Architecture of autocracy and the shifting city image: the Belgrade Waterfront project in Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, has a dynamic architectural history. In light of historical circumstances where the city was the twentieth-century capital of former Yugoslavia, its architecture has unique political and economic contexts of communism, socialism, and, later, capitalism. This paper examines the relationships between architecture, media, and politics in twenty-first-century Belgrade through the Belgrade Waterfront project (2014–present). It examines the project and its political context as an example of architecture of autocracy, contextualising the project within the city's larger architectural history and image. As the project is part of the government's attempt to change the city's identity, it is connected to the city's new image, which collides with the image of historical Belgrade. The paper argues that architecture, along with the city's architectural heritage and history have low importance in the project — and by extension in the city's new image. It traces the project's development and examines architectural research, along with national and international media, arguing that national and international media contributed to the city's image. It also argues that the questions of the city's image intersect with those of politics, as well as with narratives of autocracy and corruption.