Urban development and influential factors on urban form of towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period of socialism and transition: Case study of Banjaluka and Trebinje

Throughout the history, the urban development of towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been strongly influenced by different social systems that were transponed into the urban space giving it general characteristics common for the most cities. The character of the urban form of cities also pointed to the influence of various individual factors which can be generally classified into three groups: the natural characteristics of the urban space, created physical structure and the socio-economic factors. They are permanently shaping the urban space acting interactively with different intensity and impact giving each city the specifics that underlie its urban identity. The most intensive development occurred during the last two periods, the period of socialism (1945 - 1992) and the period of social transition into the liberal democratic system, where the factors in the socio-economic sphere have achieved an especially large impact on the urban form. This paper presents the general characteristics of urban development and influential factors on the urban form of Banjaluka and Trebinje from 1945 until today.