Reconstructing Skopje, Macedonia, after the 1963 earthquake: The ...

Papers in Land Management: No.7Reconstructing Skopje after the 1963 earthquake:The Master Plan forty years on8: Detail of Skopje Master Plan proposals. Source: S MarinovicThe Master Plan was considered at the time innovative in its fast-trackapproach.‘Never before had a town-planning exercise of such magnitude andcomplexity been conducted under the pressure of such desperatelyurgent social needs’. 13The usual master plan process (survey-analysis-plan) was telescoped in time,requiring constant decision-making. The key management tool was a‘Professional Working Committee’ which met weekly as a high-level group tosort out problems and maintain a common appreciation of the collective task.It often was involved in conflicting professional opinions and cultural valuesamong the international experts. There were problems of accommodating theprocess within hierarchical government structures, and a ‘rigidly legalisticinterpretation of what were meant to be general guidelines.’ 14 Ultimately,however, the system worked, and the plan was largely achieved on the ground.11