Science, city, infrastructure in Croatia

For all interested in urban studies in connection to science (and reading Croatian), two interesting publicaitons on this topic appeared recently:

first: several articles in Časopis za suvremenu povijest, Vol. 52 No. 1, 2020, to be read here (open access): https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=toc&id_broj=18833

second, the book: Moderno Lice Grada: O urbanizaciji i izgradnji komunalne infrastrukture na području Hrvatske u 19. i 20. stoljeću. Zagreb 2019 (English Abstracts below). Open access: https://mozira.isp.hr/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Moderno-lice-grada_MOZIRA.pdf

Zlatko Jurić: Construction Regulations and the Master Plan of Zagreb (1850-1918)

Keywords: Zagreb, urban regulations, master plans, 19th century, 20th century

The paper focuses on the master plan of Zagreb and the construction regulations in the period from 1850 to 1918. The first construction regulations considered are the ones from 1850, a document enforced from above that included regulatory, normative, and administrative provisions. The second general master plan was promulgated in 1888. In the period from 1850 to 1899, the Royal Provincial Government (Department of Internal Affairs) issued nineteen orders to supplement these construction regulations.

Mario Bara: Aspects of the Socialist Modernization of Croatian Cities

Keywords: socialist modernization, cities, urbanization, Croatia

The paper deals with the period of socialist modernization in Croatian urban areas, guided by the ideologically determined administrative measures, the absence of pluralist society, and private economic initiatives. Socialist policy especially promoted modernization in urban areas, where technical interventions were accompanied by cultural and symbolic activities. The socialist city was to become an ideal city that met all the needs of the “working classes”. Industrialization and urbanization caused the migration of labour force from rural to urban areas. Due to the large number of new residents in towns, the authorities paid much attention to the housing policy. Accelerated construction resulted in a discrepancy with the existing urban and communal infrastructure. The consequences of half a century of socialist modernization are especially visible in the altered structure of urban population. At the beginning of the observed period, only one quarter of the population lived in cities, but at the end of the socialist regime this ratio was more than a half. The negative consequences of socialist modernization in the cities are evident in the polarized development of the major urban centres, the unevenly developed network of medium-sized and small towns, and the depopulation of a significant part of rural areas.

Hrvoje Volner: The Industrial Colony of Belišće: Facilities, Infrastructure, and Transportation on Gutmann’s Estate

Keywords: Gutmann, Belišće, industry, urbanization, railway, labour

The Gutmann company was involved in industrial wood processing from the mid19th century, due to the demand for railroad ties while building up the railroad network in the post-revolutionary Habsburg Monarchy. In wood processing, the Gutmann company remained dominant for almost a century, and its decline was due to the Ustasha and then the Communist regime, more precisely the District People’s Court in Zagreb, which closed it down in 1946. Belišće was founded in 1884 and within only a few years turned into an industrial settlement with factory facilities, warehouses, administrative buildings, social centres, and typical apartment buildings. By the end of the interwar period, it had the population of a smaller urban settlement, with a post office serving a number of surrounding villages, factories, a port on the river Drava, a railway network as the starting point in connecting Slavonian Podravina with the foot of Mount Papuk in Voćin, and so on. Gutmann’s industrial plants, infrastructure, and workers were the backbone of a successful family business, credited with the construction of the Belišće settlement.

Marino Manin, Hrvoje Čapo: Construction of the Miners’ Settlement of Raša (1936/37)

Keywords: Raša, coal mines, labour, stone coal, Gustavo Pulitzer Finali

Although historiography (as part of the local history of the Labin region and the local coal mines) and scholarly literature from other disciplines (primarily the history of architecture) have addressed different aspects of the construction of the workers’ mining settlement in Raša, this paper focuses on the reasons, circumstances, and process of infrastructure construction in the settlement of Arsia / Raša, based both on a critical evaluation of the present research and a study of archival sources. It has been observed that Raša – built within 547 days from April 1936 to November 1937 – was not primarily a project of the fascist regime, intended to serve its glorification, but was constructed by the administration of the coal mine due to the need for new workers, in the context of increasing the production of coal for industrial and transportation purposes (railways, as well as military and civilian navy) at the time when approximately 1,000,000 tons or 10% of the Italian needs for this source of energy were pumped from the Raška Basin. The construction of the settlement was preceded by extensive land reclamation works in the area.

