Overlapping urban processes: Research by design experiences in a Sarajevo city central military campus

Abstract

This paper investigates the interplay of urban cultures, heritage, and spatial transformation through the case of the former Marsala Tito Barracks in Sarajevo, now redeveloped as the University of Sarajevo Campus. Developed within a research collaboration between the Universities of Ferrara and Sarajevo, it frames urban design as a critical lens for examining tensions between global urbanisation and local cultural identities. Challenging static conceptions of heritage, the study advocates for a dynamic, negotiated understanding shaped by evolving social relations. It highlights the complexities of reconciling heritage preservation with contemporary development in a post-conflict, multicultural city. The transformation of the Marsala Tito site exemplifies how urban interventions become contested arenas of memory and identity, calling for more inclusive, context-sensitive strategies that respond to both local narratives and global urban pressures.