es.qina

18/04/2026

2. Анализа / Што веќе постои и зошто е вредно

Ниш има размер што овозможува пешачење. Има конфигурација што овозможува велосипедско движење. Има река што природно може да стане најсилната урбана линија на градот. Има историски центар, тврдина, мостови и јавни простори што веќе постојат. Но сето тоа сè уште не функционира како систем. Токму тука започнува приказната за Нишава.

Најсилниот елемент на денешниот кеј е тоа што реката никогаш не била третирана само како нужен инфраструктурен канал, туку како главна градска оска. Тоа е модернистичко и далекувидо размислување за времето во кое настанало: реката да не биде пречка, туку организатор на градот. И тоа и денес јасно може да се прочита. По должината на водата постои линеарен јавен простор. Се отвораат визуелни коридори кон Нишка тврдина и центарот, преку непречено движење пеш и со велосипед. Мостовите не се само инфраструктура, туку урбани јазли што ги поврзуваат различните делови на градот. Таквите односи ретко настануваат спонтано и најчесто се резултат на силна почетна урбанистичка замисла.

Доколку го анализираме проектот „Регулација на реката Нишава со крајбрежен појас“ на Рафаил Влчевски, ќе сфатиме дека не станува збор само за техничка интервенција, туку за визија во која реката станува јавен простор. Тоа се согледува и во начинот на кој кејот е обликуван. Во многу балкански градови реките биле затворани со стрмни потпорни ѕидови, создавајќи дистанца меѓу човекот и водата. Во Ниш, на повеќе места, кејот функционира како транзиција, а не како ѕид. Постојат терасирани пристапи, пошироки платоа, скали, рампи и можности за задржување. Просторот не е наменет само за минување, туку и за престој.

Еден од највредните квалитети и денес е континуитетот на движење. Можно е долго да се движите покрај реката без прекин, а тоа значи дека уште во оригиналниот проект веројатно бил замислен континуиран јавен коридор. Денес тоа би го нарекле зелено-син коридор, оска на активна мобилност или линеарен јавен простор.

Особено успешен е односот меѓу кејот, тврдината и историскиот центар. Наместо наследството да биде отсечено од реката, просторот околу тврдината добива јавен предпростор и природна сцена. Тоа е повеќе од уредување. Тоа е урбанизам.



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2 — Analysis / Existing Value

Nis has a scale that allows walking. A configuration that allows cycling.
A river that could naturally become the city’s strongest urban line.
It has a historic center, a fortress, bridges, and public spaces that already exist.
And yet, none of it fully functions as a system.
This is where the story of the Nisava begins.

The strongest quality of today’s riverfront lies in the fact that the river was never treated merely as a necessary infrastructural channel, but as the main axis of the city. This reflects a modernist and forward-thinking approach for its time — seeing the river not as a barrier, but as an organizer.

And this can still be clearly read today. Along the water, there is a linear public space. Visual corridors open towards the Nis Fortress and the city center, allowing uninterrupted movement on foot and by bicycle. Bridges are not only infrastructure, but urban nodes connecting different parts of the city.
Such relationships rarely emerge spontaneously — they are usually the result of a strong initial urban vision.

If we look at the project “Regulation of the Nisava River with a Riverside Belt” by Rafail Vlcevski, it becomes clear that this was not merely a technical intervention, but a vision in which the river becomes public space.

This is evident in the way the riverfront is shaped. In many Balkan cities, rivers were confined by steep retaining walls, creating distance between people and water. In Nis, in many places, the riverbank functions as a transition rather than a barrier. There are terraces, widened plateaus, stairs, ramps, and places to stay.
The space is not only meant for passing through, but for dwelling.

One of its most valuable qualities is the continuity of movement. It is possible to walk along the river for long stretches without interruption — suggesting that a continuous public corridor was originally envisioned. Today, we would call this a blue-green corridor, an axis of active mobility, or a linear public space.

The relationship between the riverfront, the fortress, and the historic center is particularly successful. Instead of being disconnected from the river, heritage gains a public foreground — almost a stage.

This is more than design. This is urbanism.

18/04/2026

1. Why Nisava Bay is still not a Bicycle Corrdior ?

Hello, I’m Bojana.
And this is not just a story, but a way of seeing the city.

As someone who has always loved analyzing cities — from the perspective of a visitor, a tourist, or a resident — collecting experiences and constantly imagining better public spaces that make movement, spatial perception, and everyday life easier, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between the Vardar riverfront and the Nisava riverbank. Later, I came to realize that they are connected through the design work of Rafail Vlcevski.

But the similarity is not only in materiality, form, or urban morphology. It lies in the relationship to the river — in understanding that the riverfront is not a leftover edge of the city, but a vital social, cultural, and spatial artery of everyday life. A place where the city does not turn its back to the water, but steps onto a stage.

From that realization came the desire to strengthen this potential — to encourage more people to see the riverbank as a place for safe movement, rest, and enjoyment. A small green oasis that can be freely used by children, parents with strollers, people with disabilities, cyclists, recreational users, local residents, or simply those who love being close to nature.

