Recession’s Average

Velika Gorica is the largest city in Zagreb County, the area surrounding Zagreb sans the capital itself. Velika Gorica has a population of around 30K, while the whole municipality has around 60K residents, many of whom work in Zagreb.

The new bypass, the state route D31, open to public in 2013, as well as the general recession in Croatia have drawn many shops to a close. Some say it’s the part of the process of weeding out weak businesses after years of loose tax payments — or, in some cases — complete defaults on taxes. Others argue it’s the close proximity to some of the country’s biggest malls that makes small shops unattractive to the locals. Either way, walking down the street full of abandoned stores is depressing. I can feel how once a fairly wealthy city dilutes into the recession’s average.

The following photo walk was taken around noon on a late winter Wednesday in 2014.