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Due to the increasingly stressful daily working environment, the need for outdoor recreation is more evident, especially for the urban population. The importance of protected areas is constantly growing, particularly because of an increasing interest in recreational zones inside the cities as well as on their outskirts. These areas can be observed from two points of view, as a part of natural heritage and as popular recreational zones. In order to preserve them for future generations, it is necessary to implement a concept of sustainable development in their management. The purpose of this research is to give scientific contribution to the recreational use of protected areas in the city surroundings. Medvednica Nature Park has been selected as a case study considering it represents a popular recreational area of the Zagreb urban agglomeration. The following research objectives have been singled out: identification of the recreational offer, recreational offer attendance assessment, analysis of recreational mobility features, analysis of visitors' attitudes regarding the recreational offer, defining attitudes of relevant institutional representatives regarding the recreational offer and suggesting guidelines for the future development of the recreation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]