Novi Sad, 8 November 2006

During the 15th edition of the Salon of Urbanism in Serbia, held in Novi Sad, SIRP has been awarded the 1st prize in the category “Competitions” for the series of “Competitions for Concept Architectural Design for Social Housing” organized by Municipal Housing Agencies and relevant Municipal Departments in Čačak, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Niš, Pančevo, Stara Pazova and Valjevo.

In the course of 2005 and 2006, Municipal Housing Agencies in Čačak, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Niš, Pančevo, Stara Pazova and Valjevo, in cooperation with the Association of Architects of Serbia, carried out competitions for architectural and urban design for social housing. The competitions were realized within the Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme – SIRP, implemented by UN-HABITAT in cooperation with the Ministry for Capital Investments, and financed by the Government of Italy. 130 works were submitted for the competitions and six first prizes, eight second prizes, eight third prizes and four special prizes were awarded in seven cities/municipalities.

The overall aim of the competition was to promote innovative and diverse approaches to the design and construction of social housing solutions, based on European best practice. Social housing, as defined in the draft Social Housing Law, is housing provided through the support of the state for households that are unable to afford an apartment under market conditions for social, economic or other reasons.

Even though the sites are all different in size, surroundings and capacities, special attention was paid to the arrangement and disposition of open spaces in each municipality. The formation of common spaces, areas for children to play and for different generations to gather, piazzettas and small green areas, intended for future residents, which will at the same time contribute to the social cohesion of new and old residents, was treated as one of the special priorities in evaluating the entries.