Little BIG glossary of urban planning​

/ guide

Participants in the planning, interests and responsibility

Participants in the planning process

Participants in the planning process may be divided into three groups:

  • Public sector: state government at different levels (national, regional, local) and numerous public institutions;
  • Private sector: „investors“ who do not constitute a homogenous group – financial institutions (banks, funds), companies present at the real estate market, small investors and entrepreneurs who own real estate…
  • Civil sector: directly involved citizens, non-governmental organizations and institutions, neighborly and informal initiatives and groups, professionals independent from the government and the economy…

 

Participants in the procedure of preparation of plans (including their jurisdictions and obligations) are defined by the Law on Planning and Construction and the accompanying bylaws.

Who makes decisions about the plans?

National / City Assembly

A parliament (National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Assembly of the Autonomous Province, Belgrade City Assembly or assembly of the unit of local government) is in charge of adopting the planning documents.

Belgrade City Assembly:

  • adopts the plan,
  • adopts the Decision concerning the preparation of the plan,
  • appoints the Chief urbanist,
  • proposes 2/3 of the members of the Planning Commission.

 

Representatives in the Assembly may submit amendments to a plan and vote for or against the submitted amendments. – Belgrade City Assembly may essentially change the plan, moreover, in the concluding phase of the adoption.

Planning Commission

Planning Commission is the expert body of the Assembly, responsible for control of the competencies and legality of the plans.

The Planning Commission of Belgrade City Assembly:

  • conducts expert control
  • monitors the process of preparation of the plans,
  • controls the legality of the procedures and plans,
  • reports on the public inspections, submitted objections and responses to them.

If the submitted objections essentially change the planning proposal, the Planning Commission may decide to prolong the public inspection.

Who makes up the Planning Commission?

  • 2/3 members proposed by the Belgrade City Assembly,
  • 1/3 members proposed by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.

The president of the Planning Commission is the chief municipal urbanist.

Institution responsible for preparation of the plans

Institution responsible for preparation of the plans is an administrative body in charge of the procedure of preparation, execution, and adoption of the plan.

The institution responsible for preparation of the plans:

  • organizes the public inspections,
  • keeps record of the objections,
  • collects the documentation, surveys and reviews,
  • implements the entire procedure of preparation, execution, adoption and publication of the plans,
  • permanently keeps the entire documentation of the plans.

 

Secretariat of Urban Planning and Construction is the institution responsible for preparation of all the plans at the territory of Belgrade.

Handler of the plan

Handler of the plan is a public urban planning firm or private company / an expert team in charge of preparation of the urban plan.

Handlers of the plan include urban planners and other experts who work on the planning proposal, based on the conditions issued by the public utilities, objections collected at the public inspections and conclusions (and guidelines) of the Planning Commission.

Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade is the handler of the largest number of plans in the city.