The Croatian Chamber of Architects on Tuesday called for a transparent and implementable reconstruction programme to organise reconstruction according to spatial units and coordinate non-structural reconstruction and seismic retrofitting as well as the construction of new buildings.

The reconstruction of buildings should be a result of plans for the urban renovation of neighbourhoods, which would contribute to the betterment of society and space as a whole, the association, which goes by the acronym HKA, said in a statement on the occasion of the second anniversary of the March 2020 5.5-strong earthquake in Zagreb.

Architects believe that new buildings should be built based on the best architectural designs so that they are in line with spatial planning documentation, architectural conditions and the way of life in individual regions.

The Reconstruction Act should enable project documentation to be made in line with the Construction Act, based on which citizens will claim the right to have their reconstruction costs refunded.

The HKA called for enabling the design of complete building reconstruction, improving basic requirements for buildings, and conducting reconstruction in stages, depending on available funds.

As always, architects will make their expertise available to all stakeholders in the reconstruction process, and they want to be involved so that the processes launched are better, faster and more effective, the chamber said.

We want our living space to be modern, orderly and planned, and our heritage to be improved with new purposes, protected and safe, the architects said, noting that post-earthquake reconstruction should mark the process of a major economic, demographic and urban transformation of the country.

The devastating earthquakes that hit Croatia in the past two years have raised awareness of the poor state of the housing stock and the worrying economic and sociological situation in the parts of the country that have been neglected for decades, the HKA said.

The poor state of buildings, both housing and public, the poor state of infrastructure, low population density, the unsustainable network of settlements and demographic problems are just some of the characteristics of not only rural but urban parts of the country as well, it said.

Unfortunately, two years since the earthquake, we are witnessing an unsatisfactory dynamic of the reconstruction process as well as unsatisfactory quality of reconstruction work in all areas, the architects said.

This is due to a poor legislative framework that focuses exclusively on the seismic retrofitting of buildings instead of on integral solutions for the reconstruction of spatial units and individual buildings, the HKA said.