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Cardboard city (
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
: Картон сити, ''Karton siti'') was an informal settlement that was locally classified as ''unhygienic settlement'' (or
slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...
) in the capital of
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. It was located in Belgrade's municipality of
Novi Beograd New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
. The settlement was completely evicted and cleared in 2009.


Settlement

Most of the houses in the Cardboard city were built, as its name suggests, from
cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. Their construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard, made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light brown ...
or other non-building materials, like
plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
or
nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...
bags. The settlement had no communal infrastructure (roads, running water, sewage, electricity). The settlement was located beneath the bridges ''Gazela'' and ''Stari železnički''. The settlement was just a few kilometers away from the downtown Belgrade, close to the Block 19 and Block 20, and in contrast to five-star hotels Hyatt Regency Belgrade and Continental Hotel Belgrade. There were 986 people living in the Cardboard city (501 men; 485 women) of whom 278 were children living in 237 "households" according to the census taken by the city authorities in August 2007.


Depopulation

The Cardboard city was depopulated on August 31, 2009, following four years of unsuccessful attempts. The City Government announced in 2005 that it will evict the population from the settlement into a new one, made of the temporary container houses in the area around the neighborhoods of
Dr Ivan Ribar Dr Ivan Ribar ( sr-cyr, Др Иван Рибар) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of New Belgrade. It forms a local community (), a sub-municipa ...
and
Blokovi Blokovi ( sr-Cyrl, Блокови, lit=Blocks) or Novobeogradski blokovi ( sr-Cyrl, Новобеоградски блокови, lit=New Belgrade Blocks) is the semi-formal plural name for a group of urban neighborhoods in Belgrade's municipality ...
. This decision was not received with approval of the local population. They demanded that the city government should disperse the population on the territory of the entire city, especially in
Dedinje Dedinje ( sr-cyrl, Дедиње, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac. Dedinje is generally considered the wealthiest part of Belgrade, and is the site of numero ...
, the most affluent neighborhood of Belgrade and that simply moving the population without giving them any jobs or education would not make the difference. They claimed that the action was caused by desire of the city government to free the land for construction. Some
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s supported the city government, also labeling the protesters being racist, but some pointed out that the solution proposed by the city was not good, economically and socially. After months of verbal clashes and protests, city halted the eviction. In July 2007, city government again announced their wish to relocate an estimated 245 families with 1,500 people from the settlement in spring 2008, due to the planned reconstruction of the
Gazela bridge The Gazela Bridge () is the most important bridge over the Sava river in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a part of the city highway, and it lies on the local M11 expressway, on the expressway passing through the wider city center, conne ...
. However, the data on how and where the population will be relocated were not given, but the census of population within the settlement began in August 2007. In May 2009, the decision was made that the Cardboard city should be evicted by the end of June (a total of 176 families). Families were informed that they will be displaced from the settlement within 45 days. Families residing in Belgrade, 112 of them, will be temporarily displaced in containers that will be placed across Belgrade suburbs, while the remaining 62 families will be returned to their area of origin and would become the responsibility of the Government. Families residing in Belgrade would have the right to social assistance, with the only condition being that their children must attend school. It was announced that the reconstruction and repair of the bridge Gazela can begin immediately after the displacement. On August 31, 2009, the Cardboard city was completely evicted, and all families were resettled in five Belgrade municipalities, or returned to their area of origin outside Belgrade.


See also

* Roma in Serbia


References

* ''Beograd - plan grada''; M@gic M@p, 2006;


External links


Beograd Gazela - Travel Guide To A Slum.
Documentation of Cardboard city next to Gazela bridge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardboard City Shanty towns in Europe Neighborhoods of Belgrade Slums in Europe Romani communities in Serbia New Belgrade Squatting in Serbia 2009 disestablishments in Serbia