IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v56y2019i4p649-671.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban megaprojects, nation-state politics and regulatory capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe: The Belgrade Waterfront project

Author

Listed:
  • Monika Grubbauer

    (HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany)

  • NebojÅ¡a ÄŒamprag

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany)

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how state-led regulatory planning is utilised to push for delivery of an urban megaproject (UMP) in the specific context of post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Our focus is on the large-scale brownfield redevelopment project ‘Belgrade Waterfront’ under implementation in the Serbian capital, a joint venture between the Republic of Serbia and Abu Dhabi-based investor Eagle Hills. We show this UMP to be an extreme example of state-led regulatory intervention, characterised by lack of transparency and haste in decision-making processes, all of which serve to prioritise private investors’ interests in project delivery above the principles of representative democracy. Through analysis of legislative and planning documents, expert reports and media coverage from the period between 2012 and 2017, we explore the legislative mechanisms, contractual strategies and modes of governance involved in the project’s delivery. This provides two insights: first, it reveals that, in contrast with the active role of local governments in conceiving entrepreneurial strategies that is often assumed today, in the case of Belgrade Waterfront, the national government has instead played the decisive role; second, it shows how modifications to national law were instrumental in defining public interest, in enabling certain types of contracts to become technically legal, and in minimising risks for the private investor. We conclude by highlighting the need to further conceptualise nation-state politics and autocratic rule as driving forces of urban development processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Monika Grubbauer & NebojÅ¡a ÄŒamprag, 2019. "Urban megaprojects, nation-state politics and regulatory capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe: The Belgrade Waterfront project," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(4), pages 649-671, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:56:y:2019:i:4:p:649-671
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098018757663
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098018757663
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098018757663?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michelle Buckley & Adam Hanieh, 2014. "Diversification by Urbanization: Tracing the Property-Finance Nexus in Dubai and the Gulf," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 155-175, January.
    2. Zorica Nedović-Budić & Sasha Tsenkova & Peter Marcuse, 2006. "The urban mosaic of post-socialist Europe," Contributions to Economics, in: Sasha Tsenkova & Zorica Nedović-Budić (ed.), The Urban Mosaic of Post-Socialist Europe, chapter 1, pages 3-20, Springer.
    3. Mike Raco, 2014. "Delivering Flagship Projects in an Era of Regulatory Capitalism: State-led Privatization and the London Olympics 2012," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 176-197, January.
    4. Flyvbjerg,Bent & Bruzelius,Nils & Rothengatter,Werner, 2003. "Megaprojects and Risk," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521009461, September.
    5. Fernando Diaz Orueta & Susan S. Fainstein, 2008. "The New Mega‐Projects: Genesis and Impacts," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 759-767, December.
    6. Andrew Cook, 2010. "The Expatriate Real Estate Complex: Creative Destruction and the Production of Luxury in Post‐Socialist Prague," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 611-628, September.
    7. Tim Büthe & Walter Mattli, 2011. "The New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9470.
    8. David Levi-Faur, 2005. "The Global Diffusion of Regulatory Capitalism," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 598(1), pages 12-32, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marija Milinković & Dragana Ćorović & Zlata Vuksanović-Macura, 2019. "Historical Enquiry as a Critical Method in Urban Riverscape Revisions: The Case of Belgrade’s Confluence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brookes, Naomi J. & Locatelli, Giorgio, 2015. "Power plants as megaprojects: Using empirics to shape policy, planning, and construction management," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 57-66.
    2. Hannah Charlotte Joos & Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß & Ulrich Pidun, 2020. "Project Stakeholder Management as the Integration of Stakeholder Salience, Public Participation, and Nonmarket Strategies," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(3), pages 447-477, July.
