Donja DubravaLevel ground from Avenija Dubrava to Slavonska avenija, from packed houses to woods in the south-east

Donja Dubrava at a glance

• Residents (2021 Census)³⁷33,537
• Households renting³⁸6.3%
• Area⁴¹10.8 km²
• Neighbourhoods in our guide2
• Local committees⁴²8

Rents are asking prices from active listings on NajamStanova; residents and renting come from the 2021 Census. Households renting are those paying a market rent.

Where Donja Dubrava is

Donja Dubrava covers part of the settlement of Zagreb in the east of the city, on flat land between Dubrava's main street and Slavonska avenija.^1,3 The northern border runs along the south side of Maksimirska cesta and Ulica Dubrava; past the Trnava stream it crosses to the north side of the street and follows it to its end. Gornja Dubrava lies on the other side.^1,3 In the east the border follows the Trnava and Sopnica streams and the west side of Ulica Ljudevita Posavskog down to Slavonska avenija, and the neighbour is Sesvete.^1,2,3

In the south the border runs along the north side of Slavonska avenija to the Štefanovec stream, then up the stream to the Zagreb – Dugo Selo railway and Branimirova. Across the avenue and the railway is Peščenica – Žitnjak.^1,3 At Branimirova 10 the border turns north and follows the east side of Mandlova to Maksimirska cesta; Maksimir lies to the west.^1,3 The lower courses of two streams edge the district, the Trnava in the east and the Štefanovec in the west, which is now covered over.^3,4 The border description in the 2020 consolidated text is the same as in 2009.^1,2

Neighbourhoods in Donja Dubrava

• RetkovecA 1965 prefab estate for people the Sava flood left homeless, with streets named after trees, plus Stari Retkovec's old core among fields.Retkovec neighbourhood guide
• DubravaDubrava's south side along the main street, with family houses and the Cerska market: the „Ivan Mažuranić”, „30. svibnja 1990.” and Donja Dubrava committees.Dubrava neighbourhood guide

District council and local committees

Zagreb's 17 city districts were created by the City Statute of 14 December 1999.⁵ Their borders and seats are set by the decision on district borders and seats, adopted by the City Assembly on 26 February 2009 and amended in 2017 and 2020; the consolidated text has applied since 12 November 2020.^1,2 Donja Dubrava's local committees (mjesni odbori) were set up in February 2009.^8,9 The district council elected in 2025 has 15 members and first met on 25 June 2025.⁶

The district and its local office are based at Dubrava 49. Gornja Dubrava has its seat at the same address, and house numbers 1 to 49 belong to the Dubrava – središte local committee, so the building stands on the Gornja Dubrava side of the street.^1,7,9,10 In the 19th century the whole area belonged to the municipality of Resnik, and parts of the Čulinečka Dubrava and Resnički Gaj local people's committees joined the city in 1949.^8,12,13 From 1952 the area was in the municipality of Dubrava, from 1955 in the municipality of Zagrebačka Dubrava, which also took in Resnik and was merged into Maksimir in 1962. A re-formed municipality of Dubrava, without Resnik, existed from 1974 until Zagreb's municipalities were abolished on 31 December 1990.^8,12

8 local committees (mjesni odbori) in Donja Dubrava: 30. svibnja 1990., Čulinec, Donja Dubrava, Ivan Mažuranić, Novi Retkovec, Resnički gaj, Stari Retkovec, Trnava.⁴²

People in Donja Dubrava

At the 2021 Census, 33,537 people lived in Donja Dubrava in 11,202 households. 711 households, or 6.3%, paid a market rent (Zagreb: 7.7%). The average household had 3.0 members.^37,38

The district covers 10.8 km², about 3,108 people per square kilometre (Zagreb average: 1,196).⁴¹

Its parts: what is where in Donja Dubrava

The district is flat lowland. The City's district analysis sets a densely settled north-west of narrow streets and tightly packed family houses against an almost empty south-east of woods and fields called Čulinečina, Retkovčina, Laz and Krčevina.^3,4 More and more larger blocks with flats and shops are going up in the north-west, mostly in its eastern part. The railway and Branimirova split the district into north and south and make getting between them hard, and the City's 2020 leaflet says the railway in fact divides it into three parts: a denser north and two thinly settled southern parts.^3,4

The villages are the oldest layer. Čulinec, Resnička Trnava, Resnički Gaj and Retkovec are recorded from the 13th century, home to serfs of the Zagreb bishop, the Kaptol (cathedral chapter) and its canons.^8,12 South of the main road there were long no houses at all. The Kaptol divided its land in Donja Dubrava into irregular plots, unlike in Gornja Dubrava, and the first houses on them went up only in 1937.^8,12,13 In the 1940s a railway workers' estate was built to a regulation plan around today's Slavonska ulica, between Vukovarska and Osječka, and after the war privately built family houses set the area's look.⁸

Zagreb's 1965 master plan, adopted a year after the great flood, included a completely new estate, Retkovec, planned on the experience of rebuilding Skopje after its 1963 earthquake.¹⁴ According to Laura Šakaja and Ivana Crljenko, Trnava was built without permits from the early 1960s. Settlers from the former Yugoslavia left their mark on its street names, taken from places in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.¹³

