Social mix in Zagreb’s large housing estates

• Published in: Economics & sociology Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 119 - 134
• Main Authors: Klasić, Anamaria, Svirčić Gotovac, Anđelina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ternopil Centre of Sociological Research (NGO) 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Aging; Foreign labor; Heterogeneity; Housing; Housing policy; Middle class; Minority & ethnic groups; Neighborhoods; Population aging; Population policy; Postcommunist societies; Residents; Satisfaction; Segregation; Social composition; Social networks; Socialism; Socioeconomic factors; War; Sweden; Eastern Europe; Europe; Croatia
• ISSN: 2071-789X; 2306-3459
• DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2024/17-3/7

In Western and Northern Europe, post-war large housing estates (LHEs) stand out as areas of segregated and minority-populated housing, and have faced numerous attempts of reconstruction with the idea of social mixing. LHEs in Central and Eastern Europe had different developmental pathways. The heterogeneous structure of these estates has persisted until today, but due to the systematic neglect and aging, the estates are threatened by physical and social deterioration. The analysis is based on a survey conducted in Croatia in 2022 on two types of housing estates (socialist and post-socialist; N (Zagreb = 657). The results confirm that the social composition in both types of estates is mixed, with a predominance of middle-class residents and without pronounced social differences. The residential satisfaction is high, so the majority of residents are stayers. Nevertheless, certain regeneration policies should be adopted because the population of the socialist LHEs is aging, which could jeopardize the present heterogeneity and make maintenance of multifamily buildings more challenging, thus contributing to further deterioration of the estates.