Is There a Future for Planned new Towns of the 20th Century?

Abstract

Several new towns were established, planned and built for the needs of certain industries during the 20th century in Croatia. What they all have in common is the fact they were built according to the modernist principles of urban planning and architecture: Rasa, Podlabin, Borovo and Ubli in the 1930s and towns of Ploče and LickiOsik after the World War II. A common problem they face now is a result of major political and economic changes of the 1990s that resulted in changes of their economic functions. The transformations of their built environment sometimes don't take into account their unique qualities and the fact that they are good examples of the planning principles of the times when they were built. This paper presents a brief chronology of the planning process and construction of LickiOsik - a new town built from the 1950s onwards serving the military production facilities that were located nearby. The modernist and functionalist principles were used in planning, construction and design of the new town, its urban areas and buildings. The town had all the major public facilities and infrastructure and was characterized by good relations towards the surrounding environment and the urban landscaping. Political and economic changes and subsequent war of the 1990s in Croatia brought drastic changes in the economic base of the town as well as demographic changes, so LičkiOsik is still in the process of finding a way of its future development. This does not come without threats to its urban and architectural heritage since its unique qualities are not well recognized and are still not under formal protection.