"The endless Vs ending city or can limitation be a generator of development?" - Dina Samic

Sarajevo - senior discussant

The presence of borderlines in cities, physical, psychological, social or other creates edge conditions. At these borderlines differences meet and communication between differences generates new potentials. Sarajevo, as a city could be considered an example of multiple borderlines gathered in one place. Beside well known cultural borderlines new type of spatial borderline is emerging in the last 20 years – morphological borderline.

What happends when physical and social space of the city is somehow limited?

Since located in the mountain region the growth potential of the city is limited. It had a gradual longitudinal development. The rate of growth increased so much at times that housing leaped over other important areas of the city. Illegal housing represents even bigger problem of contemporary city. Now days Sarajevo has more than 26 000 illegally built houses mostly built on landslides. Illegal housing not only tends to abuse space, but somehow creates isolated units of the city without adequate infrastructure, cultural and social facilities. Is there a way to stop or control this urban growth? What kind of limitation would be respected? Is a limitation in some cases a positive influence of development?