Urban agglomerations in the function of regional integration of Serbia in South-Eastern Europe

Abstract

In this article is analyzed the importance of urban agglomerations in the regional organization of Serbian space at one side, and on the other side they are taken as carriers of the future integration of the Serbian urban system into the urban of the South-Eastern Europe (SEE). In the regional configuration of Serbia, more different forms of territorial impacts of urbanization, urban areas and urban regions. High level of urban centralization is formed under the influence of the population density and functions of the metropolitan area of Belgrade. The problems of unbalanced disposition of population growth and qualitative transformation of urban centers are stressed and analyzed. Based on the role in integration process in the SEE, the metropolitan region of Belgrade is pointed out as its principal carrier and the metropolitan region of Nis as its secondary carrier, as well as the urban centers of importance for the cross-border regional cooperation. As the most suitable instrument of internal regional integration the model of Functional Urban Regions (FURs) or Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) is proposed, and for external regional integration is proposed the model of Metropolitan European Growth Areas (MEGAs). The coherent short-term and long-term development strategies for Serbian towns and their regions seem absent.