Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how the processes of urban reconstruction in Belgrade and Sarajevo on the one hand respond to the nature of conflict that affected the cities and on the other prolonge it in a framework of symbolic violence.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores how in the process of urban post-war reconstruction city makers and communities express the legacy and the meaning of conflict through spatial interventions and practices. The paper discusses two urban situations reflecting different types of conflict- the reconstruction after a "classic" attack from the outside- Belgrade after the 1999 NATO bombing, and a reconstruction after what Mary Kaldor (1999) named the "new wars", which blend international and civil wars- Sarajevo after the siege (1992-1995). A first dimension of the paper aims to investigate how reconstruction could be seen in Dacia Viejo Rose (2013)'s framework of a symbolic continuation of war violence, by prolonging the conflict reshaping it through heritage. A second dimension of analysis is to explore how the different nature of war is reflected in the memorialization of conflict and the reshaping of urban space. The paper will namely discuss the difference between reconstruction where the "antagonic" group lives in the vicinity (the case of Sarajevo) versus the situation in Belgrade after the NATO attacks, where preserved ruins serve as sites of victimization by external others.