engleski

Living on the urban-rural fringe

In the last few decades Zagreb has widened its boundaries to what was a rural space, incorporating a large number of smaller settlements, accelerating a socioeconomic transformation, and finally reshaping the quality of life and space on the urban-rural fringe. The pace and intensity of transformations didn’t have spatially equal impact. Areas closer to the city, on the major traffic routes, experienced swifter and more complex growth, while less accessible parts remained relatively less transformed. Unlike numerous recent researches focusing on the most dynamic parts of the Zagreb urban region, this paper focus on the less urbanized part of Zagreb’s surrounding area – Brezovica – in the southwest. In spite of proximity to the core city Brezovica still retains an image of unspoiled area at the fringe of Zagreb. It is a relatively vast reservoir of a space suitable for housing, agriculture, farming and recreational activities. Therefore, it could be argued that it is at a great risk for uncontrolled development in the future. A questionnaire survey based on systematic random sample of households (N=178) was conducted in order to understand opinions and attitudes of local population concerning advantages and disadvantages of living on the fringe. Furthermore, research collected ideas about future development of the area from the perspective of the residents. Main results reveal predominantly residential function of the area and very strong dependence on Zagreb. Environmental qualities and (hobby) agriculture play an important role for population. Inadequate infrastructure, underdeveloped local economy and lack of entrepreneurial skills are hindering developmental opportunities.

urban-rural fringe; urbanization; quality of life; quality of space; Brezovica; Zagreb

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