Dražen Njegač

Rural diversification and socio-economic transformation in Croatia

Rural diversification in Croatia is well advanced because many rural families have been able to find work in secondary and tertiary activities without the need to migrate to the towns. Many rural settlements have now attained an urban character although there are regional variations, including a contrast between the continental zone with a relatively high level of commitment to agriculture and the coastal areas, with pronounced ‘deagrarisation’ where the ports and tourist resorts are well developed and the natural resource conditions for agriculture are poor. These variations are examined at the municipality level with reference to two key indicators: the share of nonagricultural population and the share of workers in the total active population. Four categories of socio-economic transformation are recognised: more urbanised, urbanised, less urbanised and rural. The main regional differences between the continental and coastal areas are confirmed with the latter showing a relatively high level of socio-economic transformation through the prominence of more highly urbanised municipalities.

The Changes in the Functional and Spatial Structure of Osijek after 1991

With the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, and due to the impact of the Homeland War and implemented privatization, the functional and spatial structure of Osijek suffered significant transformation. The paper examines, analyses and defines the changes in the functional and spatial structure of Osijek after 1991. The most significant change is the transformation of the industrial areas into shopping, business or residential areas.Raspadom Jugoslavije i prijelazom iz socijalistickoga planskog u kapitalisticko tržisno gospodarstvo te zbog Domovinskog rata i provedene privatizacije, funkcionalno-prostorna struktura grada Osijeka doživjela je transformaciju. Cilj je ovog rada istražiti, analizirati i definirati promjene u funkcionalno-prostornoj strukturi Osijeka nakon 1991. Najznacajnija je prenamjena industrijskih zemljista u trgovacku, poslovnu ili stambenu namjenu.

Influence of Economic Transition and War on Changes in Spatial Picture of Employment in Sisak Region

This paper analyses the changes in spatial distribution of work places, i.e. employment and unemployment, which appeared in the Sisak region as the consequence of the war (1991-1995) and transition restructuring of economy. Employment and unemployment in the period 1989-2007 have been mainly analyzed according to the areas of the former municipalities with making efforts to single out those which were economically more propulsive, as well as those in which great developmental problems appeared. A special attention was paid to the decrease of the industrial production volume accompanied by continued dismissals of industrial workers.

Changes in political and territorial organization and their impact on Croatia's urban system and regional development

This work deals with changes in Croatias political and territorial development and its impact on urban system development and overall regional development in the country. The general assessment is that the current division of the country into counties, as opposed to the old commune system, has contributed considerably to more stable regional development based on the growth of mid-sized cities and towns, and this in turn should alleviate some of the irregularities in the characteristics of the urban system