Editing Skopje (section)

=== Urban morphology ===
[[File:GUP Skopje 2002 mal.jpg|thumb|Skopje urban plan for 2002–2020:
<div>
{{Legend|#A42424|City centre}}
{{Legend|#FFA500|Collective housing}}
{{Legend|#FFF48D|Individual housing}}
{{Legend|#5472AE|Industrial areas}}
</div>]]

The urban morphology of Skopje was deeply impacted by the [[1963 Skopje earthquake|1963 earthquake]], which destroyed 80% of the city, and by its subsequent reconstruction.<ref name=damages/> For instance, neighbourhoods were rebuilt in such a way that the demographic density remains low to limit the impact of potential future earthquakes.<ref name=post/>

Reconstruction following the 1963 earthquake was mainly conducted by the Polish architect [[Adolf Ciborowski]], who had already planned the reconstruction of [[Warsaw]] after [[World War II]]. Ciborowski divided the city into blocks dedicated to specific activities. The banks of the [[Vardar]] river became natural areas and parks, areas between the main boulevards were built with [[high-rise]] housing and shopping centres, and the suburbs were left to individual housing and industry.<ref name="reconstruction">{{cite web |url=http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/law/staff0/home.Maincontent.0014.file.tmp/No7-Skopje.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412021744/http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/law/staff0/home.Maincontent.0014.file.tmp/No7-Skopje.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 April 2012 |title=Rebuilding Skopje |author=Robert Homes |publisher=Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge and Chelmsford |access-date=26 February 2011}}</ref> Reconstruction had to be quick to relocate families and to relaunch the local economy. To stimulate economic development, the number of thoroughfares was increased, and future urban extension was anticipated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kocaeli2007.kocaeli.edu.tr/kocaeli2007/TAM_METIN_NUMARALI-SIRALI-PDF/645-649.pdf |title=Urbanistic aspects of post earthquake reconstruction and renewal – experiences of Skopje following earthquake of July 26, 1963 |year=2007 |publisher=International Earthquake Symposium Kocaeli 2007 |author=Zoran Milutinovic |access-date=24 March 2011 |archive-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110031038/http://kocaeli2007.kocaeli.edu.tr/kocaeli2007/TAM_METIN_NUMARALI-SIRALI-PDF/645-649.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Skopje SPOT 1114.jpg|thumb|left|Skopje as seen by the [[SPOT (satellite)|SPOT satellite]]. Mount Vodno is visible on the bottom left of the picture.]]
The south bank of the Vardar River generally comprises high-rise tower blocks, including the vast Karpoš neighbourhood which was built in the 1970s west of the city centre. Towards the east, the new municipality of [[Aerodrom Municipality (Skopje)|Aerodrom]] was planned in the 1980s to house 80,000 inhabitants on the site of the old airport. Between Karpoš and Aerodrom lies the city centre, rebuilt according to plans by Japanese architect [[Kenzo Tange]]. The centre is surrounded by a row of long buildings suggesting a wall ({{Lang|mk|Gradski Zid}}).<ref name=post/>

On the north bank, where the most ancient parts of the city lie, the [[Old Bazaar, Skopje|Old Bazaar]] was restored and its surroundings were rebuilt with low-rise buildings, so as not to spoil views of the [[Skopje Fortress]]. Several institutions, including the university and the [[Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts]], were also relocated to the north bank to reduce borders between the ethnic communities. The north bank is mostly inhabited by Muslim Albanians, Turks, and Roma, whereas Christian ethnic Macedonians predominantly reside on the south bank.<ref name=reconstruction/>

The earthquake left the city with few historical monuments, apart from the Ottoman-era [[Old Bazaar, Skopje|Old Bazaar]], and the reconstruction, conducted between the 1960s and 1980s, turned Skopje into a [[modernist architecture|modernist]] city. At the end of the 2000s, the city centre experienced profound changes. A highly controversial<ref>{{cite news |title=The makeover that's divided a nation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28951171 |access-date=6 February 2017 |work=BBC News |date=30 August 2014 |last1=Launey |first1=Guy De}}</ref> urban project, [[Skopje 2014]], was adopted by the municipal authorities to give the city a more monumental and historical aspect, and thus to transform it into a proper national capital. Several [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] buildings destroyed in the 1963 earthquake were rebuilt, including the national theatre, and the streets and squares were refurbished. Many other elements were also built, including fountains, statues, hotels, government buildings and bridges. The project has been criticised because of its cost and its historicist aesthetics.<ref name="objections">{{cite web |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/do-not-enter-yet-media-philip-of-macedon-also-in-skopje-s-center |title=Philip of Macedon Statute 'Planned' for Skopje Downtown |year=2010 |publisher=BalkanInsight |access-date=15 March 2011}}</ref> The large Albanian minority felt it was not represented in the new monuments,<ref name="Albanian objections">{{cite web |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albanian-monuments-to-complement-skopje-2-aa4-project |title=Skopje: Controversy Over Albanian Monuments Continues |year=2010 |publisher=BalkanInsight |access-date=15 March 2011}}</ref> and launched side projects, including a new square over the boulevard that separates the city centre from the [[Old Bazaar, Skopje|Old Bazaar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnevnik.com.mk/default.asp?ItemID=95A31B3469C5F944B1B1494BF41F31AE |title=Поставен камен-темелник на плоштадот Скендер-бег во Скопје |date=17 January 2012 |publisher=Dnevnik |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119203107/http://www.dnevnik.com.mk/default.asp?ItemID=95A31B3469C5F944B1B1494BF41F31AE |archive-date=19 January 2012}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Skopje X48.JPG|Vapcarov Street, located in the city centre
File:Skopje - Old City (9454038410).jpg|A street in the [[Old Bazaar, Skopje|Old Bazaar]]
File:Towers Karpos4 Skopje.jpg|High-rise housing in Karpoš
File:Macedonian Cross Aerodrom 1.jpg|The Macedonian Cross and [[Cevahir Towers]]
File:Archaeological Museum of Macedonia.jpg|The archeological museum, one of the elements of [[Skopje 2014]]
</gallery>