Regions in transition: a lesson for built environment stakeholders

Regions with formerly distinctive cultural characteristics are being eroded by a combination of global/national environmental legislation and standardised planning practices. Sustainability policy no longer acts as an ecological preservation measure, but more of a blunt chisel disfiguring formerly intricate cultural and formal urban landscapes. This paper examines the urban environments of the former socialist state of Montenegro, currently undergoing transition from centralised government to a civil society administrative model. It considers the role of de facto western planning processes and sustainable policy on the cultural identity of its communities. The effect on embedded traditions, urban form and cultural values is mixed, but it can be convincingly argued that in the move to 'modernisation' many of the structures necessary for the evolution of genuine ecological and architectural planning systems are being systematically dissolved. Accordingly, the author appraises the current sustainable planning and design practices in the context of the former Republic of Yugoslavia and considers the present-day effect on the cultural, aesthetic and architectural infrastructure. Identifying the necessary frameworks for maintaining a distinctive identity in the face of standardised environmental assessment models will contribute to a more culturally representative urban landscape.