Spatial Resilience of Historic City Centres in the Face of Climate Change: A Comparative Study of Selected Balkan Cities
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The threats to historic city centres are mounting due to climate change, which affects their densely packed cultural heritage resources, aging infrastructure, and multifaceted governance systems. In fact, these are extremely sensitive environments, as they have little room for manoeuvre and must perform two tasks that often appear to conflict with one another: conservation and climate transformation. This paper focuses on the spatial and institutional robustness of five historic city centres in the Balkan states—Skopje, Mostar, Prizren, Belgrade, and Thessaloniki—in the face of climate challenges such as extreme heat, floods, and long-term drought. The study assesses how effectively climate adaptation and cultural heritage protection are integrated into spatial planning and policy, while also identifying the main barriers and opportunities for heritage-attuned resilience planning. The paper follows an interpretative, multi-scalar approach comprising policy and planning document analysis, spatial mapping, and comparative evaluation. The analysis simultaneously focuses on three aspects: nature-based solutions, participatory governance, and the role of cultural heritage in climate resilience strategies. The results reveal significant variability among the case studies. While some cities are making progress through green infrastructure and disaster risk reduction programs, others continue to face institutional fragmentation, insufficient funding, and weak coordination. In all cases, cultural heritage was at best peripheral to climate adaptation agendas and was often treated as a passive asset rather than as a source of adaptive capacity. The research develops an integrative, place-based resilience approach that incorporates both tangible and intangible heritage into climate adaptation processes. By examining a previously neglected subnational context, this study contributes practical and policy-relevant knowledge for professionals and decision-makers dealing with historic urban landscapes.
Source: Journal of Balkan Architecture
DOI: 10.69648/navw2332
Author: Cagla Ercanli
Institution: İzmir Kavram Meslek Yüksekokulu
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7163689488