Residents Fight for Green Space as Six-Story Building Looms in Zagreb's Trešnjevka

The ongoing battle for the green space at the intersection of Nova Cesta and Žajina in Zagreb's Trešnjevka district highlights a frustrating pattern of urban development overriding community needs.

For three years, residents, organized as "Stop gradnji na zelenoj javnoj površini" (Stop construction on public green space), have valiantly defended this last remaining patch of green. Their efforts, however, seem to be hitting a wall. The Ministry of Construction's decision to dismiss appeals from both the City of Zagreb and the residents, declaring the building permit lawful, is a bitter blow.

At the heart of the conflict is the land's restitution. Residents argue that the parcel, long used as a park and maintained by the city's utility company, Zrinjevac, should never have been returned to a private owner in kind. They believe it should have been compensated monetarily, preserving its public function. This, they contend, was the City's "biggest mistake."

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The biggest mistake that the City made

Adding to the complexity, the City Assembly declared the land "public good in general use and inalienable property of the City." Yet, on the very day this decision was made, the investor fenced off the parcel and began construction. A subsequent appeal by the investor led the High Administrative Court to overturn the Assembly's decision, claiming the land was never public but merely overgrown and unmaintained.

Despite the city providing aerial imagery and historical maps as evidence of the space's public use, residents remain unconvinced that the city administration fought hard enough. The issuance of a building permit while the land was supposedly under protection, and the city itself appealing a decision from its own planning office, paints a picture of bureaucratic confusion and, for many residents, a betrayal of public trust. This "completely absurd story" from Trešnjevka underscores a deep-seated issue in Zagreb's urban planning.

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We realized that the procedure for issuing the building permit began at the beginning of 2024 and that the procedure lasted while the parcel was in a protection status