Milan Bandić, Mayor of the City of Zagreb
Five Stars Croatia Issue 2 — April 01, 2007.

It is hard not to love Zagreb. It captures your heart at first sight and remains in your heart forever. If you are a foreigner, Zagreb will surly inspire you to visit it again and again, each time discovering something new, more beautiful, different.

If, on the other hand, you live in the Croatian metropolis, you can live fully and freely, enjoying the immense wealth it offers.

Zagreb has always been known as an open and welcoming city. Our historical coat of arms showing an open city door bears witness to that fact. We proudly present to our visitors our 900-year-old history, rich tradition and culture intertwined with the modern way of life. Zagreb opens its soul to its visitors, a soul of a Central European metropolis with the spirit of the Mediterranean, binding them eternally to its squares, streets, restaurants, people... It often happens that diplomats or managers ‘working on a temporary basis' in Zagreb choose our city as a place to live after they have served their term, or visit it regularly ‘seeking inspiration', feeling the spirit of history intertwined with joie de vivre.

Zagreb, a Central European city situated at the gate to the Adriatic Sea, is a city tailored to the needs of a man. You can visit all of its sights on foot, know most of its citizens, enjoy hours on end relaxing on its sunbathed terraces, or simply get lost or estranged in the hustle and bustle of the busy metropolis.

As not only Croatia's but also the region's political and business center, Zagreb strives to build its future in the spirit of its rich tradition, meeting at the same time all demands of modern living and successful business. We are happy to be able to combine the afore-mentioned to the satisfaction of our citizens. In the past years, we have started a kind of revival of our metropolis in order to make it a more pleasant and happier place to live with each day, and to provide it with all means necessary to successfully tackle the challenges of our European future. We have included scientists, experts and citizens and are using advanced global experiences of our friends from other major cities in the planning and implementation of the management, economic, social and urban revival of Zagreb, as well as in the development of all aspects of the city's excellence. We aspire to change Zagreb yet preserve its identity and charm.

During the past years, the city of Zagreb has become an attractive destination for numerous tourists, even those from the farthest corners of the world. They have recognized in Zagreb a new European metropolis, but also a place to encounter the European culture and the charm of the Mediterranean, feel the spirit of history, as well as enjoy the challenges of modern times. Zagreb regularly hosts numerous political and economic gatherings, high-standard cultural events and sports competitions. The older generation remembers it by the 1987 World University Games (Univerzijada 1987.), whereas the younger generation remembers it as the unforgettable host of the Ski World Cup. Zagreb, the only European metropolis with its own ski center, will host the World Table Tennis Championship this year, and in 2009 it will host the European Handball Championship as well.

The closer Croatia gets to becoming a full member of the European Union, the more important Zagreb will be, but the demand level will also increase in the process. This requires continuous investments and new efforts. Upon assuming the responsibility for the city of Zagreb in 2000 and 2005, we, the Social Democratic Party, named the overall development of the city of Zagreb in the economic, urban, social, and other senses as our fundamental goal. As far as the adjustment of Zagreb needed to successfully face the challenges of the future is concerned, we have placed emphasis on the planning and development of the city, environment protection, resolving traffic and transportation issues, and development of local self-government. In the past years, Zagreb has been awarded several capital infrastructure projects.

In the field of environment protection I would like to mention three projects with the total value of approx. EUR 500 million, and stress the fact that we have exercised due care that, in the process of implementing the below mentioned projects, the fundamental resource of the city of Zagreb, i.e. drinkable underground water, stays preserved. The projects include the completion of the several-year-long communal waste landfill rehabilitation project or, more precisely, the rehabilitation of the unarranged Jakuševac waste disposal site, the completion of the wastewater scrubber installation project and the preparations for building a thermal processing device for communal waste (waste-burning facilities).

In the field of traffic and transportation significant funds are invested in the research and preparation of traffic and transportation studies in cooperation with scientists from the University of Zagreb along with a range of projects aimed at improving the public transportation system such as the introduction and release for traffic of low-floor trams and the extension and widening of roads (priority being given to completing the project of connecting Branimirova Street between Držićeva and Heinzlova Streets). I would like to highlight the studies with respect to connecting Zagreb and Hrvatsko zagorje by constructing a tunnel in the length of approx. 6 km through Medvednica; a distribution road, ‘the green tangent', at the exit from the tunnel that would connect the Varaždin and Maribor road directions with the northern, hilly part of the city; raising the railway tracks to the upper level in the central part of the city; as well as a very important study with respect to a new rapid public transportation system in the areas where most of congestion occurs. By realizing these projects, Zagreb would, at least to some extent, compensate for a huge standstill in the development of the traffic and transportation system and the city as a whole, as well as enable significant improvement of mobility within the city.

We also plan to build several new public garages in the inner city circle, as well as two new bridges over the Sava River that would ease the access from the southern part of the city towards the center.

The development of local self-government is a strategic project of this city management team. It is being implemented with an aim to ensure the participation of citizens in the process of improving their everyday lives through 17 city neighborhoods. As opposed to major strategic projects requiring significant investments, this project's significance lies in that it allows citizens to participate in solving issues in the fields of their greatest interest and to ‘control' the city management team in the field dealing with issues directly affecting the everyday lives of the citizens. The development and the everyday lives of the citizens of Zagreb are equally important priorities of the team I am heading.

In the next couple of years, until Croatia becomes a member of the European Union, Zagreb intends to solve several other development-related issues as well. First and foremost, we are referring to the planning, development and enriching of the city's historical center with various amenities, especially the areas of Gornji grad, Kaptol and Donji grad. Our priority is also to improve the connections between Zagreb and its natural surroundings, especially the Zagrebačka and Krapinsko-zagorska Counties, as well as to expand the development projects to include the same. In the 21st century, Zagreb, a city divided by the Sava River into the old and new parts, wishes to get closer to its ‘backbone' by managing the Sava River and urbanizing its shores, a project which has started with the development of Zagreb's beautiful park called Bundek.

In response to the needs of tourism and business, we will start building a congress center, the missing loop in the chain of the city's amenities, as well as a new and unique Zagreb Fair complex, adequately converting and using the existing pavilions in the process. The climax of our efforts is the construction of a new Zagreb Airport landing facility, which will create additional conditions for connecting Zagreb with world destinations.

We want Zagreb to be close to all its citizens, a pleasant and unique experience for all visitors, as well as a metropolis that can be measured by its amenities against the developed European cities. Our efforts have proved successful in many areas, in some of which we even lead the way!

The city of Zagreb is proud of its blooming parks, picturesque squares, old avenues and streets... It is proud of its Gornji grad, Zelena potkova, Maksimir, Bundek, Sljeme... We develop and restore these areas with greatest love and care, and present them to our always-welcome visitors with joy. We enrich them with new, modern amenities, responding to the needs and wishes of our citizens and visitors. We protect Zagreb as bequeathed to us by previous generations and aspire to build a city our grandchildren can be proud of. I believe that it will make a lasting impression on you as well!