Micro, Macro & Mezzo Geoinformation (Dec 2020)
URBAN LIFE AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN KOSOVO
Abstract
After 1999, population movements from rural to urban settlements and from small towns to large cities increased, and thus urban life began to dynamise. This increase in urban population was expressed as a result of urban industrialisation and the destruction of many houses in rural areas as a result of the recent war (1999) in Kosovo, poor conditions of rural infrastructure, and the search for a better life in cities. At this time, the demands of Kosovar society for housing and business were great, while Kosovo had not yet consolidated the relevant institutions (just emerged from the war) that would design and implement urban development policies and strategies in relation to the demands of society; therefore, the urban population increased, and, at the same time, social–urban problems increased too. Through the method of analysis — comparison and interview (N = 13) with professionals in the urban field — the study reflects the (demographic) urban growth, the advantages of urban life, and the social–urban problems manifested at the beginning of the 21st century.
