Brand New Capital

It is an undertaking which is performed once in a century, at most. After Saint-Petersburg, which was erected at the beginning of the 18th century by Peter the Great and Brasilia (middle of the 20th century), the honor to become a capital city built on bare wasteland might befall Pale, which has solemnly been proclaimed as Serb Sarajevo.

On this year's Boxing Day, the Belgrade architectural bureau, Studio d.d., at the hotel Bistrica on the Jahorina Mt. presented the "Spatial concept of the urban part of Serb Sarajevo". The experts from Belgrade were carefully heard out (as their models and plans were even more carefully looked over) by a select public in which, besides the ruling team of the Bosnian Serb Republic Karadzic-Krajisnik, Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic and chief of diplomacy Aleksa Buha found themselves. "Their complete attention was on the problem, they posed the right questions and they accepted the project with all seriousness", states the head of the expert team, professor Ivan Antic, for VREME.

According to this concept, the area of the envisaged Serb Sarajevo would be divided into four sections with a total of 200 thousand citizens. The center would be Pale, "a garden city on the slopes of Jahorina and Romanija" in which around 140 thousand people would live. Otherwise, according to the census from 1991, in the municipality Pale, somewhat more than 5-6 thousand souls lived, of which around 11 thousand Serbs. The actual settlement had around 5-6 thousand citizens, a few tombstones, vivid landscapes, a smallish Famos plant, and some summer houses which were built by the passionate skiers of Sarajevo. Now Pale is the capital of the Bosnian Serb Republic, the political and administrative center, the seat of state television and something that they refer to as the School of Economy, yet it remains, regardless of the enlarged number of inhabitants, a village which, due to a condensed psycho pathology, foreign corespondents have dubbed Twin Peaks. Bosnian Serb leaders have decided to change that, to build a real city on this area and to call it Serb Sarajevo (Srpsko Sarajevo). The idea was first disclosed by BS Parliament Speaker Momcilo Krajisnik following the signing of the peace agreement, yet his statement was not taken seriously. Now, however, even a study has been made.

"This urban area consists of four sections", the author of the spatial concept, architect Tihomir Obradovic, explains. "On the stretch Lukavica-Tilave-Kasindol an urban structure already exists which should expand over the time and, transportation-wise, develop better links with Jahorina and Pale. On the Jahorina Mt., a tourist zone is planned, yet the new concept does not include the construction of major objects - they already exist - but rather improvements of what is on offer, that is on linking up with Lukavica and Pale, as well as repairs and expansions of the sport-tourist infrastructure : ski lifts, ski runs and similar. The third location Sumbolovac-Pustopolje-Mokro shall house the economic, traffic and transport satellite of the capital city (Pale, author's note). There shall be an economic zone of around 140 hectares coupled with the appropriate housing capacities."

The most interesting solution is for the fourth and most important section, Ablakovo Polje-Pale-Ljubogosta. It is believed that on this spot the barren soil of today shall be transformed into a city worthy to be called capital city of the Bosnian Serb Republic. The planners insist upon conserving and using what already exists and on constructing without any unnecessary demolition, therefore estimating that for the beginning it would suffice to demolish 5 objects (of which only two are quality built) in order to commence construction works. Directly next to the present "center" of Pale a central city square is planned to be built with a new cathedral as well as new buildings for the parliament and theater. The city would be developed "lengthwise", following the east-west direction and would follow the flow of the Miljacka river, whose riverbed would be developed. The present highway which connects Gorazde and Visegrad with Sarajevo, in the part which traverses Pale would be transformed into a boulevard with two lanes intersected by greenery, a wider parking space to the side and pedestrian lanes along which business buildings would be built up to at most 6 floors (the planned maximum for housing buildings would be four floors). Almost parallel to the "boulevard", a pedestrian street would run which would stretch through the future city. On one side of the valley the construction of a complex of closed pools is planned, as well as a national gallery and museum, while on the other, the construction of luxury hotels, a stadium, sports hall, tennis courts...

