In the context of preparations for 2021, when Novi Sad will become European Capital of Culture, we initiated preparations in the city and surrounding municipalities of the so-called Zone 021 (municipalities Irig, Beočin and Sremski Karlovci) for numerous smaller investments in public spaces that will become places where citizens meet and places for dissemination of culture. Selection of locations, as well as content of these public spaces, are the result of participation of citizens. Baseline of this approach is that public spaces should be created with participation of citizens and to fit their needs, because citizens have much better insight into current use and possibilities of future development. The intention is to create a principle for future interventions and improvement of public spaces in Novi Sad.
Long-term speaking, the project envisages for each of 46 local communities in Novi Sad to get one public space managed in coordination with citizens by 2021. This year, four public spaces will be constructed, one in each of the following local communities: Sremska Kamenica, Južni Telep, Kovilj and Detelinara. In each of these local communities we carried out a survey among citizens in order to map locations for improvement. Based on the results of this survey, we conducted expert analysis of all suggested locations. These locations are thoroughly reviewed through focus groups with interested citizens and local associations, which were the base for final selection. This process was used to collect valuable information about specificities of each space, which will serve as baseline for launching architectural and urban development competition, which is conducted by the Association of Architects of Novi Sad.
The competition will last from 15 August until 15 September, and the notification with the complete documentations will be online from 15 August at the portal of public procurement of the Republic of Serbia and ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation (www.novisad2021.rs).
Participation in the competition is free, and works are submitted in digital format. Participants to give solutions for at least two (2) locations of their choice, and we welcome solutions for all four (4) locations. There are four money prizes (one for each location) in the amount of 125,000.00 RSD net, and depending on the decision of the jury there will be several smaller prizes. One of these smaller prizes will be given based on the public vote by citizens. The awarded solutions will be implemented late this year or early next year. The jury comprises experts from Serbia and the region:
1. Docent Pavle Stamenović, PhD, Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade
2. Docent Rene Lisac, PhD, Faculty of Architecture, Zagreb, President of DAZ
3. Vera Golubović, City Administration for Building Land and Investments, Novi Sad
4. Darko Polić, PhD, President of the work group for capital infrastructure projects within the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ project
5. Docent Ana Pajvančić Cizelj, PhD, sociologist, Department for Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, Novi Sad
6. Dejan Mitov, Department for Architecture and Urban Development Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad – (deputy jury member)
