Social inclusion mismatch in Serbia: Investing in people or concrete?

This essay examines the relationship between high levels of public investment in physical infrastructure and social inclusion in Serbia, with particular attention to rural areas and the Jablanica and Pčinja districts in Southern and Eastern Serbia. Since 2018, Serbia has recorded a substantial increase in public investment, reaching levels among the highest in Central and Eastern Europe, with a significant share directed towards physical infrastructure. At the same time, marked territorial disparities in social outcomes persist. Social exclusion is assessed through three selected indicators: the at-risk-of-poverty rate, the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET), and women’s position in the labour market. The evidence shows that, despite improvements at the national level, Southern and Eastern Serbia continues to record less favourable outcomes across these indicators. The essay also considers institutional constraints affecting rural and social inclusion and draws on implementation experience from the HE ESIRA project. The ESIRA approach, based on Multi-Actor Platforms, illustrates the potential of bottom-up and participatory mechanisms to complement infrastructure-led development by incorporating local knowledge, needs and priorities into the design of interventions.