Resident (non)participation in Croatian housing estates

In English: This paper explores public participation in socialist and post-socialist housing estates in Croatian cities. The quantitative (survey, N = 1,536) and qualitative research methods (focus groups with residents, semi-structured interviews with experts) were conducted. The focus was on the level of participation and obstacles for participation in Croatian housing estates. The results confirm the hypothesis that those citizens who do not believe that their participation impacts the decision-making process are less likely to participate. At the level of all estates, citizens are poorly acquainted with the actions of the city and local authorities, and poorly involved in decision-making processes. Citizens are mainly engaged when urgent situations occur that endanger the quality of life in the estate, which is most often related to environmental or infrastructural issues. That is also the most important ad hoc channel by which residents communicate their requirements with the formal government in cities, which is also called reactionist activism. --------------- IN CROATIAN: Ovaj rad istražuje participaciju javnosti u socijalističkim i postsocijalističkim stambenim naseljima u hrvatskim gradovima. Provedene su kvantitativne (anketa, N = 1536) i kvalitativne metode istraživanja (fokus grupe sa stanovnicima, polustrukturirani intervjui sa stručnjacima). Fokus je bio na razini sudjelovanja i preprekama za sudjelovanje u hrvatskim stambenim naseljima. Rezultati potvrđuju hipotezu da su građani koji ne vjeruju da njihovo sudjelovanje utječe na proces donošenja odluka manje skloni sudjelovanju. Na razini svih naselja, građani su slabo upoznati s djelovanjem grada i lokalnih vlasti te slabo uključeni u procese donošenja odluka. Građani se uglavnom angažiraju kada se dogode hitne situacije koje ugrožavaju kvalitetu života u naselju, što je najčešće povezano s ekološkim ili infrastrukturnim problemima. To je ujedno i najvažniji ad hoc kanal kojim stanovnici komuniciraju svoje zahtjeve formalnoj vlasti u gradovima, što se naziva i reakcijski aktivizam.