text: First buildings for classic residential purposes were built as pavilions close to the area known as Tošin Bunar (Toša's Well). Studentski Grad (Student City) complex was also built around the same time to meet the residence needs of the growing University of Belgrade student body that came from other parts of Yugoslavia. Base for the first phase in city's development was Belgrade's general plan from 1950. Area was divided in blocks. First finished ones were blocks 1 and 2. Designed by Branko Petričić, and still considered "experimental" at the time, they were finished in 1958.
  Buildings sprung up one after another and by 1952, New Belgrade was officially a municipality. In 1955 the municipality of Bežanija was annexed to New Belgrade. It was for years the biggest construction site in Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and a huge source of pride for country's communist authorities that oversaw the project.
  One of the major successes during the construction was the arrangement and planting of the greenery. The main obstacle was the, now sandy, terrain. Still, the planting of the parks began after 1956. In 1961, the Park of Friendship was opened, to commemorate the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Park itself is part of much larger Park Ušće. Also in the 1960s, the arrangement of the promenades along the Sava and the Danube began.