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The paper aims to present the most significant classifications of spatial planning systems and territorial management in Europe. After the first attempts, from the end of the last century, at the beginning of the new millennium, extensive analyses of the spatial planning system were carried out through several ESPON projects. Their results were based on the dominance of one of four approaches: urbanism, land use, regional-economic or comprehensive integrated planning. Some countries have a combination of two or three approaches. The second research also refers to the development trends observed in the national systems of territorial management and spatial planning. Recent research include the classification of states according to the way of management, the level of integration of sectoral policies, the degree of adaptability in planning, as well as the degree of engagement of citizens in the planning process. Knowing the basic characteristics of the spatial planning system, as well as the classifications based on them, creates a clearer perspective of spatial planning as a socially important activity and makes it easier for every country to review and improve its planning practice.

The paper outlines the features of the spatial planning systems worldwide, on different continents, based on countries where legislative frameworks for the planning and methodology of preparing and implementing planning documents are defined. In order to define global features of a spatial planning systems it is necessary to address several issues: the implementation of sustainability principles, the development of regional planning, the importance of an urban planning approach, management system, implementation problems, participation, the share of strategic spatial planning and transnational cooperation, etc. The determination of the planning system by numerous and various factors influenced the different degree of development of the planning process. In many countries, planning practice faces problems associated with the disrespect of the law, corruption and illegal land use, resolving regional development imbalances in almost all countries etc. At a global level, addressing environmental issues is becoming a dominant goal in most planning systems.

The subject of this paper is an evaluation of defined urban regions in Serbia, with an aim towards identifying their basic features, with special emphasis on the measurement of their functional polycentricity. These features include methods with following indicators: share of settled inhabitants to overall population number in the centre of urban region and surrounding area, according to the outcome; concentration level of employees in centres and structure of activities of active population performing an occupation, functional dependence of settlements in the area of the region and determining the functional polycentricity index of the urban region. Therefore, the goal of the paper is to clarify the difference between the urban regions that have developed in the area of Serbia, which are significant factors for further planning of polycentric and balanced regional development. The results of the survey show differences between urban regions. Almost half of the urban regions in Serbia have characteristics of monocentricity, while few polycentric urban regions differ in number of secondary centers. Certain differences between urban regions refer to the results related to share of the employees in primary centres in connection with the secondary centre region, if refers to a polycentric region, or in comparison to the region as a whole, if it implys to monocentric urban regions. All in all, primary differences between urban regions pertain to the degree of functional polycentrism.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the coverage of Serbia's national territory with urban regions. In order to acquire the status of an urban region, a city and its surrounding area have to meet certain criteria. There is a set of criteria that apply to cities as the centres of urban regions, and there is another set of criteria relating to the settlements in their surroundings. The analysis and evaluation of the characteristics of a selected set of urban regions are very important both for urban geographical research and the planning of spatial and functional relations and links, as well as the management of regional development in Serbia.

The goal of this paper is to explain the origin and development of strategic spatial planning, to show complex features and highlight the differences and/or advantages over traditional, physical spatial planning. Strategic spatial planning is seen as one of approaches in legally defined planning documents, and throughout the display of properties of sectoral national strategies, as well as issues of strategic planning at the local level in Serbia. The strategic approach is clearly recognized at the national and sub-national level of spatial planning in European countries and in our country. It has been confirmed by the goals outlined in documents of the European Union and Serbia that promote the grounds of territorial cohesion and strategic integrated planning, emphasizing cooperation and the principles of sustainable spatial development. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176017]

Territorial'noe planirovanie v Rossii imeet dolguju tradiciju. Odnako, posle raspada SSSR nekotoroe vremja nabljudalas' tendencija otricanija važnosti razrabotki planovyh dokumentov i ih značenija dlja upravlenija processom razvitija. Diskontinuitet, nastupivšij v rezul'tate etoj tendencii, privel k nekotoroj nestabil'nosti territorial'nogo planirovanija v segodnjašnej Rossii. Povtornaja aktualizacija dejatel'nosti v oblasti razrabotki planovyh dokumentov, svjazana s prinjatiem «Gradostroitel'nogo kodeksa» 2004 g. Eta dejatel'nost' zatrudnena nedostatkom relevantnyh kadrov, otsutstviem jasnoj teoriko-metodologičeskoj osnovy, neopredelennym otnošeniem k suščestvujuščim social'no-ekonomičeskim strategijam razvitija i dr. Nesmotrja na neprostye uslovija, v poslednie neskol'ko let, nabljudaetsja burnoe razvitie territorial'nogo planirovanija na vseh territorial'nyh urovnjah. Meždu tem, po ocenkam specialistov, količestvo ne soprovoždaetsja sootvetstvujuščim kačestvom. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47006]