I have been coming to Nis for more than three years, and for the past few months, I have been living here. Long enough to stop seeing the city only as a visitor, and to start experiencing it through daily routines — on foot, by bicycle, through repeated paths and pauses. This is how a city reveals itself most honestly: through the routes you take, the places where you stop, and the parts you unconsciously pass by.

And so that this does not remain just another entry in my personal “Bojana suggests” category — what I usually do while walking through cities — it is worth asking a more serious question:

What does the Nisava riverfront actually represent for Nis?

Because the problem is not that Nis lacks potential.
The problem is that this potential remains undefined.

26/03/2026

3. DESIGNING THE UNDEFINED

To design the in-between is not to define it completely. It is to resist closure. These spaces require openness — capacity for change, for overlap, for contradiction.

They are not empty gaps in the urban fabric, but active layers of possibility. What they demand is not more control, but more allowance.

Because the most resilient urban conditions are those that remain unfinished —
and therefore, continuously inhabited.

Design should not prescribe meaning. It should make space for it.

26/03/2026

SPACE AS BEHAVIOUR

Space does not become meaningful through form alone, but through the behaviours it allows. The in-between operates as a field of negotiation —
where movement, pause, encounter, and appropriation intersect.

These are not programmed uses, but emergent ones. A shortcut becomes a ritual. A threshold becomes a place to stay. Here, spatial meaning is not imposed — it is produced through repetition and presence.

Urban space is constructed as much by action as by design.

26/03/2026

RECOGNIZING THE IN-BETWEEN

Urban space is not only what is planned, drawn, and built. It is also what remains unresolved.

The in-between exists outside clear definition — not fully public, not fully private, not fixed in function, nor stable in meaning. It is often overlooked precisely because it resists categorization.

Yet, these spaces hold a different kind of spatial condition:one shaped less by design intention, and more by continuous interpretation.

The city does not end at its boundaries — it expands within them.

27/02/2026

It is impossible not to address the thesis that urban planning is in a direct causal relationship with the epidemiological properties of obesity. It is caused to a large extent by an environment that encourages excessive consumption of fast food and directly discourages physical activity. To understand why, we must place the focus where we usually do not look — that is, in the structures that surround us every day.

For example, high-density apartment blocks and proximity to shops and parks stimulate walking and socialization, while high-entropy and monofunctional suburbs encourage sitting and autocentricity. Sinburn (1999) defines the type of obesogenic environment by calorie reversion and a sedentary lifestyle, which results in a positive body mass index (more food intake than consumption), as follows:

Built environment: Cities designed autocentrically (urban sprawl, cul-de-sacs, fast traffic) reduce physical activity, while pedestrian areas with mixed uses (shops, homes, parks) encourage walking and cycling, promoting a lower body mass index.
Food environment: Easy access to fast food and sugary drinks, coupled with limited access to healthy foods, leads to excessive consumption of unhealthy foods.

Social environment: Social events focused on food, fast food marketing, and ultimately community design (such as parks or the lack thereof) influence eating habits and opportunities for activity at the local level.

Technology and lifestyle: Sitting in front of screens (TV, games, smartphones) in the urban environment further reduces energy expenditure, contributing to imbalances in people's well-being in multiple ways.

27/02/2026

According to the latest studies, over 1 billion people in the world live with obesity, and since 1990 the rate of obesity in adults has doubled and quadrupled in children (5–19 years old). Skopje and Nis as cities reflect many of these trends in a local context. In Macedonia, as many as 28.4% of adults are obese, which is an increase of 13.6% compared to 1990. Childhood obesity is also a growing problem. As many as 30.5% of children aged 6–9 in Macedonia have increased body weight (overweight or obese), of which 13.8% are obese.

Most of these children live in urban areas, where access to energy-rich fast food is easier, and opportunities for safe play and exercise are reduced. Similarly, Serbia also records high rates of obesity. National surveys show that by 2013, around 21–23% of adults suffered from obesity. Although there is no direct data for Nis specifically, it is assumed that local trends mostly follow national ones.

Although Skopje and Nis have different urban morphology, both cities show a similar structural conflict: the dominance of nutritionally risky content over spaces that encourage movement." The comparative analysis shows that nutritionally unhealthy offers are more aggressive, more visible and more accessible than places that encourage healthy lifestyle habits, movement, rest and social interaction. Greenery and places for sports and recreation exist, but are quite fragmented, reduced and centralized.

There is a lack of connection and adjustment of bicycle paths from the primary to the secondary traffic network, as well as the implementation of a green bicycle highway along the Vardar and Nisava rivers. Treating the user as a secondary actor in the process of creating urban policies is something that these two cities share as an irrefutable imperative.

21/06/2025

, not just consumers.

That’s the mantra of this piece I’ve poured my urban-planning-heart into. Inspired by Bogdan Bogdanovic, and the smell of summer asphalt.

We often think of cities as grand gestures—glass towers, bridges, plans made in sterile offices. But what about the city of little things? The city of shadows, scents, routines, resistance? The city you feel more than you see?

I invite you to read it, maybe even share the micro-urbanism you live every day.

● Let’s talk about chairs left outside like invitations.
●About spaces made not by planners—but by people, pets, and plants.

Reclaiming the City Through Spontaneity