Today, the zone of "preventive protection Savamala" is bounded by the streets: Brankova, Kraljice Natalije, Dobrinjska, Admirala Geprata, Balkanska, Hajduk Veljkov venac, Sarajevska, Vojvode Milenka, Savska, Karađorđeva, Zemunski put and the Branko's bridge.

[6] Several distinct neighborhoods developed in Lower Serbian Town, with names like "Preka Mahala", section "Kraj Save" ("at Sava", where the poorest population dwelled) or "Pokraj Bare" ("next to the pond"), where the boatmen and street musicians resided.

As most of the huts were actually stilt houses, built on piles due to the marshy land, the area was gradually named Bara Venecija ("Venice pond").

[10] Marashli Ali Pasha, Ottoman vizier of Belgrade from 1815 to 1821, in 1817 by the verbal agreement donated the entire patch of land along the river, stretching from the Fortress to the modern Mostar interchange to Serbian ruling prince Miloš Obrenović.

[11] Storages and shops were abundant and the most esteemed merchants in Belgrade began buying lots and building houses: the Krsmanović brothers, Rista Paranos, Konstantin Antul, Luka Ćelović and Đorđe Vučo.

[18] Hadži-Neimar designed in 1840 an elongated, large, ground floor house, built from hard materials at the corner of modern Balkanska, Gavrila Principa and Admirala Geprata streets.

The route of the future central thoroughfare in Savamala, Karađorđeva Street, was urbanistically regulated for the first time in 1893, when the construction of high, massive, lavish buildings, "palaces", began.

[9] In 1898, city administration decided to step up the urbanization of the neighborhood, so the smaller, side streets were cut through, the port and quay were regulated, elementary school was opened and the filling of Bara Venecija was finally finished.

[4] In 1991 Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts held non-competitive contest and the most popular solution was a project by which Savamala and New Belgrade will be connected by the web of canals and an artificial island in the middle of the river, with residential, commercial and catering facilities.

Propositions included the turning of the Main Railway Station into the museum and Savamala as the location of the future opera house or the building of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.

They chronicled stories from the inhabitants about old Savamala and employed artists and designers to revitalize the area who painted many murals, renovated parks and set ice rinks.

The works, projected by Boris Podrecca, should start at the end of 2017 and will include: widening of the sidewalks, planting of the avenue, further reconstruction of the façades, relocation of the tramway closer to the river and placing them on the cobblestones and construction of the parking for the buses which pick up the tourists from the port.

Just few days after city urbanist Marko Stojčić stated that everything will be finished by the end of January, deadline was moved for 7 months, to September 2020, prolonging the reconstruction to 2 years.

It was listed in the "Belgrade kafanas" book by Branislav Nušić, who described it as the "symbol of the city spirit, woven into its name" (promaja, Serbian for draught, flow of air).

By the April 2023 many granite slabs used for paving broke and crumbled, streetlamps were broken, the grassy areas were messy, numerous graffiti were painted and even the traffic lights in the Karađorđeva stopped working.

Budisavljević saved 15,000 children (of which 12,000 survived) from perishing in the concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia, operated by the Ustaše regime during World War II.

Due to its relative low altitude toward the Sava, and lack of any protection, Savamala is the only part of the central urban area of Belgrade that gets flooded during the extremely high waters of the river.

The square was designed by the architect Eduar Leže, who "stuck the needle point in the station vestibule's entrance and draw a circle with 120 metres (390 ft) diameter".

The section in front of the Belgrade Main Railway Station will be turned into the plateau with large monument to Stefan Nemanja, facing the Nemanjina Street, named after him.

[84] Chosen design was by the Fenwick Iribarren Architects, from Spain which envisioned the square as the open, green semi-circle, with the focal point being the future 23 m (75 ft) tall monument to Stefan Nemanja.

[92] President of the Academy of Architecture of Serbia, Bojan Kovačević called the project "irritation" and a part of the city administration's "fifth year of spite towards the public and profession" and "logorrheic phase of the spatial auto-goals".

[93] Architect Slobodan Maldini pointed to the inadequacies of the competition, including the composition and competency of the jury and a fact that the name of the winner leaked 8 days before it was officially announced.

[103] In May 2020, despite the adamant confirmations in the meantime, it was announced that the old post office building, which occupies the south-west section of the square, won't be restored to its pre-World War II appearance.

Contractors stated that it is a location of originally planned underground dry deck fountain, so a basin 80 cm (31 in) deep and covering 100 m2 (1,100 sq ft) was left hollow under the slabs.

On the international architectural design competition "Center on the water", held in 2011, first prize was divided between the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and Serbian Branislav Redžić.

They included problems with the foundations which had to be re-projected not to damage the lashings used for the construction of the embankment's fortification in 1914, and the tunnel to the fortress which the contractors claim was discovered when they were digging a hole for the engine of the fountain.

[134] Some of the best-known landmarks of the neighborhood include:[1] The population of Savamala (local communities of West Vračar, Gavrilo Princip, Zeleni Venac and Slobodan Penezić Krcun) was 18,950 in 2011.

However, the works had to be halted as, since the area is very prone to the mass wasting, the houses began sliding down towards the river while the construction and drilling equipment fell through into the cave and an underground lake.

Streetwise, it was to go underground at Gavrila Principa, elevate a bit under the 36, 38, 13 and 15 Kraljice Natalije, continue under Terazije, Hotel Moskva, school in Dečanska, 17 and 26 Makedonska, 24 and 25 in Despot Stefan Boulevard, before resurfacing in the brewery's yard.

In April 2020, during the outbreak of the coronavirus, chief city urbanist Marko Stojčić sad that the project is moved to 2021-2022 (with additional 2.5 years needed to be finished), not because of the pandemic, but because the construction is not ready anyway.