Croatia - Sustainable Urbanization and Land-use Practices
The ESPON SUPER project produced evidence on how to promote sustainable urbanization and land use in European regions. Among other activities, 11 case studies were carried out, including one for Croatia. In order to evaluate the ability to implement the recommendations of the SUPER project and to increase the national, regional, and local relevance and application of ESPON’s evidence in policy processes and developments at different scales, a spin-off was created to conduct new research at the request of the Croatian Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets. This study seeks to apply the results and recommendations of the SUPER project, particularly the Guide, to post-earthquake reconstruction in Croatia.
The main work of the Croatian spin-off study focused on the development of the legal and financial framework for reconstruction planning after the March 2020 earthquake in Zagreb and December 2020 earth-quake in Petrinja. The spin-off resulted in numerous conclusions and recommendations for integrating sustainable urbanisation and land-use instruments for future natural hazards.
To ensure resilience and preparedness, both pre-event, as well as post-event recommendations, are provided. These were drawn up by linking together general recommendations of the ESPON SUPER project, the conclusions derived from the Croatian case study and the insights gained from the conducted interviews (five in-depth interviews and one multi-sector focus group). These recommendations are structured as a list of potential interventions and policies for decision-makers and policymakers at the national and local levels.