In the previous two years, housing construction in Belgrade and Serbia broke all borders and broke records from the golden period of the SFRY. In 2020 alone, 25,360 apartments were completed, and a significant part of these investments, in the name of fees and taxes, filled the national and city coffers. In the long run, the demographic decline will negatively affect this branch of the economy.
The rise of the construction industry has started other branches of the economy. However, in a couple of years, when the planned construction sites are filled, the “hunger” for residential squares will be satisfied. The largest number of built squares is in Belgrade, where it is realistic to reverse the situation on the market in a couple of years, so instead of high demand, there will be a surplus of squares.
Namely, according to official data, 43,428 people immigrated to Belgrade last year, and 38,652 emigrated, which is an annual plus of 4,866 people. That number is insufficient to fill the gap between the number of deaths (25,526) and births (17,236).
This scenario could have a detrimental effect on the entire economy. According to Marko Stojcic, the city’s chief urban planner, the City of Belgrade has found a model on how to amortize the decline in revenues, as well as to keep mechanization on construction sites.
“At the moment, there is a demand for apartments on the market, especially for the cheaper ones. However, due to the insufficient number of inhabitants, housing construction will slow down in the coming years. In that case, the City of Belgrade has a ready strategy for the coming decades. We are bringing a new General Urban Plan, which will lay the foundations for the development of the capital by 2041,” he states.
New zones where they will create intellectual products
According to him, the plan is to revitalize Makisko polje, Block 18, the zone around the IMT factory, as well as the IMT factory itself.
“Dense construction is planned there, and all that will make us have a clear picture, that it is necessary to change the direction from which the City of Belgrade will live in the economic sense,” explains Stojcic.
While those locations are being filled, the capital plans to change the purpose of the empty construction plots – facilities will be built where they will create intellectual products.
According to him, young people, when they graduate from college, will have the conditions to stay in Belgrade, and create an intellectual product. Something similar was done in the previous decade by Berlin, which is today the leader in Europe when it comes to intellectual products.
“We want to prevent young people from leaving. To keep them, we are making Belgrade a more humane place to live. By building the subway, we speed up communication, reduce the number of cars. New parks, recreational areas are being built, urban forests are being formed, the city is becoming even more humane,” states Stojcic.
Belgrade is divided into 11 secondary centers
The plan is for Belgrade to be polycentric, to have 11 secondary centers, while the current city center will remain a heart of cultural and historical significance. According to Stojcic, in order to succeed in this strategy, it is necessary to relieve traffic and reduce the pressure on the existing infrastructure. In order to reduce the number of cars, the construction of two subway lines is starting.
From the first, concrete projects, the City of Belgrade received the “Bio Campus” of the Faculty of Biology near Torlak. New squares were given to Geography and the Faculty of Security. The expansion of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering is planned, and the Academy of Music will be built, as well as the Academy of Applied Arts in Karadjordjeva. From the cultural facilities, the City Gallery, the Museum of the City of Belgrade will be built, and preparations are being made for the Philharmonic in New Belgrade and Djumrukan on the bank of the Sava.
Last year, 39,166 apartments were sold
In the official report of the Republic Geodetic Authority, exactly 39,166 apartments (new and old) were sold last year. Which is about 5.9 percent less than in 2019.
Real estate agencies say that the market has stabilized, after the first blow of the corona, and that there is now an intensive demand for real estate. Favorable loans also support this.
“Unlike previous years, when buyers bought their first apartment, now there are more and more people who take it as the second, third apartment. It is their investment, they rent it and they have some income from it,” they state in one of the capital’s agencies, Sputnik News reports.
