Governing diversity in socially fragmented urban settings: ‘Skopje 2014’ and the ethnocratic homogenization of public spaces

ABSTRACT

As a response to the erosion of North Macedonia’s confidence in the international domain and following the decay of its capital city, a grandiose and costly urban project called ‘Skopje 2014’ was initiated to transform public spaces utilizing country’s glorious past. This model for governing diversity based on ethnocratic homogenization led to further tensions among ethnic groups and reduced the role of citizens as spectators of how public spaces and the city are created. A transformative, deliberative planning culture is needed – one that recognizes the inconsistencies in the ethnic histories and imaginaries and allows change as an inevitable part of our identities.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethnocracy
• public space
• politics of recognition
• urban citizenship
• Skopje

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Kenzo Tange, a Japanese architect commissioned by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) provided a plan to rebuild the destroyed city in an urban, social, political and cultural experiment that itself became a new battle ground.

2. These ideas were engendered by the VMRO (Vnatreshna Makedonska Revolucionerska Organizacija – the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization) that fought for independence at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century and is the referential identity platform of the political party in power in 2009 that initiated ‘Skopje 2014ʹ.

3. An exception is the new philharmonic hall, which is a modern building.

4. The public is still unfamiliar with the total project spending, but journalists tracking the separate contracts estimated it to cost more than 670 million euros. ‘Skopje 2014 Uncovered’ is a database developed by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network with a detailed description of the financial allocations of this project.

5. According to the last Census from 2002, in the country, 1,297,981 inhabitants self-identified as Macedonians, 509,083 as Albanians, 77,959 as Turks, 53,879 as Roma, 35,939 as Serbs, 17,018 as Bosniaks, 9,695 as Vlachs, and 20,993 as belonging to other ethnic groups. More so, 1,310,184 inhabitants self-identified as Orthodox Christians, 674,015 as Muslims, 7,008 as Catholic Christians, 520 as Protestants, and 30,820 as belonging to religious denominations other than the aforementioned (State Statistical Office, 2004).