Zagreb: climate resilience in a historic urban district
Zagreb’s pilot focuses on Gornji Grad – Medveščak, a compact historic district with narrow streets, old buildings, limited green space and high impermeable surfaces.
These conditions intensify heat stress during increasingly frequent heatwaves. At the same time, the district’s heritage value limits the type of physical interventions that can be introduced. Adaptation therefore needs to be carefully designed: it must improve climate resilience while respecting the area’s cultural identity and supporting the people who live there.
Climate and justice challenges
Heatwaves disproportionately affect older residents, especially those with health conditions, reduced mobility or less access to cool spaces and support networks. In historic districts, climate adaptation is also shaped by tourism, gentrification and the risk that improvements may contribute to exclusion or rising housing costs.
The challenge in Zagreb is to protect people from heat while preserving heritage and avoiding changes that weaken the social fabric of the neighbourhood.
What the pilot will do
The Zagreb pilot will develop and test adaptive strategies for just climate resilience in the central historic district. Possible measures include shading structures, climate shelters, green infrastructure adapted to heritage constraints, community monitoring networks and awareness actions on heat risks.
The pilot also includes training for municipal teams and key stakeholders, helping adaptation measures become part of long-term urban planning and management.
Communities and actors involved
Older residents are a central group in the Zagreb pilot. The work will involve them in co-designing interventions, together with the City of Zagreb, REGEA, DOOR, municipal teams, experts and local stakeholders.
The aim is to create solutions that improve comfort and safety in everyday life, while also generating wider community benefits.
“We’re working closely with older residents in Zagreb’s city centre—and we’re actively trying to avoid gentrification and displacement, so people can stay in the neighbourhoods where they’ve always lived.”
Marijo Spajic
What JUST4CARE wants to learn here
Zagreb will help JUST4CARE understand how historic districts can adapt to heat in ways that are socially fair, technically feasible and respectful of cultural heritage. It will also generate lessons for other European cities facing similar tensions between climate resilience, ageing, tourism and urban transformation.
Related partners: City of Zagreb, REGEA, DOOR, BC3, GEA21 and other consortium partners supporting risk assessment, pilot methodology, governance, communication and replication.
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