Bečmen

Coordinates: 44°47′N 20°13′E / 44.783°N 20.217°E

Bečmen

Bečmen (Cyrillic: Бечмен) is an suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Surčin.

Location

Bečmen is located in the western-central part of the municipality, in the Syrmia region (sub-region of Podlužje, north of the Bojčinska woods), 6 kilometers west of its municipal seat, Surčin, and some 25 kilometers west of downtown Belgrade. It is located on the road which connects Petrovčić on the west to Surčin on the east, and continues to the west into the province of Vojvodina (the village of Karlovčić).

Population

Bečmen is statistically classified as a rural settlement (village) and it has a steady population growth in the recent decades (according to the official censuses):^[1]

• 1931 - 974
• 1948 - 733
• 1953 - 974
• 1961 - 1,195
• 1971 - 1,357
• 1981 - 2,494
• 1991 - 3,020 (de jure)
• 1991 - 2,951 (de facto)
• 2002 - 3,525 (de jure)
• 2002 - 3,409 (de facto)

Major ethnic groups by the 2002 census are the Serbs (3,214 or 94,28%), Romani (60 or 1,76%), Montenegrins (21 or 0,61%) and Macedonians (19 or 0,55%).

Ključ

A hamlet of Bečmen, named after the shape of the settlement (Serbian ključ, the key).

Oaza sport complex

Area of Bečmen has been chosen as a location of the future largest golf courses in the Balkans,^[2] which is with the projected value of 800 million euros in the next 11 years one of the largest foreign investments in Serbia.^[3] It is projected that in the next six years a large course with 18 holes and two smaller ones with 9 holes will be built, while the entire complex on 300 hectares will be finished in 11 years and also include ambulance, open kindergarten, five star hotel complex, golf club, service buildings, business center, residential complex with 5,000 apartments but also a cricket field, basketball, tennis, volleyball and handball courts, bowling alley and bocce court. An artificial lake which will separate the courses from the residential area will be also created. The entire "Oaza" (oasis) complex will be encircled with 20 hectares of woods and pedestrian and bicycle paths which will connect it to the left bank of the Sava river.^[4] "Oaza" will be 25 kilometers away from Belgrade and its construction will include a new 20 kilometer-long access road from Dobanovci.

References

1. Republički zavod za statistiku, "Uporedni pregled broja stanovnika 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 i 2002 - podaci po naseljima", Beograd 2004, ISBN 86-84433-14-9;
2. Tereni za golf i kriket u Surčinu, retrieved 2008-03-04
3. "Golf teren u Bečmenu težak 800 miliona evra", Politika, 2008-04-03, p. 27
4. "Surčinski teren za golf šampione", Politika, 2008-07-01, p. 24