engleski

“The Right to the City”: An Example of a Struggle to Preserve Urban Identity in Zagreb

A public debate on the reconstruction of a block in a city square in Zagreb has shown once again that a decision-making process at an urban level includes the confrontation of various social interests and aspirations as well as related development strategies. Arguments and counterarguments during the debate opened up some issues and underlined the importance of understanding public spaces as sites through which different social identities are negotiated. From a sociological perspective, the most interesting are: the role of the local community in city planning, concepts of social involvement, forms of trust and social network, the relation between “ urban memory” and resemantisation of the urban environment as well as the process of gentrification. The aim of this paper, through the study of the Cvjetni trg case, is to examine the role of various social participants involved in the processes of urban transformation: town administration, entrepreneurs and citizens involved in civil society associations. Particularly, the article stresses the way in which civil societies and associations attempt to find their place in the debate on town projects. Croatian society as a transitional society is rather sensitive to issues of democratic participation of different, sometimes even opposing social groups. The case of block reconstruction in Cvjetni trg deserves attention because it mobilised quite a number of citizens inspired by youth organisations and independent culture organisations in a common initiative called “ The Right to the City” . Apart from a theoretical frame which comprises various social interests and strategies, this paper is based on the results of a survey on students’ attitudes. The research was conducted using a questionnaire administered to students of sociology and students of architecture. The aim is to understand their attitudes on block reconstruction, their participation in demonstrations organised by civil society associations, and their attitudes on ways of using urban public areas in the centre of Zagreb.

city; Flower Square; development strategies; social participants; students’ attitudes

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