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This paper addresses the role of Medvednica Mountain streams in the past and present spatial planning of the City of Zagreb. A description of their main characteristics is followed by an examination of their historical role in spatial planning and spatial plans, and of their impact on the urbanisation of Zagreb over four characteristic periods from the second half of the 19th century to the time of writing. A survey was also conducted to determine the ways in which the people of Zagreb use these streams and their views on their potential development. The international practice of planning and management of urban streams is explained in selected examples. Finally, on the basis of the survey, field research, and a synthesis of foreign and domestic planning practice and literature, the authors summarise the results and findings of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban environment's inaccessibility to persons with disabilities is one of the crucial aspects of social discrimination. The paper explores the physical barriers that power wheelchair users encounter while moving around Zagreb, specifically in parts of the following neighbourhoods: Gornji grad (Upper Town)-Medveščak; Donji grad (Lower Town); and Trnje. The aforementioned neighbourhoods encompass a total surface area of 4.31 km2. A participatory approach was applied in the research, whereby wheelchair users were included in the part of the research where navigability of the streets was assessed and the barriers which made moving difficult or impossible were also assessed and mapped. Based on the conducted research, accessibility maps were created and a corresponding interactive GIS map was uploaded online. The results showed that, in the researched areas, power wheelchair users were not able to navigate 22% of total pavement length and 16% of pedestrian crossings by themselves; and they required the assistance of more than one person in order to navigate 19% of pavement length and 9% of pedestrian crossings. The most common barriers include inadequate pavements, kerbs and stairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the morphological structure of an area (morphogenesis) is the outcome of numerous interconnected natural, social (anthropogenic, socio-geographical) and perceptive factors. These factors are visibly reflected in the morphology of an area in some way, so they can be read from it. Certain socio-graphical factors (and their changes) that have influenced the design and physiognomy of the current morphological structure of Dubrava are emphasized in this paper. Dubrava is the boundary area situated on the eastern outskirts of Zagreb. Its functional, demographical and morphological features, as well as the development of those features, have many similarities with those in other edging parts of the town, but on the other hand, Dubrava is characterized by processes and phenomena that are more pronounced in Dubrava than elsewhere in the town. Since the Middle Ages, especially over the period of the last eighty years or so, during which the so-called "narrow" centre of Dubrava has appeared and spread, specific dual morphological structure has been formed. This structure consists of both dispersed villages in the northern, north-eastern and south-eastern parts of Dubrava, whose nucleus originated in the Medieval period, and the area of recent development of "narrow" Dubrava with compactly constructed urban tissue. However, regarding the physiognomic-morphological implications, the latter is not homogenous as well -- there are clearly visible areas of the planned and the areas of unplanned, illegal construction. The aims of this paper are: to offer systematic overview and classification of factors that effect the morphogenesis of a certain area, and, by using diachronical analysis, description, and the comparative method as well as the cartographic technique (the working method of research, to explain how some socio-geographical factors (historical development, administrative and territorial division, planning and building regulations) have influenced the appearance and the development of the heterogeneous morphological structure of Dubrava. The example of the morphogenesis of "narrow" Dubrava indicates the interdependence of the analyzed factors. It also points out the early appearance of unplanned construction -- the phenomenon that is widespread in such a manner that it makes Dubrava one of the most unordered parts of Zagreb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 15 years vast changes have occurred in the functions of certain areas of a city. Decentralization of retail and the process of transition have resulted in the changes of functions of certain parts of the city. Trend of opening of new domestic and foreign shopping centres, hypermarkets and other types of retail outlets have caused a relative decline of the number of retail outlets in city centre. First part of the paper gives a research of changes in business functions of Ilica street with an analysis of level of satisfaction with the location, infrastructure and cooperation with the neighbouring establishments. Second part of the paper deals with the problem of closure of business premises in the city centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 1990s, Croatia and Slovenia, along with other Central and Eastern European countries, began a process of economic transition from centrally planned to market economy. The main goal of the paper is to compare developments of new forms of retail outlets in Zagreb and Ljubljana after 1990 and to explain similarities and differences in the trend of retail development in two capital cities. The second goal is to determine the level of development of social functions of retail centres and to determine similarities and differences in the function of retail centers in Zagreb and Ljubljana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]