The standpoint of this research is that the concept of mixed-use development has a great practical value in
shaping suburban settlements and their centers. This development pattern, which was being used
spontaneously during the entire history of city-building, is actually a complex planning model, which
represents a lot more than a simple sum of different uses. Mixed-use development in centers, especially
with the inclusion of housing, enables more sustainable spatial forms.
The theoretical framework of this research discusses different forms of suburban settlements, as well as the
implications that suburban development has on sustainability of the city as a whole. The phenomenon of
suburbanization is relatively new and only applies to the last sixty years. From today’s temporal distance,
certain shortcomings in suburban development planning can be observed in various types of suburban
environments, as well as the problems that they have caused in physical-spatial, functional and socio...economic
structure. One of the biggest issues that suburbia faces today is monofunctionality, usually the
problem of the lack of any use other than residential. This research explores suburban “bedroom
communities”: large housing estates (as planned new towns) and suburban sprawl, which are both
monofunctional by origin, as well as suburban satellite settlements (former villages) that are nowadays
monofunctional due to development circumstances and loss of central functions.
The initial hypothesis of this research, which has a firm base in the theory of sustainable development, is
that the polycentric development model of the city makes the only valid development pattern in positioning
central city places. Therefore, the assumption is that monofunctionality of suburban settlements, causes
conflicts in urban development, and encourages “unsustainable” use of land at the city periphery along with
some other urban design principles. The basis for the analysis consists of five examples of suburban
centers from foreign practices, which have applied mixed-use development. The role of shopping center in
structuring the community center is analyzed in particular, by using three examples of post-socialist
practices. In the example of the City of Niš, the applied method is case study, which identifies specific
circumstances and mechanisms of centers’ transformations. By comparing all examples, the relations are
determined between suburban center characteristics, structure and share of uses, and capacity and size of
center catchment area. After systematizing the obtained data, classification of suburban centers is made,
and guidelines are formulated for the implementation of mixed-use development in these centers.
The goal of this research is to create an adequate theoretical and practical model for the implementation/
restructuring of central urban functions in suburban settlements. The proposed solution for monofunctional
settlements’ problems is the creation of a pedestrian-friendly center with a diversity of uses, similar to
traditional compact urban form. The designed suburban center model with mixed uses ensures the
settlement vitality and creates “genius loci”, reduces transportation needs and environmental costs,
minimizes the differences between urban zones and suburbia, and provides for a balanced development of
all city areas.
Faculty:
Универзитет у Нишу, Грађевинско-архитектонски факултет
