Impact of Climate Change on rural development and rural built environment: Case study settlements within the Region of the Southern and Eastern Serbia

Abstract

Great threat to the modern society and built environment is Climate Change (CC), whose impact cannot be observed independently from other factors. This paper discusses the influence of CC on the rural development in Serbia, where about 3/4 territory is rural. Six selected rural settlements: Bojnik, Trgovište, Žitorada, Golubac, Gadžin Han and Merošina, from the Region of Southern and Eastern Serbia, which is the least developed Region with high percentage of rural areas, were analysed. CC is one of the triggers for migration from rural to urban areas resulting in unfavourable social structure that, along with depopulation, represents a threat to rural development and the CC adaptation, making it a kind of a "wicked" problem. In order to create successful adaptation plans, increase resilience and provide efficient implementation and monitoring processes: (1) Decision making must be on local level and as a long term process with multifunctional - comprehensive approach; (2) Risk assessment and management must be part of every local strategic document - defined contextually depending on the specificity of each municipality; (3) Every municipality has different types and degrees of vulnerabilities, exposure and sensibility, and so measures for adaptations must be "customized" for every settlement depending on the specific spatial, development and natural context.