Protection zones as a factor of the sustainability of immobile cultural properties in Kosovo and Metohija on the example of monasteries

• Main Author: Marković Gordana
• Format: Article
• Language: srp
• Published: Institute of Architecture and Urban and Spatial Planning of Serbia 2009-01-01
• Series: Arhitektura i Urbanizam
• Subjects: Kosovo and Metohija; cultural property; cultural landscape; protection zones; integrative protection; sustainable development; regional inseparability
• Online Access: http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-6055/2009/0354-60550927063M.pdf
• ISSN: 0354-6055; 2217-8074

The protections zones around immobile cultural properties in Serbia have been determined in compliance with the Law on Cultural Properties and for the purpose of establishing a status of a cultural monument. When reviewing the established status, the coverage of a protection zone was frequently corrected, which confirms that the areas of protected natural and cultural heritage are living organisms that need a change of borders in light of a contemporary urban and regional development. The protection zones around cultural monuments have a particular significance in the context of specific conditions for the survival of the Serbian cultural and spiritual heritage in Kosovo and Metohija. A cultural property is inseparable from the space in which it is located and its full life depends on the fullness of its function, which is also an imperative of a sustainable development. At the same time, integrative protection entails a thorough and multi-disciplinary approach in the process of studying and decision-making. The establishment of protection zones is also conditioned by the inviolable attitude of the owner and user - in this case the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also by the already established status of a cultural property by the Serbian Protection Service. It is also necessary to achieve the basic security conditions in the region with a high conflict risk. In addition, there is a significant expert participation of international institutions with regards to the defining of the criteria for the establishment of the zones, and there are also tendencies of the local community in Kosovo and Metohija. The practice has confirmed difficulties in harmonizing all positions related to the establishment of zones and particularly in defining the mechanisms for the management of the zones. In those terms, it is necessary to have an integration of legal regulations and cultural policy, establishment of the widest possible cooperation at all levels and the application of strategic management for the administering of the zones as key resources. The setting of protection zones around Serbian cultural properties in Kosovo and Metohija (around 40 sites) has been substantiated by the State Negotiating Team for Kosovo and Metohija during the negotiations that took place in Vienna (2006/2007). On that occasion, it was also presented the position of international expert associations on the protection zones for the Serbian cultural properties that should, as entities defined by special purpose influence the spatial development of the region. The analysis of the protection zones in Kosovo and Metohija is also important in the context of establishing zones around other immobile properties in Serbia, particularly those that are a part of developed urban structures. The management of protection zones also justifies their existence. It is the success of that management on which depends the sustainability of cultural property and cultural landscape that mark the character of entire spatial areas.