In 1999 in Pristina on one side was the release from the occupier and on the other side was a new beginning, where the city had the opportunity to build according to urban plans because some parts of the city were destroyed during the war. Unfortunately, this did not happen. 2002, was also the year of the turning point in urban and architectural development when problems started in every neighbourhood of Pristina in different buildings.

Most of the investments with large sums of money, year after year in the field of architecture began to change the city on the negative side. Most of the buildings did not meet the conditions and on the other hand, the city began to take on a bad look. In this urban and architectural change, only private interests were significant and those of the public or the city were not taken into account during the design. The damage or the ugly appearance that the city was getting after the end of the war was understandable by the investors, but the construction did not stop. The Municipality of Pristina was the only institution that dealt with the urban planning of the city as well as with the compilation of construction permits. In 2002, there was a lack of architects and for this reason, urban development plans were missing. In these years, new constructions began to be built, and the municipality of Pristina had a problem taking control during the construction phase, this phase of control was seen as very important.

After the war, in every city of Kosovo there were many problems in the organization of institutions and the field of architecture was not a priority. The international factor had arrived in Kosovo and tried to help professionally in every sector. However, the rule of law was also not applied in the field of architecture and urban planning. Not being afraid of the law has made various constructions happen quickly in Pristina. The construction field was a catalyst in reducing unemployment and therefore Directorate of Urbanism of the Municipality of Pristina was the institution that was allowing massive constructions with and without an architectural and urban plan. A lot of neighborhoods in Pristina did not have urban plans, but regardless their absence did not play a big role for investors, construction companies and architects.

Uncontrolled investments

Big investments started in 2002 and most of the investments were from the West, precisely from the diaspora and foreign investors, who started to have an impact on the development of the city. The field of architecture was seen by investors as more profitable and their power was to build whatever kind of building they wanted, whereas, on the other hand, they had the opportunity to buy a building permit. The first factor that influenced informal development was the uncontrolled investments, where for a short time this field started to become profitable, but it was almost the biggest contributor to the budget of the municipality of Pristina. The investors were in close contact with the architects and the directorate of urban development in Pristina. This triangle was in most cases in their favour, they had the power to build a residential facility even though this facility did not meet the requirements. In this way, the city of Pristina was being built irregularly and the benefits increased every day. Some foreign investors found  the opportunity to cooperate with local investors.

The main thing for every investor at the beginning of a project was the discussion about a building permit, the documentation of the plot and the possibility of how they could find a cooperation link with the urban department of Pristina to be able to get a building permit for a short time as well as in this construction permit, the rights could be obtained to be free, to build whatever they wanted. The level of architectural plans was not seen as very important by investors, but only by private interests or the part of financial benefits. In this case, we can understand that the interests of the city’s residents were not taken into account in the project. Investors, through new constructions in the city, started the rapid development of the city. In these matters, the advantages are in economic development and the construction of objects that were damaged during the war period, the construction of new neighbourhoods, while the negative sides were: the poor urban and architectural development or otherwise we can say the degradation of the city, when to improve it will be very difficult or it will be expensive, so the city started to lose the values of a city. Some neighbourhoods were planned as dedicated to individual houses or low-rise construction. Investors were very resourceful, so they could change these urban areas and turn them into high-rise neighbourhoods. The municipality of Pristina did not have the power to stop them.

Building permits and the policies of creating urban plans 

The second problem that presents this urban and architectural transformation in Pristina is the construction permits which were ignored by the investors. The number of inspectors who had to investigate the constructions in Pristina was not able to check all the new constructions, but there were also cases where they were not allowed to perform their duties by different persons or by the owners of the buildings, they were even threatened. The group of inspectors was also directly involved in the processing of construction permits in the Municipality of Pristina. The non-compliance of the plans with the construction permits has made them build even above the level that was allowed, in this case, the buildings that exceeded the rules of the plans allowed by the Municipality of Pristina took a different appearance, as shown in the plan. Building permits were the same for each building and each neighborhood and were designed by the city’s urban department. The problem of building permits is also seen as a challenge even today by the Municipality, because every day the construction companies, even though their projects do not meet the construction requirements, try to build different objects in every space of the city. In some cases, the construction inspectorate has succeeded in demolishing illegal constructions based on the violation of building regulations. Ministry of environment, spatial planning and infrastructure is also the institution that deals with the creation of spatial plans for the entire space of the territory of Kosovo, at the same time, each Municipality during the establishment of urban and development plans must receive the consent of the ministry.

Overbuilding or illegal buildings

The third problem derives from the second problem because non-compliance with the regulatory plans has led to the overbuilding we have today. This term started to be used after the end of the war. It is easy to understand since the construction companies were provided with a building permit for 5 floors, they had built one or two additional floors, where the height rules set by the city were directly broken, in this case, these illegal structures should be demolished, but in most cases, they had not happened, because the investors had found different opportunities to keep their facilities intact. Many cases of overbuilding only reflect the interests of construction firms. Private persons were also involved in illegal construction, where their houses were legalized during earlier periods, but after the 2000s they found the opportunity to illegally build additional parts to their facilities. For 25 years in Pristina, whole blocks have been built illegally, where even today these objects remain undamaged. Illegal constructions, in addition to not having a building permit, can also endanger the lives of citizens in the city, as they are built outside of design standards. But part of superstructures are not only construction enterprises but also other persons who are indirectly connected with superstructures. They are the persons who benefited from these superstructures, that is, they do not prevent these superstructures from being discontinued. Such persons have institutional, legal and political influence.

The research of some results shows a conclusion that for the citizen of Pristina life is good to enjoy in the future, where their opportunities for a good quality of life in the city are too low because of the wrong development of urban and architecture. These high problems are installed soon, so Pristina remains an informal city of modern architecture. Some mentioned problems can also be mentioned the rapid increase in the number of inhabitants or the migration of other cities to Pristina immediately after the war because the capital of Kosovo was seen as the best opportunity for work, education, etc. This rapid development influenced the rapid discovery of the city.In the case of buildings in Pristina, the main thing was that most of the residential buildings became faster in functioning so that they could be used for other purposes which are by investors. While the part of the facades was completed later, the city is given an informal and chaotic appearance. Nowadays, we have improvements in this direction, where the residents agree to live only in buildings that meet the housing conditions.