Central Zone, New Belgrade. Unsolved, Unfinished, Unlimited

The paper examines the transformation of New Belgrade’s Central Zone (NBCZ), tracing its trajectory from an ambitious Socialist-Modernist plan to a fragmented urban landscape shaped by market dynamics. Originally conceived as a monumental axis linking the Palace of Federation with the Main Railway Station, the Central Zone underwent numerous planning revisions. Over time, centralized planning gave way to a diversity of actors, market forces, and contingent decision-making. Through archival research, fieldwork, and oral histories, the essay narrates five microstories to investigate how architectural agency emerges within these changing conditions, revealing layered narratives of built and unbuilt projects that continually reinterpret the NBCZ’s urban and ideological legacy.