Plurality of lifestyles and urban planning

Abstract

With the increase of population and its diversity in towns, the style of living becomes an extremely important symbol of distinction. It is not only the economic models but the symbolic as well that compete for the open space. A ll of this influences the polarization of urban living which begins to receive the more important demonstrative function. This is why symbols, aesthetics and the styling of life in the space context become the instruments for exchanging the social status. Architecture, the planning o f towns, the positioning of parking spaces and lawns or playgrounds for children mark the barriers o f social territories and enable the process of individualization and plurality o f life models, in other words the separation of "subjective" ways of behaviour, actions and opinions from the "objective" ways of distribution of resources and inequality of living, conditions urban planning to confront completely new demands. Thus the policy strategy of urban planning is forced to open different, specific domains for the action of different groups among the population. Since the effects of social changes in the form of new styles of life in developed postindustrial societies are especialy visible in towns with Universities and in regional centers it is to be expected that the development of Croatian society w ll influence urban planning in towns such as Zadar and take into consideration similar processes.