Ivan Brlić: Life and Decline of a (Non-)Planned Industrial City: The Case of Lički Osik

Keywords: military industry, Lika, socialist regime, “Marko Orešković”, Lički Osik, urban planning

The paper discusses the emergence, existence, and fate of a systematically planned town in the passive region of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia after World War II. The author critically presents the reasons for the construction of a mod - ern settlement in the area of Lički Osik in the region of Central Lika, following the parallel development of a town that completely depended on and shared its destiny with the local military industrial plant “Marko Orešković”, for whose purposes it was built. Economic, social, and cultural ups and downs marked the fifty years of the settlement’s existence, with its uncertain present and a promising future. As the paper is based on previously unpublished archival documents, it brings new insights concerning the reasons, modes of operation, and life of both the military plant and its attached settlement, which remains a symbol of the unrealistic and misunder - stood project of economic development in this part of Croatia.

Tomislav Anić: Modernization of Zagreb in the First Half of the 20th Century, Viewed through the Prism of Electrification

Keywords: Zagreb, first half of the 20th century, electrification, modernization, periphery

Based on scholarly literature as well as periodicals and published archival sources, the author focuses on electrification in Zagreb as an aspect of the city’s modernization. Electricity not only caused amazement in public presentations, but also became an indispensable source of energy for everyday use. After all, the amount of its consumption in industry or per capita remains one of the indicators for the development level in any given area.

Goran Rajič: An Overview of the Development of Zagreb’s Telephony (1881-1981)

Keywords: telephony, Zagreb, telecommunications

In the symbolic hundred years between the appearance of the first telephone in Zagreb in 1881 and the first electronic telephone exchange in 1981, Zagreb’s telephony went through several formative periods to achieve its affirmation. From a provincial town in Austria-Hungary, Zagreb transformed into the economic and cultural centre of Croatia. During this period, with the development of technology, there were many processes that influenced the availability and price of the most popular telecommunications device in the 20th century. From a status symbol reserved for the wealthiest citizens, the telephone turned into a technology that was accessible to all citizens of Zagreb. In the decades after World War II, the new telephone infrastructure was built in the unfavourable conditions of technological underdevelopment, professional inadequacy, and insufficient financial resources. Nevertheless, despite all these hindrances, telephony became an inevitable part of the city’s everyday life. Modern telecommunications are based on these very precursors of static telephony, and therefore remain an indicator of the technological and cultural development of Zagreb.

Lidija Bencetić: Apartment Buildings in Zagreb from World War II until the 1960s

Keywords: Zagreb, Yugoslavia, communist regime, housing construction, urban planning, architecture

The paper focuses on the city of Zagreb as a case study for the development of communist cities and the housing issues that this development brought. After World War II, Zagreb experienced a considerable demographic growth with the influx of rural population and a somewhat less dramatic birth rate. Due to its accelerated industrial development, the city needed new labour force, but at the same time lacked apartments. Moreover, the city’s infrastructure was not sufficiently developed to meet the needs of all its residents. The construction of housing blocks was based on social and private construction, whereby the socially funded buildings were multi-storey buildings, and the privately funded houses those with a single storey. These private constructions, namely the single-storey buildings, gave Zagreb the appearance of a small town rather than a city. In assessing the housing construction in Zagreb and generally its urban development in the period after World War II, we are inclined to agree with the claim of Davor Stipetić that Zagreb evolved as an architectural undertaking and developed without a definite plan.

Kristina Milković: Foundation of Mirogoj in the Context of Social History (19th Century)

Keywords: Mirogoj, Zagreb, modernization, cultural history of death, cemetery

The paper presents the foundation of Mirogoj in 1876 as the central cemetery of Zagreb. From the 1950s, Zagreb was developing as the capital of Croatia in the modern sense of the word, as the “founding” city. As early as the 1960s, there was a public opinion about the need of establishing a central graveyard outside the city area. This idea was realized in the mid-1970s, in the context of Zagreb’s urbanization and modernization. The founding of Mirogoj was an expression of the city’s modernity and economic power, but also reflected the new sensibilities and aesthetics characteristic of the 19th century.