New ZagrebA city across the Sava, from Trnsko to Sloboština

New Zagreb at a glance

• To the main square by ZET35 min
• To the centre as the crow flies4.3 km
• Residents of both districts (2021)¹⁰119,815
• Area of both districts^6,779.2 km²

Where New Zagreb is

Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb) is the part of the city south of the Sava. Officially it isn't one unit: the City Statute of 14 December 1999 split it into two city districts, Novi Zagreb – istok (east) and Novi Zagreb – zapad (west), divided by Avenija Većeslava Holjevca.^1,2,3 The western district has 16 local committees (mjesni odbori) and the eastern 11, and none of them is called Novi Zagreb.^8,9 The neighbourhood has no official boundary. This guide covers Novi Zagreb as a whole, and by its core we mean the planned estates of Kajzerica, Savski gaj, Trnsko, Siget, Lanište and Remetinec in the west, and Središće, Zapruđe, Utrine, Sopot, Travno, Dugave and Sloboština in the east. That grouping is ours, not an official one.^8,9,3

The western district covers 6,263.87 ha and had 63,917 residents in 2021; the eastern covers 1,654.33 ha and had 55,898.^6,7,10 Together they take up about 79.2 km², roughly an eighth of the city. The eastern district is the more densely populated, with about 3,380 people per km² against about 1,020 in the west.^6,7,2,3 On the outer edge of the western district lie villages such as Lučko, Odra and Mala Mlaka, which are still separate statistical settlements, while the Novi Zagreb estates belong to the settlement of Zagreb.^3,10

For and against: life in Novi Zagreb

What life is like in Novi Zagreb

The basic planning unit was the mikrorajon (micro-district), soon renamed the stambena zajednica (residential community): a unit of 8,000 to 12,000 people whose size was set by its primary school, so that children could walk to school without crossing a wide road. Each had its own shops and services, and fast roads ran between the units.^11,12,13 It was a functionalist model that drew on CIAM and the 1933 Athens Charter, with its principles of sun, light, air and greenery.^11,12

Much of the housing was built industrially. Jugomont's Ju-60 and Ju-61 prefabricated systems, nicknamed "limenke" ("tin cans"), put up Remetinečki gaj and Zapruđe in the early 1960s.^20,16 Later estates changed the approach. Borislav Doklestić, quoted in the magazine Korak u prostor, traces a line from Zapruđe's neutral open layout, through Mamutica as one big block that frees up green space, to the semi-private courtyards of Dugave and Sloboština, Ivan Čižmek's octagon in Dugave and Radovan Delalle's pedestrian street in Sloboština.¹⁵

Novi Zagreb also has unplanned post-war areas of family houses, such as Trokut, Podbrežje and part of Savski gaj, and the old villages of Blato, Hrelić, Jakuševec, Sveta Klara and Botinec.^14,1 Only part of the plan was built. In the 1960s and 1970s residents complained most about the lack of cultural and social amenities, and because no workplaces were planned, Novi Zagreb was often called the city's "dormitory".^14,49 Of the eastern district the City writes that it stands out for its green spaces, parks and playgrounds, which were given particular care.⁵

In Mladen Klemenčić's memoir in Vijenac, the people moving into Trnsko in the 1960s were mostly young families with children from all over Croatia, for most of whom it was their first home of their own. Factory workers were the fewest; clerks, technicians, engineers, teachers, journalists, officers and artists were many.¹³

The new General Urban Plan, reported by Zagreb.info in October 2025, protects the modernist estates of Trnsko and Siget from new housing and allows only new public and communal buildings there.⁴⁴ In Podbrežje the City is building an estate under the Zagreb housing model: work began in September 2016, and the first phase, four buildings with 608 flats, was being finished in July 2018. Its flats can be rented, bought or allocated from the priority list.⁴⁵

Trnsko

The first Novi Zagreb estate planned and built as a whole, to a plan by Zdenko Kolacio, Mirko Maretić and Josip Uhlik. Its first buildings were occupied in 1961.^12,53,13

Zapruđe

Built from 1963 to 1968 for 10,000 people, with the "limenke", blocks clad in aluminium sheet.^16,52

Siget

Home to Miroslav Catinelli's huge Super Andrija residential and commercial block (1972–73) and the Church of the Holy Cross.^21,48

Središće

The estate east of the Fair and north of Avenija Dubrovnik. According to Kristian Strukić, it is the only one not named after an old place name: it was meant to be the "centre" (središte) of Novi Zagreb.¹⁴

