| | The city is reflection of its population and their scale of values, but also the stratified structure of numerous generations and their value scales. City is a complex and dynamic system, growing and developing, guided by ideas and ideologies of governing structures, often with emphasized irrational dimension, difficult for understanding and complicated to be redirected by rational means. The numerous interests appearing during city development have their economic and financial logics, often confronted with urban culture not articulated enough to cope and win in the system of city decision making. Within cities in transition this weakness is more than evident, due to the fact that the new value system has not been established and articulated yet, and the urban identity not understood and positioned as crucial criteria in evaluating city attractiveness, competitiveness and economic successfulness. At the same time the mode of city governing is still based on traditional mode of decision making, mainly dependent on direct and short-term financial effects. The cultural values, not articulated and positioned in a proper way as economic resource, are usually being victims of governance weaknesses and developers’ apetites. The city identity, based on interconnected economy and culture (the culture as resource and not artefact only), asks for: (1) clear and precise criteria and strategies, (2) coordination of economic, social and cultural policies in the process of city development decision making, (3) joint actions of city institutions instead of their confrontation, (4) transparency and active participation of all stakeholders (developers, financial sector, civil sector, citizens) in preparing and making decisions on city planning, architecture and constructing, and (5) understanding that the city future is not sustainable without prudent coordinating past and present layers in the process of its economic growth and development. |
