The urban block in Western Serbia boroughs in the 19th century

Abstract

Boroughs in southwestern Serbia were created during the 19th century. Development began after 1830, primarily through the construction of planned settlements (Požega, 1832; Rogačica, 1839; Bajina Bašta,1858). Thereafter, the reconstruction of old settlements (Užice,1863) or settlements previously founded according to plans that were not respected began (Ivanjica, 1848). In the third phase, it was accessed by the regulation of the boroughs were formed on the routes of important roads (Kosjerić, 1892) or in addition to important church centres (Arilje, 1880). As one of the important elements of the settlement stands out the urban block. The paper research: the relationship between the block and the street/street front, block and plot, and block and neighbourhood units. The geometry of the block in the planned townships was the result of a definition of the street network. Through the plans, the street network was first defined and the space between the streets was reserved for the block. The block was not the goal of the planning process but the traffic network. In the spontaneously formed towns, the main street was formed along the route of the roads. In Užice, through two plans (1863,1891) has been finished corrections of the geometry of the blocks, retaining the existing routes of the streets. The plotting within the block depends on the time and the way the borough was formed. In the plan of Požega (1832), only the network of streets and squares is defined (no parcels are planned within the block). The mistakes were partially corrected in the plan of Rogačica (1839), where the plots did not have the necessary site-related characteristics (centre zone of the settlement was not different from the periphery). The final improvement was made on the plan of Bajina Bašta (1858), 1 Corresponding author: D. Kuzović, College of Engineering, Depratment of Architecture Engineering, Dhofar Univesity, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman; e-mail: dusko.kuzovic@gmail.com