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Contemporary scientific literature and strategic documents suggest the concept of polycentricity as a key factor and the aim of regional development policies. One of the aims of this study is to analyze spatial relations between the nodal regions and to determine (calculate) the level of polycentricity in the region of Vojvodina (Northern Serbia). By quantifying spatial relations in the region (using selected methods), we pointed out the relevance of regional development policies, i.e., the extent to which the proposed measures for reducing regional inequalities are in line with the direction of contemporary spatial relations in the region of Vojvodina. We have used four different methodological tools: rank-size rule, urban primacy index, index of functional centrality, and commuting patterns (levels of functional dependence). The obtained results identified the existence of morphological polycentricity, but also the growing domination of the cities of Novi Sad and Belgrade in regulating and managing spatial and functional relations in the region of Vojvodina. These results are not completely in line with the development directions declared in the strategic documents. Our approach focuses on assessing the influence of the main nodal (sub)centers in managing further spatial and functional relations in the region of Vojvodina.

Changes in the trends, distribution and structures of the population identified through censuses (such as the changes in total population, gender, educational, age and other structures) are crucial for understanding spatial phenomena and processes like urbanization. Numerous urban geography studies researching the development of systems of settlements in former Yugoslavia, which carried on in Serbia, were the foundation for a singular theoretical and methodological framework for researching spatial phenomena and processes focused precisely on the understanding of dynamic changes in the structures of the population and their territorial manifestation. Other than in scientific research, this approach found direct application in spatial and urban planning, when defining the measures directing demographic development, arrangement of urban functions, formation of a system of settlements, planning infrastructure development, etc. More recently, this theoretical and methodological framework was enhanced using GIS technologies, which allow for the integration of spatial and statistical data and provide for a powerful analytical tool. Data integration has spurred new research on the correlation between demographic and spatial phenomena and the mutual relationships and influences between spatial and demographic development. This paper presents an overview of existing research on the mutual influence between population development trends and spatial changes manifest through the fluctuations in the intensity of built-up areas, population density, infrastructure development, etc. A model of population distribution was created by using selected census statistical data and correlating them with phenomena in actual geospace. Emphasis is placed on the significance of using this and similar models in further research on the population’s impact on the environment, directing economic development, protection in emergency situations, and numerous other areas. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. III47014: The role and implementation of the National spatial plan and regional development in renewal of strategic research, thinking and governance in Serbia and Grant no. TR 36036: Sustainable spatial development of Danube area in Serbia]

In European documents, practice and policies of regional and spatial development, functional urban regions (FURs) are recognized as the regions with one or more urban settlements and their in (direct) impact zone(s). The historical connection of the city and its surroundings, as well as the contemporary trends in networking of cities and their hinterland, imply the issues of better modalities for the establishment of such FURs that would be economically more productive, socially inclusive and more environmentally sustainable. The concept of urban governance, along with supporting segments, is proposed as the model for future planning of resistant FURs. It was considered what cities and their functional areas should take in order to prospectively enable an establishing the sustainable spatial and regional development of the Republic of Serbia. The paper tries to answer how much are FURs adjustable, what is their “threshold” of vulnerability, to which they can face the side effects of climate change.

Cartographic presentation of heterogeneity/homogeneity in the spatial distribution of population is still a major problem in modern geography, and other geo-sciences as well. The traditional method of thematic or choropleth mapping rarely gives satisfactory results. This paper analyzes the applicability of dasymetric mapping method for the modelling of spatial distribution of population. Although it is a relatively old method, it becomes widely used following the development of computer technology, GIS and satellite imagery, and its applicability is increasing in social, economic and other sciences and disciplines. After showing the basis and development of dasymetric mapping, the authors present possible application of this method in the population distribution modelling of Vojvodina.

During the elaboration of the Regional spatial plan of the municipalities of Južno Pomoravlje (Region Južno Pomoravlje) a special attention was paid to its network of settlements. Demographical and functional determinants of this network were analyzed based on the relevant theoretical-methodological concepts and qualitative-quantitative indicators. Settlement network of Južno Pomoravlje was considered as a subsystem of the Republic of Serbia’s settlements’ system. Correlation and causality between processes of spatial and socio-economic migration of population and functional transformation of settlements have been highlighted, which caused differentiation of the Region’s municipalities to: urban cores - peri-urban rings - suburban more or less urbanized villages and rural surroundings. Models of decentralized concentration and micro-developing nuclei are proposed as instruments for decentralization of the Region or its municipalities. Based on the level of spatial-functional integration of settlements, regional as well as municipal and micro-functional - micro-regional structures have been identified. This paper gives conceptual and strategic proposals of spatial-functional organization of Južno Pomoravlje, which are based on settlements’ determinants. Authors suggest that functional premises define determinants for the Regional spatial plan and steer the sectoral and strategic decisions.

