Dubrovnik and Rijeka face contested urban planning decisions

In Dubrovnik, architect and former deputy mayor Orland Tokić criticised a special exemption in the city’s General Urban Plan that allows the Maestral hotel group to build a 22‑metre‑tall hotel on the former Adriatic restaurant site. The new permit would add 963 beds across several hotels, but the GUP limits capacity, prompting Tokić to question how the plan can accommodate the increase without reducing other hotels’ beds.

In Rijeka, analyst Neven Šantić highlighted a municipal report by mayor Ive Rinčić showing that numerous peripheral districts lag behind in basic infrastructure such as paved roads, sidewalks, drainage, playgrounds, green spaces, bus shelters and street lighting. The report points to a long‑standing pattern of investment favouring the city centre while the outskirts remain under‑served, a situation rooted in historic territorial reorganisations.