Where the name New Zagreb comes from

In the city's plans of the late 1950s and the 1960s the area south of the Sava was called Južni Zagreb (South Zagreb).^1,11,12,13 According to Tihomir Jukić, right after the Second World War the name Novi Zagreb belonged to the newly planned part of the city between the railway and the Sava, today's Trnje, north of the river. Jukić also cites the planner Mirko Maretić: the planners chose the name South Zagreb so that Zagreb would differ from Belgrade, but Novi Zagreb won out in the end.¹¹

South of the Sava the name first meant a single estate. Trnsko was built as "mikrorajon Novi Zagreb I i II" and in February 1964 was renamed Stambena zajednica Trnsko.^12,13 The name has been used informally for the whole area since 1963, and it became the official name of a municipality in the mid-1970s.^15,16,12

Most estate names are old place names found on old maps; Središće is the exception.¹⁴ Writing in the journal Hrvatski jezik, Branimir Brgles links several names to the old, braided Sava: Siget comes from the Hungarian sziget (island), Zapruđe from za + prud ("beyond the sandbank"), Sopot from a word for a stream, spring or waterfall, and Blato simply means mud. He links Jakuševec to the personal name Jakuš (Jakov) and Ježdovec to Jezdo (Latin Egidius).^47,52

A short history of New Zagreb

Roman-era remains have been found on the plain south of the Sava.¹ The parish of St Mark in today's Jakuševec appears in a list of parishes from 1334, and the villages of Buzin, Otok, Jakuševec and Hrelić are centuries older than the new town.^5,1 At the first systematic census, in 1857, the villages of today's western district had barely 2,000 permanent residents, and in 1953 still fewer than 7,000.⁴ The iron Savski most of 1892 helped the south bank grow.⁴

Formally the city began to cross the river on 23 December 1949, when parts of the Remetinec and Gaj local committees were joined to it.⁴ Mayor Većeslav Holjevac (1952–1962) pushed the city's growth south of the Sava, and he is often called the father of Novi Zagreb.^18,54 In the west the Brodarski institut (shipbuilding institute) and the Fair came first. Velesajamska cesta, today's Avenija Dubrovnik, opened in 1955, and the new Fair on 7 September 1956.^4,11,16,23

The first Novi Zagreb estates, Remetinečki gaj and Savski gaj, went up in the late 1950s, and the northern part of Savski gaj, from 1957, is taken as the start.^13,1 Most slobode opened in 1959, and the first residents moved into Trnsko in 1961.^25,13 The 1962 plan for South Zagreb, drawn up by the Urban Planning Institute's team under Zdenko Kolacio, foresaw about 250,000 residents in some 25 residential communities.^14,11,19 In 1965 the Dutch architect Jacob Bakema proposed a design for the centre of South Zagreb, which was never built.^11,15,22 The final shape came from the Urban Programme of Zagreb, accepted in 1965, and the 1971 General Urban Plan, with its blocks of green space, public buildings and roads between the estates.^1,11,19

After Trnsko and Zapruđe came Siget, Utrine, Sopot, Travno, Dugave, Sloboština and Lanište.^14,5 Most mladosti opened to cars on 2 November 1973, and Jadranski most in 1981.^26,24 From the mid-1970s to the end of 1990 the area was the Općina (municipality) Novi Zagreb.^4,5,15 Trams first crossed the Sava on 25 November 1979, and the Novi Zagreb tram ring was closed on 29 November 1985.^26,27,28

From 1985 a university hospital was built in Blato, largely funded by a levy on citizens' incomes, but the money ran out at the end of 1992 and the building was left unfinished.^37,1 Between 2007 and 2010 the Avenue Mall, Arena Zagreb, the new Museum of Contemporary Art building and Arena Centar opened.^32,31,34,33

1. 1334The parish of St Mark in today's Jakuševec appears in a list of parishes.^5,1
2. 1949On 23 December parts of Remetinec and Gaj are joined to the city.⁴
3. 1956The new Zagreb Fair opens on the right bank of the Sava on 7 September.^23,22
4. 1959Most slobode opens on 2 September.²⁵
5. 1961The first Trnsko buildings are occupied.¹³
6. 1962The plan for South Zagreb foresees a city of about 250,000 people.^14,11
7. 1965Jacob Bakema proposes a design for the centre of South Zagreb; it is never built.^11,15,22
8. 1973Most mladosti opens to cars on 2 November.²⁶
9. 1974–1975The Općina Novi Zagreb is set up; it lasts until the end of 1990.^4,5,15
10. 1979On 25 November a tram crosses the Sava for the first time: line 7 to Sopot.²⁶
11. 1985On 29 November the line over Jadranski most closes the tram ring.^27,28
12. 1999On 14 December the City Statute splits Novi Zagreb into two city districts.^2,3
13. 2009The Museum of Contemporary Art moves into its new building on Avenija Dubrovnik.³⁴
14. 2026Sarajevska cesta and its tram track open on 2 October; no trams run on it yet.^41,42

