Re-interpretation of natural and cultural heritage symbiosis as a tool for sustainable tourism development in Belgrade

This paper deals with the burning issue of sustainable tourism development in Belgrade, with an emphasis on re-interpretation and re-narration of local cultural and natural heritage. In order to understand the turbulent past, explain it in the present and preserve it for the future, this work enhances the symbiosis of specific geo-political position and natural preferences of Belgrade, being the starting point for interpretation of its heritage. Referring to studies about the city in a present-day form, the paper will show the crucial function of reading the signs that speak for a space significantly transformed through time. Furthermore, narration as the most important tool for increasing the knowledge and value of a place and its heritage will be underlined. The work refers to the local communities (in sense of understanding their multiple identity and heritage) as well as visitors, within the perspective of the so called “tourist gaze” (John Urry). One of the steps will be an attempt to re-interpret the significance of the Sava and Danube and their confluence in both natural and cultural sense.