Original scientific paper

Organisation And Functioning Of Sub-Municipal Self-Government In The City Of Zagreb

Juraj Hrženjak ; retired judge of the Constitutional Court, Zagreb

Abstract

The paper analyses sub-municipal self-government in the City of Zagreb after the abolishment of territorial communities (mjesne zajednice) in 1993. Five years later, the Statute of the City divided the territory of the Croatian capital into 17 urban districts (gradske četvrti). Territorial councils (mjesni odbori), 218 of them, were established at lower level as late as in 2009. At the coordinative meeting held in January 2010, the Mayor, President of the City Assembly, and President of the Urban Districts Council decided to launch a training of councillors representing urban districts related to their respective rights and obligations. Out of 1.702 councillors, 903 (53 per cent) underwent the training. The emphasis of the training was put on the realisation of the constitutional principles, the Law on Local and Regional Self-Government, City Statute, and rules and regulations related to urban districts and territorial councils. Along
with materials for debate, a questionnaire with 28 questions on the ways of and conditions for the realisation of the rights of sub-municipal self-government in the City of Zagreb was prepared. Opinions, suggestions, and answers from the survey have revealed a neglect of sub-municipal levels, particularly with regard to its legal entity, property management, and lack of funding. Furthermore,
there are problems with one-sided wish of the City to confine the activities of sub-municipal levels to so-called small communal actions; there are issues of bureaucratised communication between sub-municipal self-governments and heads of City’s administrative departments; there is the problem of over centralised management of the City. The survey has put forward the requirements for substantial changes in the position of urban districts and territorial councils in
the system of urban governance. It advocated for a stronger reliance on citizens, their involvement in the issues related to the quality of living as well as in solving problems of peoples’ everyday interest, which are as a rule faster and more easily solved in individuals’ respective communities.

Keywords

sub-municipal self-government – the City of Zagreb; urban district; territorial council; education; legal entity; small communal actions; sub-municipal self-government’s property; financing; decentralisation; citizens’ meetings

Hrčak ID:

132516

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/132516

Publication date:

5.4.2011.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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