Zagreb Urban Cultural Identities and City Growth

1
Zagreb - Urban Cultural Identities and City
Growth

• Nada vob-Ðokic
• Institute for International Relations
• Zagreb

2
Zagreb The Capital of the Republic of Croatia

• New metropolitan role
• new administrative functions
• rapid growth of the city (973 667 inhabitants in
  2005)
  
• heavy inflow of new populations (about 50 000 in
  2005)
  
• widening of international communication,
  cooperation and increase of investments
  
• centralization of the state institutions and
  functions
  
• centralization of trade and industry (GDP per
  capita 23361 USD, which is three times Croatian
  average)
  
• cultural identification the Croatian culture
  capital

3
Recent migrations to the city

• 2001 census 779 145 inhabitants
• 2005 data 973 667 (increase of about 40 000 per
  year)
  
• 383 959 or 49,4 born and have been living in
  Zagreb
  
• 240 981 or 31 migrated to Zagreb from other
  parts of Croatia
  
• 120 767 or 15,5 migrated to Zagreb from other
  ex-Yugoslav republics 11,8 of these migrants
  came to Zagreb from Bosnia and Herzegovina
  
• 4.140 or 0,5 migrated to Zagreb from all other
  countries, including Europe, Asia, America and
  Australia.
  
• After the 1990-1995 war the migration dynamics
  slows down, but increases again after 2000.
  

4
Cultural status of the immigrants

• Immigrants from ex-Yugoslavia are mostly of the
  Croatian origin they usually hold the Croatian
  citizenship they may display regional
  differences discernible in language, inherited
  folk cultures, living customs and habits. They
  identify themselves as Croatians.
• Immigrants from Europe, Asia, America, Australia
  etc. represent a small, but very diversified
  group. Those coming from the European countries,
  Americas or Australia are in most cases of the
  Croatian origin. Those coming from Asia are
  rather diversified, but the Chinese dominate.

5
Zagreb homogeneous ethnically and nationally

• Croatian population, with the Croatian
  citizenship prevails
  
• Internal, regional differences are clearly
  discernible (e.g., Istrians, Dalmatians,
  Slavonians, Zagorci, Medimurci, etc.)
  
• The Mediterranean cultural mix is clearly
  differentiated from the continental (i.e.,
  Central European) cultural mix
  
• Homogenization on the city level is rather
  strong. The immigrants of Croatian origin find
  the identification with the city, and
  particularly metropolis, more attractive then
  the cultural regional identification.

6
Zagreb The inflow of foreign immigrants

• 2000-2004 the number of foreign immigrants was 1
  716
  
• The Chinese are most visible. 668 persons have
  regulated their formal status. Most of them are
  not coming directly from China, but from Hungary,
  Italy or from other Southeast European countries.
  The Chinese are following the constant increase
  of bilateral trade with Croatia (total value in
  2005 was 620 million dollars, which is 68,5 more
  than in 2004), and particularly imports to
  Croatia. The largest China shop, called The
  Great Wall is in Zagreb. In 2005, 126 small
  shops were also registered. There are about 15
  Chinese restaurants in Zagreb. The Chinese choose
  to settle together, and they may be organizing a
  Chinatown in the part of Zagreb called
  Kajzerica. This is a very new experience of the
  Croatian metropolis, and perhaps a sign of its
  future enhanced multicultural character.

7
Zagreb The national minority groups

• According to the 2001 census, there were 40.066
  members of the long established national
  minorities in Zagreb, which was 5,14 of the city
  populations.
• They have traditionally been well integrated into
  city life and activities they are rather well
  organized in their respective associations and
  clubs, and they exercise some influence on the
  political and economic life of the city.

8
22 national minority groups statistically
registered

• National minority Number of the Zagreb
  
  
  population
• Albanians 3.389 0,43
• Austrians 53 0,01
• Bosnians 6.204 0,80
• Bulgarians 110 0,01
• Czechs 813 0,10
• Germans 288 0,04
• Hungarians 841 0,11
• Italians 277 0,04
• Jews 368 0,05
• Macedonians 1.315 0,17
• Montenegrins 1.131 0,17

• National minority Number of the
  Zagreb population
  
• Poles 133 0,02
• Roma 1.946 0,25
• Romanians 37 0,00
• Russians 250 0,03
• Ruthenians 123 0,02
• Slovaks 171 0,02
• Slovenians 3.225 0,41
• Serbs 18.811 2,41
• Turks 65 0,01
• Ukrainians 333 0,04
• Vlachos 1 0,00

9
Integration and disintegration

• Statistics prove that cultural diversity of the
  Zagreb populations is very low.
  
• The legal rights of minority groups are well
  regulated by the Constitution (1990)
  Constitutional Law on human rights and liberties
  (1992) and other legal instruments.
• There is a clear tendency of minorities and
  recent immigrants to integrate into the city, and
  exercise their cultural identities and cultural
  rights in the frameworks of general human
  rights.
• Sources of possible cultural diversity frictions
  are economic and social, and reflected as social
  and economic disintegration. This can be
  illustrated through the position of the Roma
  people.

10
The Zagreb cultural policies and cultural
diversity

• On the city level, cultural policies have not
  been explicitly stated. They change as the
  political power oscillates and are the subject of
  extremely pronounced political choices in the
  areas of education, culture and sports.
• Cultural strategies of the city of Zagreb do not
  exist either.
  
• The issues of cultural diversity or cultural
  homogeneity are completely confined to other
  areas of the city authorities activities human
  rights, education, cultural infrastructures,
  etc.

11
Cultural diversity reflected as social and
economic inequality

• Degrees of heterogeneity in regional economic
  development cities are likely to play a major
  role in fostering growth and technological
  diffusion. Inter-city relationships are not
  transparent.
• Zagreb is the richest and most developed part of
  Croatia, with the per capita GDP value (2004)
  three times bigger than the Croatian average.
  
• The Zagreb budget for culture is almost equal to
  the cultural state budget.

12
Concluding remarks

• Metropolization and economic development increase
  cultural concentration and cultural homogeneity
  of Zagreb. This is reflected as dominance of
  Croatian cultural identification.
• Cultural policies and cultural strategies are not
  reacting to the new challenges, and are not
  elaborating the future-oriented approaches.
  
• Although the international communication and
  cultural cooperation have slowly recovered, this
  is not reflected in the increased cultural
  diversity.