Belgrade Waterfront - the dark side of 'urban renewal'

A protest against the Belgrade Waterfront. Source: https://nedavimobeograd.wordpress.com/. Used with permission of author.If you come to Belgrade by train, it is going to be a long and slow ride. As slow as the Serbian "transition" to whatever it was once supposed to become, leaving along the way a deindustrialized county, a dysfunctional railway and citizens impoverished and betrayed by promises of a better life.

Once you do arrive at Belgrade Central Station you will be welcomed by the huge billboard which announces yet "a new era of prosperity for the Serbian capital." But this time it is not a promise to the citizens of Belgrade or Serbia, to those who still use trains or anyone else who might actually see advertisements on the streets of Belgrade. At its essence, the promotional image of Belgrade’s newest development is a cynical reminder of someone else's prosperity and better life, created out of public resources.

If you come to Belgrade by train, you will arrive directly at "the biggest construction site in Serbia," the plot of land which will in the future hold almost two million square meters of exclusive residential and commercial properties at the very heart of the city. This development, simply entitled Belgrade Waterfront, is supposed to completely displace the main train station further out of the centre and take "urban renewal to new heights."