Nikša Božić, Director of the Zagreb Institute for Physical Planning, is one of the key experts whose long-standing professional work focuses on urban planning, city development, and the shaping of Zagreb’s spatial policies. In this conversation, he reflects on his professional path, which began at the moment when the new Gnereal Urban Plan of the City of Zagreb came into force, and discusses the changes, challenges, and continuities that have marked Zagreb’s spatial planning from that period to the present day. The interview opens up broader questions concerning the relationship between strategic planning, urban development, and the everyday functioning of the city, with particular emphasis on the complexity of contemporary spatial processes.
Special attention is given to the competition brief for Maksimir Stadium and the Svetice Sports and Recreation Center as one of the most significant current urban development projects in Zagreb. Božić comments on the key development goals of the competition, analyzes the contact zones within the competition area and their specific spatial relationships with the stadium, and reflects on the challenges of reconciling often conflicting interests involving residential neighborhoods, traffic, public spaces, parkland, educational institutions, and the relationship between public and private domains. The interview provides insight into how contemporary physical planning seeks to address complex urban contradictions and shape the sustainable development of the city.
- 26.5.2026 15:00:00