Timeline: 2002-2006
Head of the Project: Ivan LAJIĆ
Researchers: Dragutin BABIĆ, Tihomir DUMANČIĆ, Roko MIŠETIĆ, Sonja PODGORELEC
Junior Researchers: Maja GOGALA, Sanja KLEMPIĆ BOGADI
In the last ten years, the demographic development of Croatia can be qualified, for the most part, as irregular. This irregularity was brought about by the Homeland war that resulted in unexpected natural movement, but even more in mechanical movement. The war caused direct and indirect demographic population losses and mainly intensified negative migration balance in the areas affected by war sufferings. Besides the destruction of all types of settlements in war affected territories, especially rural ones, during the past ten years transformations are obvious in the settlements of central characteristics as well. One of the empirical tasks of this research is to determine push factors in the settlements with a lower degree of centralization and to define the attractiveness of migration flows toward the settlements with the highest degree of centralization. Since the 2001 census has been made on changed methodological approaches in relation to previous ones and in some parts the results can not be compared, it is absolutely necessary to construct methodological patterns for basic demographic changes in order to achieve as correct results as possible. The research is conceived through the theoretical-empirical elaboration of the following four tasks: 1) Internal migration flows in Croatia; 2) The influence of migration on the network of settlements in Croatia; 3) Depopulation and its consequences; 4) Migration and logocentric development of Croatia. A great part of Croatian internal directions ends in main regional centers. Consequently, these settlements are confronted with the opposite problem of the planned demographic development – unorganized immigrations. The empirical research will deal with the city of Split. Internal migration resulted in further deruralisation as well as in weakening the network of central settlements referring to the majority of settlements up to the centralization grade IV. By reconstruction of war-affected settlements and return of expellees and refugees, it is partly possible to rebuild the network of these settlements especially because earlier researches have proved (the example of western Slavonia) that after the end of the war the cohabitation of until recently antagonistic groups is still possible. Each of the aforementioned research tasks contains an experiential component by which given hypotheses will be tested. The research has both all-Croatian and regional significance.