Integration of Culture in Public Spaces: Cultural District Sarajevo

The accelerated transformation of the urban landscape of Sarajevo Canton increasingly becomes a space of contention among various interest groups - citizens, planners, investors, heritage disciplines, and local authorities. Establishing a model that involves respecting the interests of each of these groups or increasing the level of inclusivity in the decision-making process will lead to humane and sustainable solutions for the future use and visual shaping of public spaces. Unlike other design disciplines, the specificity of designing public spaces lies in the imperative of participation, mediation, and balancing the interests of multiple actors, ranging from the public and private sectors to planners, designers, researchers, and citizens. Local governments in the municipalities of Sarajevo Canton and other Bosnian Herzegovinian (B&H) cities have still not adopted participatory approach to urban planning. This paper explains research project that tests but also proposes a methodological approach in the public space planning strategy (with emphasis on integrating culture and shift of educational approach) as a critical response to the mismatch between the existing institutional approach of "top-down" planning with the technological and social dynamics of the digital age, as well as the real needs of the local community. This approach promises a more inclusive, sustainable, and community-driven future for public space planning. Case study: Cultural district Sarajevo (the space between the future Ars Aevi Museum, the Historical Museum of B&H, and the National Museum of B&H) and "urban voids" of Grbavica1.