Resource context
Housing Policies in the Service of Social and Spatial (In)Equality is a study/report by Iva Marčetić, published by Pravo na grad (Right to the City) and available in an English edition (2021). The publication reviews housing-policy institutions and outcomes in Croatia, using Zagreb as a main case study and situating it within wider European-periphery trends.
Housing legacy and current living conditions
The study notes that Croatia is often described as a “super home ownership” country: around 90% of households live in a dwelling they own. At the same time, it reports widespread overcrowding and multigenerational living, with housing access framed as a generational issue. Key figures cited include an average age of 33 for moving out of the parental home and about 70% of people aged 18–34 still living with parents.
Yugoslav-era public housing system (overview)
The publication describes the Yugoslav period as one with substantial public or socially governed housing production and management. It cites 442,199 housing units in Croatia with “tenant’s right” as of 31 December 1989 (more than a quarter of the national housing stock) and argues that this legacy still shapes today’s urban geography and housing narratives. It outlines phases of post-war administrative management and later self-management, including housing funds financed from wages (an example cited for Zagreb is 6–8% of gross salary allocated to housing development).
Privatisation and institutional fragmentation after 1991
A central argument is that the 1990s reforms shifted housing from a welfare-oriented policy field towards market-based provision, with privatisation and deregulation accompanied by multiple, often inconsistent laws and weakened housing institutions. The text also documents how wartime legal changes and procedures contributed to the loss of tenancy rights for many former tenants, and references UN reporting that around 100,000 former tenancy-right holders (predominantly Serbian nationals) were not able to exercise the right to purchase.
Financialisation, credit expansion, and affordability pressures
For the 2000s, the study links housing policy to credit growth and financialisation. It reports that Croatian housing loans rose sharply, describing home loans reaching about 40% of GDP by 2008 (up from much lower levels in 2000). It also highlights that real-estate prices rose significantly in the pre-crisis period (with annual growth rates reported at 7.2% nationally and 6.4% in Zagreb) and that affordability worsened even as credit became more available.
Spatial outcomes and planning dynamics (Zagreb focus)
Using Zagreb, the publication connects housing-market changes to urban form and inequality. It discusses increased density in districts such as Trešnjevka and Kajzerica during the 1990s and the limits of planning tools in steering development. It also points to population shifts within the city-region between 2001 and 2011 (declines in central districts alongside growth in peripheral areas) and argues that housing costs and the location of public programmes can reinforce patterns of exclusion.
Purpose and intended use
Overall, the resource compiles historical context, institutional analysis, and quantitative indicators to explain how housing policies can reproduce social and spatial inequality, offering evidence relevant to debates on affordability, tenure stability, and sustainable, inclusive housing provision in European cities.