Blocks - Novi Beograd - photo

Photoshoot with @marinauzelac

Blokovi (Serbian Cyrillic: Блокови, English: "Blocks") is the semi-formal plural name for a group of urban neighborhoods in Belgrade's municipality of New Belgrade.

Gear: Canon 6D+Nikkor 50mm f1.4 manual lens

Blokovi inhabitants represent a cross-section of the Serbian population. Because most people in Blokovi received their apartments through government-funded social programs, the population is very socio-economically mixed: it is not uncommon to have a bus driver living next door to a neurosurgeon in the same apartment block.

The blocks near the Sava river, especially the four and two story buildings, were inhabited by a large number of artists and intellectuals in the 1970s. The neighbourhood is ideal for young children, with many playgrounds and a popular boardwalk built along Sava's left bank. It is also considered as a healthy and a quiet place to live in as it has a lot of green areas, sports terrains and also a bicycle trail alongside the river.

On the other hand, the officer blocks, and their grayness and drabness have earned Blokovi the reputation of some sort of urban ghetto during the 90s. This image was perpetuated by recent Serbian movies such as Rane, Apsolutnih sto, Jedan na jedan, Sutra ujutro, and Sedam i po.

However, recently the erection of Delta City shopping mall, plans for Aquapark and Tennis courts near Block 45 have doubled the value of real estate in this area, at the time when New Belgrade with numerous development plans becomes one of the more desirable parts of the city.

The well-known Yu-rock band Riblja Čorba has made a song with the title "Neću da živim u bloku 65" (English: I don't want to live in block 65), which can be found on the CD "Buvlja pijaca" released in 1982.