The paper addresses the shift in architectural education regarding the need to develop new approaches in teaching methodology, improve curricula, and make advancements in new learning arenas and digital environments. The research is based on the assumption that online workshops could offer a unique learning experience for students in higher education. Accordingly, workshops are considered an essential element in teaching emergency design. As a result, this can produce broader and more innovative solutions to COVID-19 challenges regarding social distancing, limited movements, regulated use of public space, and suspended daily activities. The theoretical notions of emergency design and education for sustainable design enabled the identification of research perspectives and spatial levels to be taken as a starting point of the workshop “COVID-19 Challenges: Architecture of Pandemic” that was conducted by the University of Belgrade—Faculty of Architecture in April 2020. The critical review of the workshop’s procedural and substantial aspects led to identifying four main COVID-19 design challenges perceived in performance, innovation, alteration, and inclusion. Additionally, the paper’s findings concern the identification of learning potentials and limitations arising from a current topic affecting global society, for which neither solutions nor adequate answers in the field of architecture and urbanism have been found.

Using heritage as a cultural artifact in city development is not new, but little has been explored about how urban heritage can be utilized as new generative value and a new planning instrument for the revival of cities. The purpose of this paper is to show the creative and the generative use of urban heritage, both for the extension of cultural and tourist offer of the city and for the improvement of the quality of life in physical, social and economic terms for the community. The case study method was used for the adaptive reuse of projects for heritage buildings and urban revival in Kikinda. We argue that urban heritage has to be used, bearing in mind its spatial, economic and social sustainability aspects, and become a generator of urban revival. We go beyond recognition of the value of heritage as a cultural artifact that should solely be preserved and used as a static element in urban development, and view it more as a dynamic asset for city revival processes. We found that for the heritage nodes to be utilized as the new generative value for the revival of cities, they have to be perceived from the network perspective, thus influencing the urban environment in a sustainable way.

The study of urban form as a central interest of architects, planners, and urban designers has faced various challenges over time, affecting the representation of this topic in the research, educational, and practical arenas. Recently, with the actualization of big data, the study of urban form is going under change as well, where these technological advancements present both the great potential for urban form analysis, understanding, modelling, simulation, and even imagination, and a challenge for the profession of architecture and urbanism itself, which must come to grips with the growing field of big data research. This paper delves into the significance of urban form as a composition of the ground plan (streets, blocks, plots, and buildings), building fabric, land and building utilization, and social structure, explicitly emphasizing unfolding the complexities concerning big data. The central method used in the research is the systematic literature review applied to investigate the interrelation between urban form and big data. The research follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol by systematizing recent research from the Web of Science (WOS) database. The paper aims to structure knowledge into a coherent framework, reveal relationships and patterns, create a valuable classification for future research, and identify gaps within the research field. The main results should contribute to painting the overall picture of the research landscape on big data and urban form.

This paper addresses the challenges of architectural higher education to cope with a state of continuous change within the relationship between heritage and sustainability. The initial assumption is that research activities based on design taxonomies—terms used in architectural discourse of heritage and sustainability—followed by fruitful analysis and discussion can contribute to the advancements in curricula design and development. Accordingly, the paper aims to develop a new methodological framework for addressing sustainability and heritage, enriching curricula design and assessment strategy. Data collection on identification and analysis of terms was carried out within the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership titled Enhancing of Heritage Awareness and Sustainability of Built Environment in Architectural and Urban Design Higher Education (HERSUS). After the process of filtering, interpretation, and comparison of project findings, a three-fold comprehensive analysis was conducted: (a) learning outcome quantitative analysis, (b) cross-cutting analysis of spatial scales and course types, and (c) synthesis. The paper results in the methodological framework that reinforces different pedagogical approaches to heritage and sustainability derived as a result of the applied research process. The main conclusions are concerned with the applicability of the methodological framework, designed for the improvement of existing and development of new comprehensive courses and programme contents.

Turbulent periods of transition from socialism to neoliberal capitalism, which have affected the relationships between holders of power and governing structures in Serbia, have left a lasting impact on the urban spaces of Belgrade’s cityscape. The typical assumption is that the transformation of the urban form in the post-socialist transition is induced by planning interventions which serve to legitimize these neoliberal aspirations. The methodological approach of this paper is broadly structured as a chronological case analysis at three levels: the identification of three basic periods of institutional change, historical analysis of the urban policies that permitted transformation of the subject area, and morphogenesis of the selected site alongside the Sava River in New Belgrade. Neoliberal aspirations are traced through the moments of destruction and moments of creation as locally specific manifestations of neoliberal mechanisms observable through the urban form. Comparison of all three levels of the study traces how planning and political decisions have affected strategic directions of development and, consequently, the dynamics and spatial logic of how new structures have invaded the street frontage. The paper demonstrates that planning interventions in the post-socialist transition period, guided by the neoliberal mechanisms, has had a profound impact on the super-block morphology.

The influence of place branding in urban development has more importance than ever. Nevertheless, little attention is given to how place branding strategies are interrelated with planning, especially in post-socialist urban development. The purpose of this paper is to critically explore experimental educational projects conducted through cooperation between academia and local governments in Serbia, perceived as a simulation of strategic planning and place branding. We argue that educational projects hold power to create additional value in place and contribute to place branding by using a variety of planning and design instruments as a means of transformative spatial and social change both for communities and students as future planners. This paper uses theoretical exploration to develop reflective structural elements and a set of criteria essential to interlink strategic planning and place branding, thus providing a unique apparatus for the evaluation of educational projects. By emphasizing the possibilities and limitations of educational projects, the paper contributes to the theoretical advancement of place branding and strategic planning interlink and sheds light on the effects that those projects may have on spatial development and governance of the territory.