Brigitte Le Normand1; 1 Maastricht University, Netherlands
Discussion
Formerly Hungary's Adriatic port during the Habsburg era, Rijeka/Fiume stagnated as part of Italy. When Yugoslavia claimed sovereignty on Rijeka and the Istrian peninsula, Rijeka became the cornerstone of Yugoslavia's ambitions to become a major player in maritime shipping, so much so that the port was marketed as "central Europe's gateway to the world." The growth of the port in parallel with the population boom spoke to the renewed prosperity of the city. At the same time, they posed major challenges from an urban planning perspective. This paper examines efforts by planners to grapple with the challenges posed by the primacy of the port, and channel development in the city in line with the needs of its citizens and current socialist planning practices. This is illustrated by examining the practice of regional planning as well as the frustrated plans for a new city center in the Delta and Brajdica district. The paper demonstrates how political and economic priorities at the national level, seeking to take advantage of opportunities at a regional and global level, could disrupt planning at the local level. The research is based on archival records held at the Croatian State Archive in Rijeka.