What to see in Novi Zagreb

• Zagreb Fair (Zagrebački velesajam)

  Opened on 7 September 1956 between Avenija Dubrovnik and the Hippodrome; its first layout was by the architect Marijan Haberle.^23,22 According to Portal Novosti, Soviet and Chinese exhibitors built their own pavilions here in 1956.²³ A 2015 City document lists the Fair as a protected cultural-historical ensemble.²² In 2025 the City presented plans for a congress centre with a 2,500-seat hall, with building planned from 2027 and opening in early 2029.⁴³

• Most slobode

  Liberty Bridge opened on 2 September 1959 to a design by Krunoslav Tonković: a very shallow steel arch, 7.36 m high over a 100 m span.^25,24 It was hurried partly because it had to carry the water mains from the wells at Mala Mlaka to the left bank; four water pipes run between its girders.²⁴

• Bundek

  The lake was left by gravel digging for Most slobode and the new estates, and the park runs from Most slobode to Most mladosti.^35,5 It covers 545,000 m², with a large lake with a guarded beach in summer, a small lake left as natural habitat and a stage on the water with seating for about 2,500.³⁵ According to Crnobrnja's history of the Sava bridges, Bundek was neglected from the 1980s.²⁴

• Hippodrome

  On the Kajzerica bank. It covers 47 ha today, down from 65 ha originally. It has a 1,600 m grass gallop track, a 1,550 m sand training track and a 1,000 m gravel trotting track; the original 2,400 m grass track is gone. It was planned as part of a Croatian Olympic Centre project begun in 1947, and its tracks opened in 1950.^36,1 Under the new General Urban Plan its land becomes a recreation zone where nothing may be built.⁴⁴

• Museum of Contemporary Art

  At Avenija Dubrovnik 17, on the junction with Avenija Većeslava Holjevca. Igor Franić's design was chosen from 85 entries, and the foundation stone was laid on 17 November 2003.^34,50 Franić wanted its open ground floor to be "the living room of Novi Zagreb".³⁴

• Arena Zagreb

  Next to Lanište, built in 2008 for the World Handball Championship as a public-private partnership with Ingra. Its first match, Croatia v Russia on 27 December 2008, drew 15,200 people. The arena and the government both describe it as Croatia's largest sports hall.^30,31

• Church of the Holy Cross, Siget

  The parish was founded on 3 August 1967 and is run by Franciscans. From 1971 to 1982 services were held in a wooden hut; according to the archdiocese, the church and friary were built from 1971 to 1977, and the church was consecrated on 15 May 1983.⁴⁸ The City describes it as the largest church built in Croatia in the last half century, holding up to 3,500 people.⁴

• Mamutica

  Blok 6 in Travno, by Đuro Mirković with Nevenka Postružnik (1973–76). According to the Hrvatska tehnička enciklopedija, its 1,169 flats made it the largest building in Yugoslavia, and it was the first built with tunnel formwork.²⁰

Did you know?

• 1Television Zagreb broadcast the Fair's opening on 7 September 1956 live. According to the Fair itself, it was the station's first live broadcast.²³
• 2In Mladen Klemenčić's memoir, a rail spur to the Fair ran past the Trnsko blocks, and some residents let rooms to fair visitors, so the estate had its own tourist office.¹³
• 3Večernji list reported in 2009 that the Museum of Contemporary Art stands where residents of nearby tower blocks had grown cabbages, carrots and beans on informal plots.³⁴
• 4According to its own history, the Zapruđe library, opened in 1973 at the initiative of the poet Vjekoslav Majer, was the city library's first branch across the Sava. In just 88 m² it had the largest membership in the city, 5,275.¹⁶
• 5According to its own website, the Centar za kulturu Novi Zagreb, founded on 5 May 1977, was long the only cultural institution in Novi Zagreb, and during the Homeland War its premises housed Novi Zagreb's crisis headquarters.⁴⁹

Everyday life in Novi Zagreb

Renting in Novi Zagreb

Nearby neighbourhoods

• SigetNeighbourhood guide
• TrnskoNeighbourhood guide
• SopotNeighbourhood guide
• SredišćeNeighbourhood guide
• KajzericaNeighbourhood guide
• Savski gajNeighbourhood guide

• Compare districts: New Zagreb – West and Brezovica
• Compare districts: New Zagreb – West and New Zagreb – East
• Compare districts: New Zagreb – West and Podsused – Vrapče
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

Questions about life in Novi Zagreb