The announcement that the Belgrade Fair complex, one of the symbols of the Serbian capital, will be demolished in the coming period due to the expansion of Belgrade on the water, and that the new Fair will be located in Surčina near the future national stadium, did not leave anyone indifferent.
At the center of the announcements about the demolition and relocation of the Fair is the "EXPO 2027" project. In the complex of the National Stadium in Surčin, the plan is to build a whole series of fair halls, pavilions, accommodation and commercial facilities. The area of the plan includes 167 hectares, of which 113 hectares of land is intended for the fair.
For decades, the older citizens of Belgrade could enjoy the fact that the Fair was one of the most urban and beautiful realized projects in the whole of Eastern Europe. In the second half of the 20th century, leading experts from the Old Continent competed to give Serbian architects and creators of the Fair as many compliments as possible. Children grew up attending various events at the Fair, while adults bought books there, saw cars, tourist offers and concerts and spent time before the New Year and Christmas holidays.
All that could soon become a part of the past and a fond memory of the citizens of Belgrade. The current government's idea is that the Surčina Fair should spring up next to the national stadium, because the multifunctional complex "EXPO 2027" should be built there. Is demolishing the Fair a good idea or not?
Photo: FoNetMiketić: You demolished Savamala, but you won't go to the Belgrade Fair!
Đorđe Miketić, a member of the Moramo - Together parliamentary group, said today that the people of Belgrade will not allow the Fair to be demolished.
"The people of Belgrade will not allow the demolition of their beautiful and respectable Fair, and this time we will clearly stand in front of the excavators and say, you demolished Savamala, but you will not destroy the Belgrade Fair!" Miketić said, according to a written statement submitted to the media.
He said that the construction mafia plans to demolish the Belgrade Fair and to "erect a hill of studded solitaires on that land for the sake of a few billion new profits that will go into their pockets."
"Part of the parking lot of the Belgrade Fair has already been stolen and handed over to Belgrade on the water." All this is being done under the guise of some kind of new EXPO center and national stadium that they want to build in the middle of the Surčin meadow. Belgrade has a wonderful fair and even two representative stadiums. Everything else is pure robbery," said Miketić.
Europe remembers the debacle with moving trade fairs
Although during the inspection of the Spatial Plan for the National Football Stadium it was stated that the study of the justification of holding the EXPO at that location was also being inspected, it was not included in the material on the website of the Ministry of Construction, nor in the printed edition.
Urban planner Iva Čukić said for NIN, which was also reported by the portal dnevno.rs, that similar projects like the one planned by the current Serbian government with the fair ended in debacle. Specifically, he cites examples from 2000 in Hanover and 2015 in Milan.
"The space in Surčin is four to five times larger than the existing fair, which needs to be maintained and made constantly attractive. The fairs we know, such as the furniture fair or the book fair, do not really attract masses of people from abroad, and the existing spatial capacities are quite adequate. In Milan, agricultural land on the outskirts of the city was also repurposed and huge sums of money were invested from the city and republic budgets, only to fail immediately the following year. That is why the Justification Study, which had to be part of the presented plan, was necessary for the public to understand what we are talking about. Has anyone calculated how it will be profitable? One of our objections was that the city of Milan had to allocate around one and a half billion euros in order to repurpose that complex a few years ago, because it could not survive as an EXPO and did not have a suitable investor to buy it," says Iva Čukić.
"The existing fair is a masterfully designed solution"
Serbian experts in urban planning and architecture claim that the four fair halls should not be seen as separate objects but as a whole. Architecturally and urbanistically masterfully shaped, as it is Marko Stojanović pointed out in the text on the Gradnja portal, a graduated art historian who is actively involved in the topics of architecture and urbanism in Belgrade.
"The Belgrade Waterfront complex is a serious state project, which, in terms of the scope of construction works and plans, can only be compared with the construction of New Belgrade. Admittedly, the socio-political circumstances, as well as the architectural-urbanistic quality, are not at the same level, but this is not important in the case of spatial capacities, which in the case of Belgrade on the water could threaten the existing monumental heritage," claims Stojanović.
The Serbian fair solution of the circular hall was a whole decade ahead of the projects of the famous Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi, who was admired by Europe at the time.
"When even an ordinary layman, who does not understand the details of the architectural or construction profession, looks at the entire complex of the Belgrade Fair, he will see that it is specific both in its architectural design and in its urban planning solution. However, for unknown reasons, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments long ago protected only hall 1! Maybe it was done because engineer Branko Žeželj worked on it and used his innovative solutions on it, but it is an irreparable mistake and a professional injustice towards the other halls of the fair complex, which are also a miracle of domestic engineering. These halls should not be seen as separate objects, but comprehensively as a unique complex, which is masterfully architecturally and urbanistically designed. This omission will cost dearly to the profession, which may be left without these pearls of engineering", writes Marko Stojanović.
Citing a closer history of the change in the appearance of Belgrade around the fair, due to the expansion of Belgrade on the water, Stojanović warns that one must approach the plans around the fair and the stadium in Surčin with caution.
"All of this is logical in a way, that the National Stadium cannot be 'stuck' by itself in the middle of fields and meadows, that there must also be an accompanying infrastructure, which does not include the hospitality sector (hotels, restaurants and cafes), but isn't it more logical to build that new fair complex first, and then to see what will be the further fate of the existing one? What if Belgrade does not get that candidacy, so the construction of the Expo is abandoned or its construction is prolonged? The city would then be left without the main fair complex, which would definitely be a precedent for a European metropolis. On the other hand, there is an obvious decline in the effectiveness of traditional fairs, both due to the tendency for all marketing to move to the internet (a consequence of new habits in the post-covid way of life and work), and due to the narrowed target population for which certain fairs are intended. Only the Tourism Fair, the Car Fair and the Book Fair are intended for a wider audience, while all other fairs could quite well be placed in some smaller exhibition spaces, such as the Belexpocenter. It is not at all easy to maintain a gigantic space, like the Belgrade Fair, so that its functionality is at a satisfactory level. How many different fair events must be held in just one month to cover the costs of electricity, water and human resources? Far more than is maintained now. "Perhaps all these facts are not in favor of the sustainability of the Belgrade Fair, but they are not a reason to demolish the fair halls," believes Stojanović.
He adds that, if only Hall 1 is protected from demolition, in case the other halls remain in their existing place, they can also be given other exhibition and cultural uses that would meet the needs of the City. This is where Stojanović specifically mentions Hall 2.
"Hall 2, which has several floors, can easily be turned into a sports and recreation center, with fields and training grounds for multiple sports," he writes.
When the line is drawn around the entire story surrounding the demolition or, to put it mildly, the "relocation" of the fair, one thing is certain. It is necessary to openly discuss everything with the competent persons and institutions, and also with the citizens, right?
And not like before, when excavators secretly appear at night and in that way implement some ideas that are known to disturb the citizens of Belgrade.
I.Đ./Fonet/NIN/gradnja.rs
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