Imagine this: young people in Zadar, even those with college degrees, cannot afford an apartment in the city center! The average price per square meter of new apartments in Zadar is over 3,000 euros, which is completely out of reach for an average family with two salaries. Banks? They won’t give loans without a large initial capital. The result? Young people are fleeing to the suburbs, where prices are somewhat lower, but infrastructure and living conditions are far from ideal.
While the old city center is emptying, the suburbs are growing, but there are not enough kindergartens, schools, or doctors. Sociologists and real estate agents warn that this trend will only worsen. Foreigners and people from the interior buy apartments for vacation or investment, while local youth are left without a chance for their own home.
Monika and Štefan Štivičić, a highly educated young couple, are still renters because buying an apartment in Zadar is an unattainable dream for them. They are not alone — more and more people are looking for plots and apartments up to 20 kilometers from the city center. If they find a square meter for 3,000 euros, they consider themselves lucky.
What’s left? Either buy a small apartment, live with parents, or settle for inadequate space. The city will have to address this problem because the old city center is losing its function, and the suburbs are expanding without adequate infrastructure.
If you think this is only a problem in Zadar, think again. Similar problems plague young people in many cities across the region. Will our cities become places only for the rich? Or will young people be doomed to live on the margins, far from the center and opportunities? Drop a comment if you think it’s time for change or if you have your own recipe for this housing disaster!
