Serbia 2012 | 19 comments (19 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 1)

I think at this point australia is just selling dirt to maintain its standard of living. This is because it is a land of 'dirt by sea', there is a lot of it and it's easy to ship.

I am not convinced that the buildings were a great addition - modern buildings tend to be built to the false premise that doing something completely different will make the place better. On the contrary, what makes many great cities great is the careful architecture inside a vernacular. Combine with what appears to be the typical disease of making huge roads and encouraging car traffic and I predict belgrade will lose its charm and livability. Hopefully the food will remain good.

by njh on Thu Jul 26th, 2012 at 12:54:20 PM EST

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 0)

Yeah...as much as I like to see new buildings architecturally more aesthetic then those from 60, 70, 80s, people there are not that happy. There are few reasons for this ...first that infrastructure is not adequate to accommodate now more people all tho these buildings are not too high (Belgrade is not aiming up to the sky like Australian cities). Most Belgrade streets are not very wide anyway (old city) and people park their car on the edges on a both sides. This makes streets even narrower so driving there is a nightmare for me after living in Brisbane for so many years. Yes those new buildings have garages but people tend to make either residential or commercial properties out of them because they are built on perfect locations, close to the centre of the city. The other reason people do not like higher buildings is that they want to preserve life style that they had, having a house and garden (as we had) in the middle of the city. But it is not realistic because Belgrade is rapidly growing...
As for Australia I do not know what is happening elsewhere but here in Brisbane there was a time when everything was changing fast so when we used to show Brisbane to our guests we would say " this building wasn't here when we came...this wasn't here year ago, this wasn't here yesterday joke." But for the last few years very little has happened. I must admit that they made for many years very big infrastructure traffic project airport link now finally in use...and that's about it...Here and there very little is happening. Having in mind all the money that comes from "dirt" these days one would expect more to see. Maybe mining areas in QLD are thriving but I am not sure. In September I am going to visit some friends in Perth (first time in Perth for me) so I will see what the "dirt" has given to them...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

by vbo on Thu Jul 26th, 2012 at 08:23:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 1)

I disagree about the value of narrow streets. Narrow streets are the best parts. This guy makes the case far better than I can be bothered in a comment http://newworldeconomics.com/archives/tradcityarchive.html

The problem is perhaps the lack of public transport and a mistaken belief in the value of cars in cities.

I wish Australia would uses its money on building up its public transport and densifying its cities. The more I live in the dense urban parts of the world, the more I appreciate them.

by njh on Fri Jul 27th, 2012 at 12:01:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 0)

Do not get me wrong I love narrow streets if I look at them as tourists attraction but hey if it is a matter of traffic in your everyday life it's a nightmare. As for Belgrade's public transport , it is much more frequent and cheaper then here in Brisbane. All tho buses are not of same standard unfortunately ( some are very old and without air condition etc, but also they got some pretty good ones as a present from Japan and other countries and some they bought new). Families in Belgrade used to have just one car per family for ages but yes it has changed...families now have more cars. On the other hand people use public transport much often then here in Brisbane.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

by vbo on Fri Jul 27th, 2012 at 08:15:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 0)

Hopefully the food will remain good.
---------------
Unfortunately I am not holding my breath on this because industrial production of food is slowly taking place there too. Small farmers are rare now (they say this production is not viable) but one can still find them on "green markets". My generation has a habit of buying from green markets regularly but younger generation is buying more in numerous supermarkets with great variety of stuff. So we'll see what will happen. It's going to be great loss if food will taste like everywhere else in western world. We are joking here but it's not far from truth that if someone gives you to bite strawberry here in Australia with your eyes shut, you wouldn't know if it is strawberry or tomato by its taste...It's a pity to lose all those tastes...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

by vbo on Thu Jul 26th, 2012 at 08:40:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 1)

In the US west coast latte sipping areas it has swung back towards locally grown, with farmers markets attracting large crowds. So there is hope :)

Farmers markets were just taking off 2 years ago in Melbourne but they mostly hadn't worked out the important part that you need to run every week to be useful.

Of course living in Brisbane you'll struggle a bit to get strawberries and tomatoes as they are cool season fruits (more so apples and pears). On the other hand, you can try more tropical fruit and veg. Jerry Colby-Williams has done quite a bit on growing food in Brisbane on Gardening Australia.

by njh on Fri Jul 27th, 2012 at 11:57:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Serbia 2012 (none / 0)

Yeah...I hear that in England also people tend to go and live in country side lately...but I have a feeling that is more because it's "posh" then because they really want to farm , haha. Interestingly in Serbia after small farms survived "industrialization" during socialism right now people are not keen about farming even when they actually live in rural areas and possess agricultural land and do not have any other formal education. One would say that youngsters nowadays simply are lazy only sitting and watching TV and dreaming about big money and lifestyle they have seen on TV. Or what is the case here I do not know...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

by vbo on Fri Jul 27th, 2012 at 08:29:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Serbia 2012 | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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