The opportunity to develop strategic spatial planning with the impulse of integrated territorial investments in Croatia

Regional development and spatial planning in Croatia are organised as parallel systems regulated by different legislations coordinated two ministries, the of which has been strongly influenced European Union (EU). In last decades, intensive strategic documentation on a local, regional, national level regarding diverse territorial governance aspects had extensive analytical scope but little potential for implementation due to overlapping responsibilities disconnected budget instruments. The Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) mechanism contributed understanding multifaceted beyond document drafting. This paper analyses first phase ITI Croatia, i.e. processes unified functional urban areas, creating possibility develop joint management structures strategies, integrated projects, common participative models.