The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred significant changes in the fields of economic development, social issues, everyday life, etc. Activities that used to depend on face-to-face communication were firstly suspended and then shifted to new forms of communication. This includes the public participation process in urban and spatial planning. Therefore, this study explores the new domain developed in urban and spatial planning with regard to public participation and surmises future realms in the post-pandemic era. On the occasion of the virtual collaboration platform Cyber Agora organized by the ISOCARP (International Society of City and Regional Planners), chosen participants got together virtually to share, discuss, and compare their practical knowledge in public participation before and during COVID-19. In addition, they addressed the potential benefits of shifting from traditional to virtual participation and potential benefits in the post-COVID-19 era. Considering the collected data and understanding them in the light of the available literature, this study concludes that the application of a combined approach (using both traditional and virtual modes of participation) is recommended because it would enable a larger number and higher diversity of participants. The study also elaborates particular modes of virtual participation with the pros and cons of their use in a particular context.

The main task of planning documents is to achieve maximal rationality in the use of space, spatial resources, and balanced territorial development. The preparation of plans is regulated by a legislative framework, which embraces multiple phases and stakeholders. In a perfect planning process, it would be expected that all the elements are well coordinated and brought to common understanding, but in reality, obstacles and challenges can occur in any of these steps, especially in the implementation phase. Although a plan is fully prepared to be practiced, its implementation might be omitted. Therefore, this article analyzes the full process of spatial and urban planning from the perspective of plan implementation. The methodology is based on a combination of different data collection methods (interviews, fieldwork, direct observation) with the analysis of plans and the particular mention of those plans that picture the implementation issues the most. Also, legislative acts and semi-annual and annual reports on the achievements of the local government budget are analyzed. The approach indicates that plan implementation depends the most on the willingness of the government to perform changes in the system and to peruse punitive policy comprehensively. Although it is about implementation at the local level, the success primarily depends on clear definitions given in the legislative acts, freedom of the local communities to make their own decisions, and financial decentralization, side by side with the regional and local circumstances, institutional technical and staff capacities, and application of participatory planning that involves actors from various sectors.

In the era of urbanization, small towns confront challenges in sustaining and preserving their essence and population. Historical towns have discovered their potential in tourism development, yet this opportunity often escalates into overtourism, particularly in renowned cruising destinations. This paper focuses on examples of coastal historical towns dependent on tourism revenue and faced with an excessive influx of tourists in the Mediterranean Region. The objective is to examine various cases across diverse geographical, cultural, and policy contexts to evaluate their success in achieving a balance between economic development and genius loci. This analysis seeks to identify the factors that contributed to the attainment of this equilibrium. Therefore, we selected case studies throughout the Mediterranean coast—from Saint Paul de Vence and Èze at the Azure Coast, Dubrovnik and Kotor in the Adriatic Sea, to Nafplio and Monemvasia in the Aegean Sea. The selected examples range from towns that are almost entirely depopulated to those that are suffocating from the influx of tourists. Observations on the spot and review of policies led us to the conclusion that the geography of the area and cultural values represent comparative (dis)advantages that can be influenced and shaped by policies from the time of the pre-tourist phase to the phase of overtourism. Even though the success of an early policy and the effects of investments aligned with it might be uncertain, pre-tourist policies turn out to be the most successful when it comes to balanced tourist-resident development. Determination of authorities to not only see economic benefit but also genius loci and quality of life of residents is crucial, too.

An agreement of cooperation and transmission of knowledge regarding the nomination for the European Green Capital Award (EGCA) was signed between the mayors of Belgrade and Ljubljana (EGCA 2016 winner) in September 2018. The candidacy of Belgrade was finally realized in October 2019. Great hope was placed in this endeavour because internationally recognized awards, such as the EGCA, represent enormous capital for both the city and the state. The EGCA requires serious preparation and significant fulfilment of preconditions. Many economically strong and environmentally responsible cities competed for the award, but did not win. On the other hand, the capital of Serbia does not appear to be an obvious winning candidate, especially as it is differentiated from the previous winners by being a non-EU city and by the fact that it is still undergoing an intense urban transformation, characteristic of transitional countries. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to present a review of the current state of Belgrade’s environmental qualities and its comparison with the EGCA criteria and with Grenoble as one of the winning competitors. The article gives a full overview of the EGCA requirements with certain details on required indicators, gives relevant insight into the procedure, which could be of use for any future candidacy, and discusses potential benefits for winners, losers and repeat candidacies.

Serbian ski resorts’ altitude and latitude are lower than in most European ski resorts. In the context of climate change and the Serbian Government’s plans to keep opening new ski resorts, this study examines the competitiveness of Serbian ski resorts in the eyes of domestic tourists, hence the justification of new developments. This research was carried out in three steps: a statistical analysis of a survey conducted among domestic tourists, an interpretation of the context based on responses to open-ended questions, and a comparison of Serbia’s most popular ski resorts with leading ski resorts in Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Italy, and France. The results showed that Serbian tourists focus on value for money, skiing, and ski infrastructure quality rather than additional activities such as cultural tours, entertainment, or wellness. In the context of international discussions on climate change impacts, environmental consequences of ski resorts, and survey results, we recommend that future strategies of ski resort operators in Serbia focus on developing and promoting complementary activities to winter sports and prioritizing the redevelopment of existing ski resorts rather than constructing new ones.

Land use and building regulation within protected natural areas in Serbia is specific in comparison to areas without this status. Since urban plans define the rules and conditions limited to urban settlements and locations of national priority (e.g. tourism resort in natural protected areas), other areas, including significant parts of protected natural areas, rely on spatial plans, which often contain elements of detailed urban planning (i.e. regulation and building rules). Preservation of ecologic and environmental functions is a priority in protected natural areas (particularly in zones of I and II level of protection), but they are also eligible for controlled development purposes in zone of III level of protection. Due to large distance from administrative centre and institutions responsible for building inspection, it is not rare case in Serbia that illegal building in protected areas makes them more exposed to illegal actions. Therefore, this paper focuses on the role of spatial plans in balancing between land use and building in protected natural areas on the one hand and nature protection on the other hand. In-depth analysis of chosen spatial plans, here is given a comprehensive review of building and land use postulates, regulations and different levels of protection applied in spatial planning. Starting from the Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia 2010- 2020, analysis gives a major significance to four special purpose area spatial plans of different kind: Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve, Tisa River Multifunctional Ecological Corridor, Kopaonik National Park and Vlasina Landscape of Exceptional Features. Finally, there is shown diversity and systematisation of existing measures, and contribution to understanding of challenges and recommendations on future improvements of methodology in planning and implementation of plans in order to enhance balance between development and protection.