"Eco-Infill" as an alternative strategy for postindustrial landscape in the light of climate change: The case of Belgrade shipyard

At this moment, and under the circumstances that surround us, we have recognized as a definite global challenge the problem of climate change, and in general, the ecological misbalance of cities. In an attempt to meet this challenge, we will try to discuss possibilities of implementing the "Eco-Infill" strategy (fragments of nature incorporated into abandoned artificial environment) as a viable, somewhat “alternative”, urban development strategy. The contemporary matrix of the post-industrial urban landscape is dotted with large and small fragments of abandoned spaces, which need to be incorporated into the city texture. Belgrade is a city with a potential, one of the larger capitals of the region, standing on the threshold of the European Union and undergoing an intensive process of political, economic and social transition. Similar to other large cities, it was previously an industrial city, but is now increasingly relying on the tertiary sector, promoting itself through its geographical, morphological, and cultural advantages. The consequences of privatization during transition and an exceptionally long and difficult political and economic crisis produced Brownfield and other abandoned spaces of the city centre with a complicated proprietary-ownership status, and no realistic guidelines for a much needed regeneration of the city centre in terms of contemporary problems linked to ecological, social and cultural values. In this article, there is a tendency to define principles on which the transformation of these abandoned places is based on and to try to apply these strategies onto the Belgrade shipyard on the river Sava. If we accept the previously set general views, these spaces can become crucial in developing a strategy for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Although these effects are primarily aimed at confronting climate change, they are bound to upgrade the quality of life and offer new life styles, potentially affecting all aspects of urban life, considering that most of the eco-infill we are talking about consists of active public space. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 43007: Studying climate change and its influence on the environment: Impacts, adaptation and mitigation]