According to the 2020 leaflet, the south-west holds a large business zone with factories, among them TŽV Gredelj, plus shopping centres, repair shops and warehouses. The undeveloped south-east has the Čulinečina city park forest and the Resnik electrical substation.^4,3 The disused grounds of the DTR underwear factory on Mandlova and the Mlinar plant on Branimirova are listed as brownfield land.^3,4 The master plan provides for housing and mixed zones in the north and centre, and business zones, park forests and sports grounds along Slavonska avenija.³

Trnava

Resnička Trnava is recorded from the 13th century, and a 3rd-century bronze bust of a young man was found there.^8,12 From the 1960s it was built without permits. Its streets carry names such as Hercegnovski put and Kumborski put, and eight are simply called Trnava, numbered I to VIII.^13,9 It has a railway stop and, since 2025, a branch of the Jabuka nursery.^16,33

Čulinec

A village recorded from the 13th century and named after the medieval Cehna kin group.^8,12,13 It has a stop on the Zagreb – Dugo Selo railway, and city plans treat Čulinečka cesta as eastern Zagreb's main north–south link.^16,15 Site preparation for a new primary school began in Ulica Čulinec II in September 2026.³²

Resnički gaj

A local committee that took up more than a third of the district's area in 2011 and is almost uninhabited.^3,13 Parts of the old Resnički Gaj local people's committee joined the city in 1949.^8,13 In 2024 Zagreb City Libraries called the Resnički gaj woods the largest lowland forest in Zagreb.²⁹

Čulinečina

A city park forest in the undeveloped south-east of the district, among the woods and fields of Retkovčina, Laz and Krčevina.^3,4

Where the name Donja Dubrava comes from

Dubrava is named after the oak forest that once covered its central part: an old word for oak (hrast) is dub.^8,12 The adjective donji means lower, the opposite of gornji (upper); Gornja Dubrava lies north of the main street.^11,3

Roads, rail and lines in Donja Dubrava

Maksimirska cesta and Ulica Dubrava run along the northern edge, Slavonska avenija along the southern one, and Branimirova through the middle beside the railway.^1,3 City plans class Čulinečka cesta as a main city street and the key north–south link of eastern Zagreb.¹⁵ The City's 2020 leaflet says the master plan provides for extending Vukovarska towards Jelkovec, a link between Slavonska avenija and Branimirova, an extension of Branimirova towards Sesvete and a link from Trnava to Čulinečka.⁴ In April 2024 the City announced the extension of Kolakova to Branimirova, which would give Dubrava a closed road ring of Branimirova, Kolakova, Avenija Gojka Šuška and Mandlova.¹⁹

The Zagreb – Dugo Selo railway crosses the district, and HŽPP's timetable from 7 April to 12 December 2026 lists the Trnava and Čulinec stops on it.^3,16 The Sesvetska Sopnica stop opened in December 2022, and according to HRT it is also meant for people in Sedmi Retkovec.^16,17

Bus 210 runs Dubrava – Studentski grad – Novi Retkovec.¹⁸

Office, health, police and libraries in Donja Dubrava

Being built in Donja Dubrava

• Čulinec primary school and nursery: on 21 November 2025 the City said it had the building permit and EU and city funding, and had started procurement for a contractor. The school is planned for 560 pupils in a single shift, with a sports hall and a four-group nursery.^30,31,32 In June 2026 Ing-Grad said it had been chosen for the €19.99 million (excluding VAT) contract, and according to Večernji list on 10 September 2026 machines had started clearing the land in Ulica Čulinec II.^31,32
• Nursery at Cerska ulica 22: according to Jutarnji list on 24 October 2026, demolition of the 1975 prefab nursery has begun. The City will build a new one in its place, with 16 groups and about 3,000 m², worth about €9.8 million including VAT; completion is expected at the end of 2027.³⁴
• The Trnava branch of the Jabuka nursery got its use permit on 5 May 2025. The City said it would take 40 children in two groups from September 2025.³³
• Sports centre in Sopnička ulica: Jutarnji list reported in December 2025 that a tender estimated at €312,000 was open, with bids due by 17 December 2025. The district's 2025 works plan sets aside €250,000 for a children's playground and sports ground in Sopnička.^35,36

Did you know?

• 1Noć kazališta (Theatre Night), held across Croatia since 2008, was started by Dječje kazalište Dubrava, the children's theatre at Cerska ulica 1.^27,28,3
• 2In 1873 Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski dug up the foundations of Roman buildings in Trnava Resnička. The City counts this among the first archaeological digs in Zagreb.⁸
• 3Between 2002 and 2016, 23 streets in Dubrava were named after soldiers killed in the Homeland War, mostly on the edges of Stari Retkovec, Trnava and Čulinec. Most carry the names of members of the 145th brigade.¹³

Renting in Donja Dubrava

Nearby districts

• Gornja DubravaDistrict guide
• Peščenica – ŽitnjakDistrict guide
• SesveteDistrict guide

• Compare districts: Donja Dubrava and Gornja Dubrava
• Compare districts: Donja Dubrava and Peščenica – Žitnjak
• Compare districts: Donja Dubrava and Sesvete
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

For listings across the district, see flats for rent in Donja Dubrava. To compare the neighbours, read what living in Gornja Dubrava is like and what living in Peščenica – Žitnjak is like.

Questions: living in Donja Dubrava