New Spatial Planning Law: The Intention is Good, Implementation Questionable

The Ministry of Spatial Planning has released a proposal for a new Spatial Planning Law for public consultation at the beginning of the month, which brings numerous innovations, such as a ban on the expansion of construction areas, but also reiterates some provisions that have already been attempted but failed, such as urban consolidation.

Urban consolidation, or the arrangement of ownership and cadastral relations on construction land in settlements, was attempted to be introduced long ago but did not take hold. Can it succeed today? We asked the director of the Urban Institute of Croatia Ninoslav Dusper, who claims that it is a rational and logical need related to the urban plan that should lead to more rational infrastructure.

– I assume that it was calculated here that this would be a plan that would have parceling because its purpose is re-parceling. This certainly introduces some order in space, some logic related to costs to have more rational infrastructure, but ultimately to be an urban-aesthetic category so that something can be planned more beautifully. I consider this a positive possibility, but I am quite skeptical about how quickly or to what extent it will actually be implemented – says Dusper, adding that the provision on urban consolidation likely aims at the affordable housing policy so that it can take hold in areas that require serious re-parceling.

In this context, Dusper continues, consolidation is a good possibility, but he is skeptical about its implementation. The mentioned provision should not hurt anyone, it does not affect any third party; if some owners find themselves in a situation where their property is re-parceled, receiving a different form should even be positive for them, making that property more valuable. The purpose of consolidation is for everyone to receive as much as they have, but in a more favorable form, claims Dusper.

Who will sit on the commissions

Additionally, the proposal for the new Law states that ‘the consolidation procedure is conducted by a permanent state commission for urban consolidation’ and that ‘the state commission may, by decision, transfer the authority for the implementation of a specific consolidation procedure to the urban consolidation commission of the local or regional self-government unit established for this purpose by the representative body’.

– I am skeptical about the commissions that need to be formed at both the state and local levels. The real question is who will sit on these commissions. I assume it will be employees of local self-government, which is already overloaded with various commissions. Moreover, there are not enough qualified people to implement this Law, nor its individual parts, let alone as a whole. The same problem exists at the level of the State Office for Spatial Planning, county offices, and cities. There is a particular shortage of urban planners, especially experienced and qualified ones, which will be a significant challenge for the implementation of the Law – says Dusper.

In the last four years, Zagreb has, according to Dusper, adopted only seven urban plans, of which four were for cemeteries. Six plans have since been revoked.

– Zagreb is actually below zero in four years, and that is certainly one of the reasons for the rise in real estate prices. Today, only a third of the apartments are being built in the city compared to the period of 2007 and 2008 – warns Ninoslav Dusper.

One of the most important innovations in the Spatial Planning Law is found in Article 205, which stipulates that the construction area must be equipped with communal infrastructure within five years from the moment it is designated by the spatial plan. The idea is, says Dusper, good but difficult to implement.

– There are neither clear mechanisms for implementation nor sanctions if this obligation is not fulfilled. In practice, this means that cities and municipalities will not be able to comply with the law – he adds.

Communal equipping

Examples show why. A smaller municipality with a budget of 10 to 20 million euros would need to invest up to 100 million euros in communal infrastructure within five years. This is, of course, impossible as it would mean planning budgets three times larger than actual revenues. Even if they were to draw on European funds, local units do not have the capacity or resources for such interventions.

In Zagreb, the situation is even more drastic. The entire city area is covered by the GUP, so according to the law, it should equip thousands of hectares with communal infrastructure within five years – from Jankomir to Resnik, from Prečko to south of Ljubljanska and Slavonska Avenue.

– What does communal equipping even mean? Is it enough to bring water supply, a transformer station, and a main road, or does every street and parcel also need to be equipped? If it is the latter, the requirements are completely unrealistic – says Dusper.

The only realistic path, he adds, is to accelerate the adoption of urban plans and facilitate the issuance of permits.

– Only in this way can we increase supply, reduce pressure on prices, and make cities more attractive – emphasizes Dusper.

The new regulation also brings innovations in the tourism sector. According to the proposal, hospitality-tourism facilities will no longer be able to be divided into ownership units, preventing hotels and apartment complexes from having different owners per floor. The ban applies only to new projects, while existing facilities retain their acquired rights.

The law also introduces a so-called ‘restriction area’ in a belt of one thousand meters from the coast on land and 300 meters at sea, where there will be a strict ban on mineral exploitation, construction of energy facilities, waste storage, and floating accommodation facilities. New construction must be at least 100 meters from the sea and limited to 30 percent of the land area.

The goal is, they emphasize in the Ministry, to prevent the concretization of the coast and to maintain tourist zones in accordance with spatial plans and principles of sustainable development. These changes were commented on by Josip Mikulić, a professor at the Department of Tourism at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb.

News in tourism

– This change goes in the direction of limiting apartmentization and the dispersion of ownership in tourist zones, which has often led to uncontrolled construction and poor spatial management. The greatest effect will be on aparthotel projects, which have often been formally classified as hotels but have functioned more as a collection of private apartments owned by different owners. The ban on ownership division will not change mass tourism overnight, but it is an important signal of a change in approach, from expanding capacity to more sustainable and responsible planning and use of space – Mikulić succinctly stated.

The new Spatial Planning Law is extremely important for architects, and the Croatian Chamber of Architects (HKA) was one of the initiators of the change in the legal regulations in the field of spatial planning and construction.

– The laws from 2013 did not protect and improve space in Croatia in a way that we architects would say promotes the quality of built space and enhances the excellence of construction using adopted EU documents, for which we advocate as a profession. In this sense, HKA submitted a document ’10 Points of the Architectural Profession for the New Spatial Planning System’ to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and State Property two years ago, in which we tried to point out the neuralgic points of spatial planning and provide recommendations for solving the mentioned problems – they stated from HKA.

In principle, HKA conveys that the proposed laws have moved in that direction, but they believe that certain proposed legal solutions are not adequately resolved.

– HKA will certainly express its views in public consultations, in agreement with the entire professional community, and provide its comments and suggestions for improving the legal proposals – they state from HKA.

The public consultation lasts until October 4, after which expert analyses and parliamentary procedures will follow. The law could be adopted by the end of 2025, with the planned entry into force on January 1, 2026.