Based on the familiar theoretical and methodological postulates upon nodal regions, in this paper is analyzed a possibility to ground spatial and functional organization of Serbia on the development of functional and urban regions. It is suggested to treat nodal region as an instrument of connecting and integrating urban centers into the coherent networks. Iako Srbija nije u Evropskoj uniji, zbog specifičnog položaja i regionalnog okruženja, njen urbani sistem treba da bude kompatibilan sa urbanim sistemom Unije. Stoga je u planiranju i usmeravanju daljeg razvoja urbanog sistema Srbije nužno primeniti evropske principe, modele, metode i instrumente, u okviru kojih dominira princip nodalnosti. Deklarativna osnova da se to ostvari postoji, ali ostaje otvoren set pitanja vezanih za legislativno-funkcijsku supsidijarnost, tj. za vertikalnu i horizontalnu raspodelu kompetencija, obaveza i odgovornosti u planiranju i realizaciji planova između države Srbije, regiona, opština i lokalnih zajednica. Odgovor na njih dao bi mogućnost uspostavljanja održive hijerahije nodalnih centara koja bi, na koncu, omogućila policentričan i uravnotežen razvoj nodalne mreže. Tome treba dodati i otvorena pitanja vezana za formiranje materijalne baze implementacije modela nodalnosti tj. pitanja vezanih za koherentno umrežavanje nodalnih centara.

In this paper are given adapted morphological, demographical and functional determinants of the Novi Pazar municipality development settlement network on the basis of relevant theoretical and methodological assumptions and qualitative and quantitative indicators. Municipality settlement network is observed as a subsystem in the settlement system of Novi Pazar functional area. Specifically are emphasized interdependency and conditionality of settlement functional transformation process, which caused differentiation of community area into an urban core-Novi Pazar, periurban ring- more or less suburban villages and rural surrounding. Suggested is a model of microdeveloping nucleuses as an instrument for community decentralization. On the ground of spatial and functional level of settlement integration some micro functional - micro regional structure of the municipality territory, has been identified. U radu su, na osnovu relevantnih teorijsko-metodoloških postavki i kvalitativno kvantitativnih indikatora, obrađene demografske i funkcijske determinante razvoja mreže naselja opštine Novi Pazar. Mreža naselja opštine je posmatrana kao subsistem u sistemu naselja Novopazarskog funkcionalnog područja. Posebno su istaknute međuzavisnost i uslovljenost procesa prostorne i socijalno-ekonomske pokretljivosti stanovništva sa procesom funkcionalne transformacije naselja, koje su uslovile diferenciranost opštinske teritorije na urbano jezgro - Novi Pazar. periurbani prsten prigradska više-manje urbanizovana sela i agrarno okruženje. Model mikrorazvojnih nukleusa je predložen za instrument decentralizacije opštine. Na temelju stepena prostorno-funkcionalne integracije naselja identifikovana je mikrofunkcionalna - mikroregionalna struktura opštinske teritorije.

In this article is analyzed the importance of urban agglomerations in the regional organization of Serbian space at one side, and on the other side they are taken as carriers of the future integration of the Serbian urban system into the urban of the South-Eastern Europe (SEE). In the regional configuration of Serbia, more different forms of territorial impacts of urbanization, urban areas and urban regions. High level of urban centralization is formed under the influence of the population density and functions of the metropolitan area of Belgrade. The problems of unbalanced disposition of population growth and qualitative transformation of urban centers are stressed and analyzed. Based on the role in integration process in the SEE, the metropolitan region of Belgrade is pointed out as its principal carrier and the metropolitan region of Niš as its secondary carrier, as well as the urban centers of importance for the cross-border regional cooperation. As the most suitable instrument of internal regional integration the model of Functional Urban Regions (FURs) or Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) is proposed, and for external regional integration is proposed the model of Metropolitan European Growth Areas (MEGAs). The coherent short-term and long-term development strategies for Serbian towns and their regions seem absent. U radu je analiziran značaj urbanih aglomeracija u regionalnoj organizaciji srpskog geoprostora na jednoj strani, a na drugoj one su posmatrane kao nosioci budućeg integrisanja srpskog urbanog sistema u urbanu mrežu Jugoistočne Evrope. U regionalnoj konfiguraciji Srbije, identifikovano je više različitih formi teritorijalnog ispoljavanja urbanizacije, urbanih areala i urbanih regija. Uočen je visok stepen urbane centralizacije formirane u uslovima koncentracije stanovništva i funkcija u beogradskoj metropolitanskoj regiji. Istaknuti su i analizirani problemi neravnomernog razmeštaja, demografskog rasta i kvalitativne transformacije urbanih centara. Na osnovu uloge u integracionim procesima u Jugoistočnoj Evropi izdvojeni su beogradski metropoliten kao njihov primarni nosilac metropoliten Niša - sekundarni nosilac i gradski centri nosioci transgraničnog regionalnog povezivanja. Za najpogodniji instrument unutrašnje regionalne integracije predložen je model nodalnih ili funkcionalno urbanih regija (FUR) tj funkcionalno urbanih areala (FUA), a spoljne, model razvojnih evrometropolitanskih regiona (MEGAs).Uočen je nedostatak koherentnih strategija srednjoročnih i dugoročnih razvoja srpskih gradova i njihovih regija.

