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Zagreb – City on Underground Garages
The Zelena akcija Ngo and the initiative Pravo na grad (Right to a city) strongly oppose the announced construction of new public garages in down-town Zagreb, already prohibited by the existing General Urban Plan.
The two organizations believe that the Lower City (Donji Grad) streets should be freed from the cars parked there, but through transfer of the vehicles in new public garages on the outskirts of Donji Grad. That should result in the reduced burden that the current numbers of cars in the City put on public transportation, pedestrians and cyclists.
The two organizations also deny the theses of the proponents of the new public garages in downtown Zagreb, used to mislead the citizens and leave an impression of great effort to improve the quality of living in the city.
Those thesis include the claim that the underground garages will free more space for pedestrians and cyclists, which is not true, since it would cause greater suffocation of a number of streets with access to those facilities. Such a situation is probably worse than what happens now, since at the moment, the cars parked on the Lower City streets are equally distributed to all the streets.
The other claim not based in reality is that parallel to construction of public underground parking lots in the City, alternatives are needed, like parking lots in the suburbs, light city and suburban railways and improved other forms of public transport. In reality, say the two organizations, the City authorities have totally neglected those alternatives. A 1999 study prepared by a British company, proposes a number of measures for improved public transportation, with a specific note that new garages won’t be necessary.
The failure to build new public garages would lead to Downtown Zagreb dying out, the third thesis of the City authorities is another obvious lie. A 2005 study by Karel Martens on restrictive parking policies and their impact on urban centres concludes that such policies don’t have any negative effect on economic development. Quite to the contrary, they actually contribute to greater development, especially in the service sectors.
“Lamentably, some people don’t get the obvious – downtown Zagreb is not suited for cars. Parking lots can be built on the outskirts of the City, in Reljkoviceva, Crnatkova streets and Stjepan Radic Square, as proposed by the General Urban Plan. In addition, big parking lots should be built in the suburbs, for citizens of the greater area to leave their cars and use the public transport to reach the downtown”, say the two organizations.
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