This paper aims to explore industrial heritage of Belgrade that is located in the city center and therefore, has considerable potential for future architectural and urban development of the Serbian capital. The whole Belgrade riverfront area along the Sava and the Danube Rivers has a large number of abandoned industrial buildings that have significant value and need to be preserved and revitalized. This paper represents a research project conducted by lecturers at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade in the course History and Theory 1—Visual Culture in Architectural Theory and Practice. In order to provide productive research, we have employed the case study method based on the old Mint “A.D.”, which we have chosen as a characteristic example of Belgrade’s industrial heritage architecture. An important goal of this research is to provide professional information and raise public awareness about the importance and potential of industrial heritage for the future economic, cultural, social and tourist development of the city. This paper analyzes possibilities to comprehend the problems of the city’s industrial heritage protection regarding its historical and urban context, its genesis, authenticity, identity, cultural, architectural, economic, social, productive, creative and environmental values. According to that, the main goal of this research is concentrated on the sustainable preservation of specific cultural tangible and intangible values, spirit of the place, city identity and historic cityscape values that characterize industrial heritage in the social, cultural, natural and built environmental systems.

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The World Heritage List was created as a result of the need to protect and conserve cultural and natural heritage. The Ohrid region is one of only 28 sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List that are both cultural and natural sites. Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe, boasting exquisite medieval religious architecture, as well as urban architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries. The site of Plaošnik is a large archaeological and historic location in Ohrid’s old town that witnessed all cultural eras from prehistory to Ottoman, but most importantly it was the location of the oldest Slavic monastery and the first Slavic University in the Balkans. In 2007, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia prepared a controversial plan of activities for the instauration of St. Clement’s University at Plaošnik. The main interest of this study is the position of cultural heritage in the evolution of a town, and the treatment of heritage in this process, shown through the case of Plaošnik; it focuses on the influence of pressure for (re)development projects on the key elements of an area recognized by the World Heritage List, as well as the influence of the World Heritage List, as an international legal instrument, on the preservation of these features.

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The City of Belgrade is situated at the confluence of the Sava and Danube. Accordingly, this geographical position has strongly shaped Belgrade's strategic and geopolitical significance, as well as its identity. In the last two decades, the development of several mega-projects in the area of Belgrade waterfront has had a negative impact on the cultural heritage of Belgrade and its historical cityscape, affecting its urban morphology and typology. The reason for this is that urban regeneration is most often driven by economic interests, while the preservation of meaning and the memory of a place are neglected. Along with these processes, several civic initiatives have emerged that aim to prevent damage to the built heritage and to indicate the need for stronger involvement of citizens in the city's planning and development processes. In order to discontinue the tendency of being driven by economic interest and demonstrate a will to achieve further sustainable development, it is necessary to redefine the procedure for protecting valuable cultural heritage. This could be achieved by creating a new approach to protecting cultural heritage in the domain of urban design and planning, taking into account all the values, tradition, authenticity and identity of a place. Accordingly, the paper will focus on the issues of protecting Belgrade's waterfront heritage, its historical and urban context, its genesis, and its cultural and architectural characteristics. Furthermore, the possibilities for different approaches to the presentation and modern utilization of the abandoned and ruined waterfront heritage will be investigated, in order to define new, common procedures that will be in line with city development goals, citizen expectations and heritage protection measures.