Construction shall be underway, as they state, on the surrounding slopes. On the slopes of Romanija highlands priorities are already planned: a clinic-hospital center and university, and between the two, some sort of "professor-doctor settlement". Across, on the hill slopes of the Jahorina Mt., a TV complex of 5 hectares and a retirement home in the building of the former Koran Hotel, that is of the present war hospital. The space on the slopes would be filled up with individual constructions, family hotels and small boarding houses which would, by way of cable cars from Cirina harbor up to the top of Jahorina "complete the tourist offer". On one side, the valley would be closed off by the already existing Famos plant, and on the other by a big water distillery plant. The heating plant and gas pipeline are understood.

"Even Bonn was a spa, just like Pale, and it became the administrative and cultural center of Germany", adds professor Ivan Antic. "Pale can also offer winter tourism."

The construction of Serb Sarajevo should unfold in three phases. The first phase has three stages, and the construction of the first stage could be commenced immediately: consisting of roads, the sewerage system and plumbing, which would rely on the existing capacities. Construction would be carried out on public property sites. It would start off with the clinic-hospital center, university, central square and the development of the river bed. In the meantime, appropriate laws are to be passed, while plans should be completed prior to the commencement of the construction season, that is until spring. Karadzic and his associates have approved the project, so that the next move is upon the Bosnian Serb Parliament. The only thing left is to find somebody who is willing to finance the construction.

"The complete construction of Serb Sarajevo would amount to some 10 billion and 800 million German Marks", says the manager of Studio d.d. and the project manager, architect Vanjka Brkic. "These are rough estimates on the basis of Belgrade prices, meaning that it could come out a lot cheaper. The state could, by various exemptions, motivate construction, while even foreign investments are counted upon."

Even though all ten billion DEM are not necessary for the beginning of the works, it would be essential to find at least a billion or two from somewhere. For the Serb Republic economy, it is a bite too big to chew. According to the Dayton maps, the majority of the industrial capacities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have found themselves on the territory of the Federation, and the few remaining large public companies left over in the Bosnain Serb Republic have been ruined by war, the doubly imposed economic sanctions, theft and lousy management.

Foreign investments are in no great hurry to enter the Serb Republic. Recently, Bill Clinton told the mayor of Banja Luka Predrag Radic in Tuzla "that funds shall be secured for the economic recovery and for the solution of the most necessary existential problems, but not for construction or reconstruction of the big systems and economic organizations".

That leaves Serbia, or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the above mentioned announcement following the signing of the peace agreement, Momcilo Krajisnik reminded of the Serbian promise to financially support the construction of Serbian Sarajevo. The idea of erecting a new city and the eventual financial participation of the SR Yugoslavia in that venture has still not directly been commented in Belgrade.

The supporters of the construction of Serb Sarajevo shall most definitely face problems in the Bosnain Serb Parliament. In case the new city should find itself on the agenda, the anyways not inclined deputies from the Bosnian Krajina to the central government shall "hiss like snakes". They shall most probably remind them that such a place as Banja Luka already exists, which already has almost 200 thousand citizens, an until recently developed economy, a university, a clinic-hospital center, a stadium, a sports hall, administrative buildings, tree-lined boulevards, regulated and asphalt roads, a decades long developed infrastructure, a centuries old urban tradition and all conditions to become the Bosnian Serb capital without a Dinar being invested in it. The Karadzic "Sarajevo-Romania lobby" could, in that case, call upon decentralization and point towards the danger of evacuation of the citizens of the larger part of eastern Bosnia and the Sarajevo hinterland, including the future refugees from Sarajevo itself - and if no large city exists in its vicinity, the people shall make a move towards Belgrade. It is clear that in that case, Karadzic and Krajisnik would remain devoid of their "political fortress" on the future elections, in case there are to be any at all. Any type of a Serbian Sarajevo, on any place in its vicinity, is a condition for the political survival of the present Bosnian Serb leaders.