Blok 19 – Renewal Program 📍 Zagreb, Croatia

Authors: Tena Maruševac, Tomislav Novosel, Josipa Arapović, Tomislav Novosel, Tena Maruševac & Josipa Arapović

Redesigned by: Carla Álvarez Gonzålez

How can a historic city's renewal blend post-disaster recovery with climate resilience and citizen participation?

The programme of comprehensive renewal of the historical centre of Zagreb is a pilot project that combines 12 studies on an area of Zagreb called "Blok 19" in order to present the pathway to comprehensive renewal for all of Zagreb’s 168 areas. The idea for the Programme came after the devastating earthquake that hit the City of Zagreb. It was clear that a fast renovation needed to be done, but the city wanted to go a step further and make the renovation inclusive, meaning that not only would the needed renovation be done, but measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation would also be included, which is in line for the energy transition plan for the historic centre of Zagreb until 2050. This is not an easy process, since the involved buildings are part of Zagreb’s historical centre and are protected as cultural assets. Besides the experts, the most important participants in the process were the inhabitants of the buildings in Blok 19 and the people who work in the area who were engaged in one of the studies.

The programme of comprehensive renewal of the historical centre of Zagreb is a pilot project that combines 12 studies on an area of Zagreb called "Blok 19" in order to present the pathway to comprehensive renewal for all of Zagreb’s 168 areas. The idea for the Programme came after the devastating earthquake that hit the City of Zagreb. It was clear that a fast renovation needed to be done, but the city wanted to go a step further and make the renovation inclusive, meaning that not only would the needed renovation be done, but measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation would also be included, which is in line for the energy transition plan for the historic centre of Zagreb until 2050. This is not an easy process, since the involved buildings are part of Zagreb’s historical centre and are protected as cultural assets. Besides the experts, the most important participants in the process were the inhabitants of the buildings in Blok 19 and the people who work in the area who were engaged in one of the studies.

By empowering an inclusive after-earthquake renovation that will not only do the necessary renovation of the building but also consider the climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, the City of Zagreb Is closer to achieving the desired energy and climate neutrality envisaged by the European Green Deal.

The pilot project is a result of the City of Zagreb’s aspiration to do an inclusive post-earthquake renovation which shows Political Commitment & Problem ownership. The 12 studies that were conducted for the pilot project show the Collaboration Action Ability while including green infrastructure in the renovation as well as involving and gathering the ideas and thoughts from the citizens which shows Climate narrative and communication. The results of the studies showed the importance of the multidisciplinary approach to solving challenges in space and opened the way for innovative and sustainable development. Furthermore, the main impacts on climate neutrality are elaborated methodology for the analysis of existing conditions in individual blocks, guidelines for increasing the share of applied green infrastructure, connecting block segments of green infrastructure into a network of urban, peri-urban, and rural green infrastructure, identified concrete measures and projects in the short and long term and a review of potential financing measures.

Challenges addressed

  • Stakeholder/ Community engagement and capacity building
  • Built Environmen

An innovative approach

The Institute for Physical Planning of the City of Zagreb initiated a process of an Inclusive renovation of the City of Zagreb and involved 12 experts to do 12 sectoral studies of Blok 19 which was chosen because of its complexity to be a pilot for other locations.

One of the 12 studies done focused on gathering data from the inhabitants and users of the Blok 19 by creating and analysing a survey that took into account not only the current state but also the inhabitants’ and users’ suggestions and expectations from the renovation process. After the document was completed, it was put up for a public consultation process, and citizens were invited to add their comments and suggestions.

Main positive lessons

  • The project was discussed with everyone living and working on the location, and the measures developed were in line with their needs and wishes – one of the 12 studies done focused on gathering data from the inhabitants and users of the Blok 19 by creating and analysing a survey that took into account for not only the current state but also their suggestions and expectations from the renovation process.
  • Bringing together 12 experts from different faculties and institutes helped to develop an inclusive renovation project.
  • Getting citizens involved may mitigate potential conflicts and ensure the successful implementation of the project.

Main barriers found

  • It was not always easy to gather all the stakeholders important for the planning
  • The legal rights of the location are complicated, and it will be hard to implement all the planned measures
  • Lack of funding available for the implementation of the measures

Potential for reapplication and scale-up

The whole Blok 19 project was developed with the goal to replicate it in other parts of Zagreb. Although the main goal of the project was to renovate the city of Zagreb after the earthquake, the methodology can easily be replicated in other cities and countries.

Blok 19

All images on this site are sourced from zzpugz.hr. Video content is sourced from Bojan Aleksic YouTube channel.