. doi:10.1177/0013916502238863
Blagojević, R.M., & Radivojević, A. (2007). Public Spaces and Public Life in Belgrade in 18th and 19th centuries and Their Transformation in 20th century. Etudes Balkaniques, 14, 107-142. (In French with English summary).
Carmona, M. (2014). Explorations in Urban Design: An Urban Design Research Primer. (p. 398). Ashgate Publishing, Farnham.
Ćorović, D. (2018). Plan Emilijana Josimovića u kontekstu transformacije urbanog pejzaža Beograda u devetnaestom veku [Emilijan Josimović’s plan in the context of Belgrade cityscape transformation in the 19th century]. Izgradnja, 4-6, 151-163. (In Serbian)
Đuric-Zamolo, D. (1977). Beograd kao orijentalna varos pod Turcima [Belgrade as an oriental town under the Ottomans], 1521-1867. (p. 318). Belgrade: Muzej grada Beograda. (In Serbian)
Griffiths, S. (2012). The use of space syntax in historical research: current practice and future possibilities. In Proceedings 8th International Space Syntax Symposium. (pp. 1-26).
Hanson, J. (1989). Order and structure in urban design: The plans for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666. Ekistics, 56, 22-42.
Hillier, B. (2016). What are cities for?, and how does it relate to their spatial form?. Journal of Space Syntax, 6, 199-212.
Hillier, B. (2008). The Social logic of space. (p. 296). Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Hillier, B. (1996). Space is the machine: A Configurational Theory Of Architecture. (p. 480). Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Hillier, B., & Hanson, J. (1984). The social logic of space. (pp. 143-175). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (CUP).
Hillier, B., Penn, A., Hanson, J., Grajewski, T., & Xu, J. (1993). Natural movement: or, configuration and attraction in urban pedestrian movement. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 20(1), 29-66. doi:10.1068/b200029
Hillier, B., Yang, T., & Turner, A. (2012a). Normalising least angle choice in Depthmap - and how it opens up new perspectives on the global and local analysis of city space. Journal of space syntax, 3(2), 155-193.
Hillier, B., Yang, T., & Turner, A. (2012b). Advancing depthmap to advance our understanding of cities. In M. Greene & R.J.A. and Castro (Eds.), 8th International Space Syntax Symposium. Santiago, Chile: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.
Hirt, S. (2009). City Profile: Belgrade. Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning, 26(5), 293-303. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2009.04.001
Hochmair, H., & Frank, A.U. (2000). Influence of estimation errors on wayfinding-decisions in unknown street networks—analyzing the least-angle strategy. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 2(4), 283-313. doi:10.1023/a:1015566423907
Kim, M., & Piao, G. (2017). A Study on the Applying Concept of Metric Weighting to Space Syntax. Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 16(3), 447-454. doi:10.3130/jaabe.16.447
Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. (p. 194). Cambridge, MA: MIT press.
Montello, D.R. (1991). The measurement of cognitive distance: Methods and construct validity. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11(2), 101-122. doi:10.1016/s0272-4944(05)80071-4
Peponis, J. (2016). The Space Syntax of Intelligible Communities. In R. Hunter, L. Anderson, & B. Belza (Eds.), Community Wayfinding: Pathways to Understanding. (pp. 35-60). Cham: Springer Nature America, Inc. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-31072-5_3
Prpa, B., & Branković, B. (2003). To live in Belgrade 1837-1841. Istorijski arhiv Beograda, Belgrade, 530. (In serbian).
Turner, A. (2007). From Axial to Road-Centre Lines: A New Representation for Space Syntax and a New Model of Route Choice for Transport Network Analysis. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 34(3), 539-555. doi:10.1068/b32067
Turner, A. (2005). To move through space: lines of vision and movement. In Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium. Istanbul.
Turner, A. (2000). Angular analysis a method for quantification. CASA working paper series, paper 23.
Turner, A., Penn, A., & Hillier, B. (2005). An Algorithmic Definition of the Axial Map. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 32(3), 425-444. doi:10.1068/b31097
Vujić, J. (1901) Putešestvije po Srbiji, knjiga 1 [Peregrination in Serbia, book 1]. Belgrade: Srpska književna zadruga. (In Serbian)
Vukotić-Lazar, M., & Danilović-Hristić, N. (2015). The growth and development of Belgrade in the period from 1815 to 1910. Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta u Pristini, 45(3), 51-80. doi:10.5937/zrffp45-9251
Vuksanović-Macura, Z. (2018). Inženjer i knez: evropeizacija i modernizacija Beograda [Engineer and prince : europeanisation and modernisation of Belgrade]. Izgradnja, 4-6, 140-150. (In Serbian)