Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.11567/met.29.2.5
One Foot on the Island: Second Home Use on the Island of Zlarin
Geran-Marko Miletić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6673-657X
; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
As the 2011 Census results show, Croatian islands have a large increase in the num¬ber of apartments for temporary residence, mostly of second homes. Second home use is a strong factor in socio-spatial transformation, and this type of dwelling is particularly interesting for Croatian islands because it contributes, though only tem¬porarily, to islands population increase. Having that in mind, this paper, based on the example of the island of Zlarin (Croatia, Šibenik archipelago), tries to highlight the main contours of the phenomenon of the islands’ second home use. The data pre¬sented in this paper were collected through an online survey conducted from March till May 2013. A total of 114 users of second homes on the island of Zlarin responded to the questionnaire. The results showed that the majority of the respondents’ ho¬useholds started to use second homes in Zlarin 30 and more years ago. Analysis of the reasons and ways of second home use revealed that the respondents associated the owning a second home more often with the inversion of the everyday life and family gathering than with some more pragmatic motives. Most respondents use second homes in Zlarin only occasionally but for longer periods, while part of the respondents prefer using second homes for short weekend brakes. With respect to frequency, second home use has a seasonal character, and analysis of the activities performed while staying on the island showed that the respondents spent much of their time socialising outside their second homes. These findings suggest that a signi¬ficant part of the Zlarin second home users have become attached both to the settle¬ment and the island. Furthermore, they are present in the life of the local community and also show interest in further development of the island.
Keywords
second homes; local community; islands; Zlarin
Hrčak ID:
112360
URI
Publication date:
30.8.2013.
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