New settlements are springing up in Belgrade – what happens when the infrastructure falls into the jaws of improvised construction

New buildings are springing up, construction sites are opening. Several of them are located along the Smederevo road and in Mirijevo, probably one of the largest Belgrade settlements. It is estimated that 70 thousand people live here, which is almost half of the total number in the municipality of Zvezdara. New roads have been built, and work is also underway on gasification. That is why it is necessary that the infrastructure plans follow the development of the settlement.

By building more residential units, you speed up the runoff that occurs from the rain and then you have more frequent floods. These are floods that occur after heavy rains, emphasizes the associate professor of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Aleksandar Đukić.

It is estimated that Mirijevo will continue to expand due to the first two metro lines that will pass through this settlement. Still, the cheaper prices of apartments in Mirijevo are the reason for the greater influx of population. She also drove more. And despite the new streets, there are still frequent traffic jams.

A major capital investment is the expansion of Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, and together with it, the expansion of Mita Ružića Street, which is a traffic jam to and from Mirijevo, says Vladan Jeremić, president of the Municipality of Zvezdara.

Another significant project is the construction of the subway. According to the plans, the construction of another street, the so-called Mirijevska Street, which should relieve traffic between Matica Srpska and Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, adds Jeremić.

The massive and often chaotic construction in many parts of the city, because a large number of new buildings were built without permission, the infrastructure usually could not keep up.

In theory, no settlement can develop spontaneously. In practice, this happens, so often the existing infrastructure plans differ from the situation on the ground. This can be seen in the example of the lack of parking spaces, but mostly when it comes to communal problems. It is estimated that a third of Belgrade does not have a sewage network.

Professor Đukić points out that in all unplanned settlements, on the outskirts of the city but also in the central parts, the problem of sewage is the most difficult to solve.

Electricity and water are brought in somehow, the cables do not require any work, but the sewerage is very difficult because it has rigid and specific rules on how to build, and this is not respected in improvised construction, says Aleksandar Đukić.

Subsequent infrastructure construction is almost always a more expensive and complicated job, so the number of built apartments often does not match the planning documents. There is also a lack of educational, cultural and sports institutions.

In the near future, we could respond to the needs of the field in Mirijevo, which is to expand the capacities by building a new school or expanding the existing two, emphasizes the president of Zvezdara Municipality, Vladan Jeremić.

And Surčin is one of the settlements that are currently developing rapidly. Built residential and business complexes, important roads, but also the “Expo 2027” project contributed to the development of infrastructure in this part of the city. However, the construction of large residential areas is still being planned.