Ilijaš

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year founded: 12.07.1955
Planned population: 21.752 in 2028 (Based on the Demographic Analysis of Sarajevo Canton by Municipality 2013–2022)
Current population: 20.945
Purpose (why the city was founded): Ilijaš emerged as a workers’ settlement tied to the industrial zone and railway, serving for decades as a satellite of the capital Sarajevo. It provided housing, basic services, and community life for industrial workers and their families, gradually shaping its own local identity within the wider region.
Special feature (motto, peculiarity, etc.): Ilijaš – Beyond industry, beyond periphery: a new center of growth and connection.

Located 20 kilometres north-west of Sarajevo, Ilijaš grew from a small mining settlement into one of Bosnia’s key industrial hubs after the Željezara ironworks was established in 1952. The war of the 1990s brought heavy destruction and displaced much of its multi-ethnic population. Today, with around 20,000 inhabitants, Ilijaš is redefining itself between industrial heritage and natural landscape. Surrounded by forests and farmland, the municipality focuses on rebuilding infrastructure, restoring riverbanks, and regenerating the vast former steelworks zone.

Avtor: New Towns New Narratives Network

Kraj: Ilijaš