engleski

Varios Urban Spatial Agents – The Case of Cvjetni trg (Preradović Square) in Zagreb

Building plans for the Flower Square in Zagreb are interesting in many ways ; all the agents involved in the project (directly or indirectly) during a definite time period (December 2006 to March 2007) have been examined in the contents analysis of the three daily newspapers (Jutarnji list, Večernji list and Vjesnik). Basic division into four types of agents has been applied: space experts, political agents, economic agents and inhabitants/users/citizens (Bassand, 2001 ; Vujović, 2005). This case has clearly demonstrated the citizens' power ; various civil and non-profit groups in Croatia that may sometimes seem weak and inefficient have organized and acted and, more importantly, produced visible results and activities. At the core of the social structure there is an uneven distribution of power that distinguishes political and non-political power. In this particular example they have become almost equally important. The citizens' initiative has been remarkably vigorous, although their methods different from those in politics. Also public interest has been mentioned in different contexts depending on the type of agents and their position in the distribution of power. In short, the case of the Flower Square started with the building project presented to the public at the end of 2006, after which an extremely stormy dispute among all interested parties followed and continued over the next few months. The reason was that the project comprised work on the location presently occupied by the cinema Zagreb and the nearby house where the poet Vladimir Vidrić was born. In their place new and modern tower blocks with underground garages should rise and change the face of the Flower Square forever. The citizens vigorously resisted pulling down the cinema and the poet's birth-place and organized a broad protest in which a large number of architects, town planners and other urban development experts (space experts) along with civil groups (Pravo na grad, Zelena akcija etc.) and renowned individuals (Urša Raukar and other actors and poets) lent their support. Resistance to the project was born from the very first moment its initiator and the new cinema owner Tomislav Horvatinčić and his business group (economic agents), strongly supported by the mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić (political agents), presented it to the public (inhabitants/users/citizens). The protest gained ground especially after it was revealed that the economic agents failed to comply with the general city plan regulations. Therefore, in the following few weeks the citizens' activities and initiatives concentrated on trying to stop the project or at least keep it within reasonable historic and urban requirements. Eventually, the project has been somewhat modified due to all these reactions and the building work has been called to a halt. Still, it is expected to continue in the future, successfully combining history and modern time in the existing concept of the city center. Some relevant research results will be shown in the presentation.

Flower Square; spatial usurpation; urban agents; contents analysis; Zagreb; Croatia

nije evidentirano