    3. Branislav Machala & Jorn Koelemaij, 2019. "Post-Socialist Urban Futures: Decision-Making Dynamics behind Large-Scale Urban Waterfront Development in Belgrade and Bratislava," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 6-17.
    4. Dejana Nedučin & Milena Krklješ & Svetlana K. Perović, 2021. "Demolition-Based Urban Regeneration from a Post-Socialist Perspective: Case Study of a Neighborhood in Novi Sad, Serbia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-29, September.
    5. Matthew Aaron Richmond & Jeff Garmany, 2016. "‘Post-Third-World City' or Neoliberal ‘City of Exception'? Rio de Janeiro in the Olympic Era," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 621-639, May.
    6. Geneviève Zembri-Mary & Virginie Engrand-Linder, 2023. "Urban planning law in the face of the Olympic challenge: Between innovation and criticism of exceptional urban regeneration," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 38(4), pages 369-388, June.
    7. Ahsan Nawaz & Xing Su & Qaiser Mohi Ud Din & Muhammad Irslan Khalid & Muhammad Bilal & Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah, 2020. "Identification of the H&S (Health and Safety Factors) Involved in Infrastructure Projects in Developing Countries-A Sequential Mixed Method Approach of OLMT-Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Cantarelli, C.C. & Flyvbjerg, B. & Buhl, S.L., 2012. "Geographical variation in project cost performance: the Netherlands versus worldwide," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 324-331.
    9. Zhao, Na, 2019. "Managing interactive collaborative mega project supply chains under infectious risks," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 275-286.
    10. Leheis, Stéphanie, 2012. "High-speed train planning in France: Lessons from the Mediterranean TGV-line," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 37-44.
    11. Morgenroth, Edgar & FitzGerald, John & FitzGerald, John, 2006. "Summary and Conclusions," Book Chapters, in: Morgenroth, Edgar (ed.),Ex-Ante Evaluation of the Investment Priorities for the National Development Plan 2007-2013, chapter 24, pages 317-333, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
      • Baker, Terence J. & FitzGerald, John & Honohan, Patrick & FitzGerald, John & Honohan, Patrick, 1996. "Summary and Conclusions," Book Chapters, in: Baker, Terence J. (ed.),Economic Implications for Ireland of EMU, chapter 12, pages 339-352, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    12. Justus Baron & Jorge Contreras & Martin Husovec & Pierre Larouche, 2019. "Making the Rules: The Governance of Standard Development Organizations and their Policies on Intellectual Property Rights," JRC Research Reports JRC115004, Joint Research Centre.
    13. Litsiou, Konstantia & Polychronakis, Yiannis & Karami, Azhdar & Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos, 2022. "Relative performance of judgmental methods for forecasting the success of megaprojects," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1185-1196.
    14. Proost, S. & Van der Loo, S. & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 2005. "A cost-benefit analysis of tunnel investment and tolling alternatives in Antwerp," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 31, pages 83-100.
    15. Bayer, Patrick & Marcoux, Christopher & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2013. "Leveraging private capital for climate mitigation: Evidence from the Clean Development Mechanism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 14-24.
    16. Justo-Hanani, Ronit & Dayan, Tamar, 2014. "The role of the state in regulatory policy for nanomaterials risk: Analyzing the expansion of state-centric rulemaking in EU and US chemicals policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 169-178.
    17. Sandra Lavenex & Flavia Jurje, 2021. "Opening‐up labor mobility? Rising powers' rulemaking in trade agreements," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 598-615, July.
    18. Fildes, Robert & Goodwin, Paul & Lawrence, Michael & Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos, 2009. "Effective forecasting and judgmental adjustments: an empirical evaluation and strategies for improvement in supply-chain planning," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 3-23.
    19. Morteza Davari & Erik Demeulemeester, 2019. "The proactive and reactive resource-constrained project scheduling problem," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 211-237, April.
    20. Konstantina Gkritza & Kumares Sinha & Samuel Labi & Fred Mannering, 2008. "Influence of highway construction projects on economic development: an empirical assessment," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(3), pages 545-563, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:56:y:2019:i:4:p:649-671. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.