This paper deals with the significant European aims of the process of intra-continental integration, as well as the role of the urban centers in its transregional cooperation. Although the process of transborder cooperation of towns exists also in other parts of the world, the roots of that complex form of cooperation appeared rather early in Western Europe. The area of Central Europe, especially the politically unstable southeastern part of the continent, are considerably late in this process. Serbia, especially its western and southern parts, is even more late in transborder regional cooperation of towns. The paper emphasizes that towns of Serbia, as development carriers with their intellectual potentials, have to express the ideas on starting the international actions. The possibilities are extensive: activation of neglected cooperation relations, improvement of technological and economical development, modernization of infrastructural systems, cooperation in culture, education, sports and recreation, environmental protection, etc. Towns need to find the ways for all kinds of cooperation with surrounding towns, if such cooperation gives the results which are favourable for both parties. Isolation from the world courses would lead to long-term stagnation. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176017]

The paper covers presentation of ways of international cooperation of Danube region on the territory of Republic of Serbia and its spatial integration levels of the immediate and wider environment (cross-border or trans-border aspect of cooperation, transnational cooperation and interregional cooperation). Danube region is space with the most active current integration processes, which take place under the initiative of the European Union and the definition of European instruments supporting cooperation of states along the Danube River flow, as well as more specific territorial entities that are directly related to the river. In addition to European strategies and programs, the cooperation includes cross-border cooperation activities of Serbia based on resolving socio-economic problems, issues related to infrastructure, environmental protection and other areas of cooperation that include spaces Euroregional Association. The grounds for the implementation of planned measures for further Danube region development also include functional connections on regional and local level within the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

Regionalization of Serbia, as an instruments whose adequate use would contribute to a decrease in interregional differences in development of certain parts, represents a complex task, which is only to some extent finished by adopting bigger territorial parts in Serbia. This work is made for the purpose of presenting the problems with regional planning process deriving from inconsistency which exists between administrative territorial organization into districts of the Republic of Serbia and functional areas of regional centers defined by The Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia, issued in 1996, then functional urban areas presented in The Strategy of Spatial Development of the Republic of Serbia in 2009-2013-2020 and in The Draft Law of Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia in 2010-2014-2021. Moreover, the work compares the above mentioned spatial areas with planned regions, for which the drawing up of regional spatial plans is scheduled, namely with statistical macroregions, whose defining is one of the recently adopted decisions in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of pointing out to the above mentioned inconsistency in so far used concepts of regionalization, is to contribute to the quality of regional planning of development, as well as to finding solutions which would refer to establishing borders of smaller, meso-regional totalities, and also to the determination of authorities of both middle levels of administration in our country. .

Beside the dominance of Belgrade in regional development of Serbia and marginal role of medium sized cities, macroregional centers were for a long time important carriers of economic development and a driving force of the overall prosperity. The objective of this work is to indicate the role of macroregional centers in the regional development of Serbia through their analysis and comparison of the results with the average values on the state level. Their existence represents a precondition for decentralization of Serbia. .

The aim of this article is to show through the comparative analysis, the basic characteristics of regional policy, or the policy of support to the development of less developed areas in our country compared to the regional policy of European Union, with an accent on the instruments for implementation of that policy. Without putting accent on different starting positions for those two development policies, what is for sure the main reason of differences in realized results, the experiences of European Union can be in any case useful and instructive for Serbia as a country with a task of rationalization and establishment of an effective regional policy being a necessity in the forthcoming period.

The need for planning, as a process through which the future can be influenced to a certain extent, gave a new form of this activity, that has characteristics of generalization, flexibility and adaptability in time and in space which it refers to. That is strategic planning, which tends to coordinate the variety of development components and has for its aim successful implementation based on planning objectives. In the practice of spatial planning in Serbia, important differences can be recognized in perception of the term "strategy" as a planning document, and in consequence differences in perception of its form, content and aim. In that sense, this paper is dedicated to the interpretation of different approaches in strategic spatial planning in Serbia and it points out strengths and weaknesses of those approaches.