engleski

Urban transformation and urban renewal in Zagreb - examples of activities of civil society actors

Various urban and spatial changes have lately taken place in Zagreb. They can be observed in the context of urban renewal and unplanned construction, by which we mean a general lack of city planning, resulting in random building with both positive and negative aspects. In the first part of the paper we look at the latest forms of the spatial development of Zagreb, new urban structures which appear in the city and certain negative aspects of such development. We would especially like to point out the following negative aspects: a) unplanned/ uncontrolled building, b) disturbed relations between the private and the public, c) alliance between the capital and the politics, d) architecture submitted to the market rule, e) overbuilding (excessive residential and commercial building), f) low standard/bad quality building and g) poor positioning regarding the city infrastructure. This paper presents the results of some research on a few concrete cases of urban changes ( building and renewal). Although there are numerous examples of spatial and urban structure changes in Zagreb, we have chosen four cases which clearly show the most important aspects and elements of urban renewal: a) main city squares (presently undergoing changes and in construction), b) new business towers, c) underground parking garages and d) shopping malls. We also look at four different types of urban actors who influence the changes in Zagreb. They are economic actors, political actors, the civil society and professionals/experts. The second part of the paper examines only one type of actors, that is, work, methods and achievements of the civil society organisations. Recently they have taken an active part in the changes of the urban structure of Zagreb. The main goal of the research is to present the media picture of urban renewal by analysing the content of newspaper articles about new business towers, shopping malls, underground garages, city squares. Also we wish to consider the negative aspects of building, look at four types of urban actors and point to their activities and opposing interests.

urban renewal; unplanned construction work; urban actors; civil society organisations; business towers; public squares; underground garages; shopping malls

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