The higher mortality rate of the older gypsy moth larval instars was reported in the forest complexes of Belgrade and Valjevo region, in the culmination phase of the new outbreak of the gypsy moth in Serbia. By field and laboratory studies of the causes of their death, the presence of conidia and resting spores of the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga was reported in the dead caterpillars. This has been the first report of occurrence of this species in Serbia, that is, Serbia is the third European country in which this fungus has been reported. It showed to be a powerful reducer of the population size of the gypsy moth, and in both regions it caused the collapse of the outbreak in 2011. Keywords: Entomophaga maimaiga , Lymantria dispar , gypsy moth, biological control, epizootics

This article contributes, in the form of theoretical discussion, to the review of relevant methods for determination of city's spatial structure through the retrospective of continuity/discontinuity of understanding their spatial structure from the school of classical sociology to the sustainable development paradigm. Particularly, authors underline significance and analyze main theories and their models (social-ecology, economics, system science and geography) in the researching of spatial structure of the cities. They conclude that urban settlements spatial structure is resultant of complex dynamically-developing processes between settlements networks and systems on the one, and also between their internal components, on the other side. In their essence, cities are not statistical category, but complex and dynamical system whose structure reflects the relations between economic, social and cultural organization of life, adapted to the geographic environment. U radu su, u formi teorijske rasprave, dati prikazi relevantnih postupaka za determinisnje prostorne strukture gradova kroz retrospekt kontinuiteta - diskontinuiteta shvatanja prostorne strukture grada od paradigme klasične socijalne ekologije do paradigme održivog razvoja organizacije urbanog prostora. Posebno, naglašene su i analizirane socio-ekološke, ekonomske, sistemske i geografske teorije u istraživanju prostornih struktura gradova i na njima zasnovani modeli. Došlo se do zaključka da je prostorna struktura urbanih naselja rezultanta delovanja složenih dinamično- razvojnih i integracijskih procesa koji se odvijaju u mrežama i sistemima naselja na jednoj strani, i između njihovih unutrašnjih komponenata na drugoj. Svojom biti, grad nije statična tvorevina već je složen i dinamičan sistem u čijoj se strukturi odražava oblik organizacije ekonomskog, socijalnog i kulturnog života, adaptiran uslovima geografske sredine u kojoj egzistira.

Net of settlements of municipality Smederevo consists of Smederevo city and 26 rural settlements. It is a subsystem of the Belgrade metropolitan region. It has 120,000 inhabitants, and 70,000 of them live in town. From 1960 to 2000 it passes through phase of intensive demographic and functional transformation. Processes of demographic redistribution, deagrarization and urbanization are especially emphasized, caused by polarization influence of Smederevo city. From 1960 to 1980 population was developing by natural and migration components, but in villages occurred emigration of young population and caused increased average of older people and intensive decrease of population growth, which became negative. Demographic growth occurs only in periurban settlements, while stagnation and depopulation are typical for other settlements. Process of functional transformation of settlements is apparent also. Relative single functionality with dominant industry and slow diversification function are characteristic for Smederevo city, while villages are transforming from pure rural to rural-industrial and rural-obliging. It caused their progressive urbanization that is especially expressed in periurban settlements and along main traffic communications. In following period the aim is demographic and functional decentralization of net of settlements, by taking planning measures according to the model of center of villages group. U radu je mreža naselja opštine Smederevo posmatrana kao subsistem periurbanog prstena Beogradske metropolitanske regije. Na osnovu relevantnih teorijsko-metodoloških postavki i indikatora obrađene su joj morfološke, demografske i funkcionalne determinante. Ukazano je na potrebu planskog usmerenja njenog daljeg razvoja u funkciji obezbeđivanja optimalne valorizacije prirodnih, demografskih i socioekonomskih resursa koje poseduje.