Planning Capital Cities

Sofia before World War II: urban design as a cultural implication

The “art to build cities” illustrates in the case of Sofia a model, which is from

the nowadays’ point of view sustained concerning the economic development,

the social balance and the respect of the milieu.

The basic characteristics of Sofia are formed in the end of the nineteenth century

and are defined by two combined communication systems: The historic radials,

oriented to the hot mineral water spring^45 in the city centre and the ring roads

as an artistic design product. The orthogonal grid of the quarters between the

radials and the ring roads are the third element of the composition. The unity

of the three elements is achieved with the design of places, bridges and green

areas in the junctions. The classicistic spirit of the composition is completed

with a corresponding proportional architectural frame. The more detailed

urban analyses show both canonical proportion dependences as well as singular

spatial characteristic.^46 Sofia’s urban core composition reflects the traces of

the antiquity, the medieval times and the modernity. We can identify in it the

traces of a harmonious evolutional development, as well as of momentary

implemented international urban design models.^47

The systematic urbanism suffers from a setback as a result of the demographic

crises in the wake of the WW I caused by the unprecedented mass migration

influx from Macedonia, Thrace and the Morava Region. The problems are

stimulated also by the speedy industrialization, which is strengthening

additionally the migration to the capital. The city is practically surrounded by

refugee quarters and slums that spring up on undeveloped territory. Although

the authorities start with delay to regulate some of these territories, they are

not able to get the situation under control. The data from the census 1943

show that the people born in Sofia constitute just 31.5% of the population.

Also the urbanized territory reaches in 1938 45 sq. km and remains unchanged

Fig. 12
One of the contributions to the
competition for the completing
of the representative center
in the spirit of Camillo Sitte’s
urban design ideas.
(Archive Ganchev)