Eight citizen-led walks will take place in May as part of Jane’s Walk global movement
Zagreb is once more taking part in Jane’s Walk, a global movement of free citizen-led walking tours. The movement was named after Jane Jacobs, a journalist and activist who advocated for a community-based approach to city building.
The project aims to encourage city dwellers to get together and explore their neighbourhoods, share their knowledge and engage in discussion – as stated in their manifest, the citizen-led tours are not walking lectures, but walking conversations. This year, 212 cities in 36 countries will participate in the event that is traditionally held during the month of May.
The walks in Zagreb are organized by members of Trešnjevka Mapping (Mapiranje Trešnjevke), an initiative started by the Trešnjevka Cultural Centre and local volunteers with a goal of gathering facts about the neighbourhood’s history. Eight guided walks are planned throughout the month, the first taking place on Saturday, May 6th, and the last on Sunday, May 28th.
Participants will get a chance to hear about life in Zagreb during the 80s while strolling around neighbourhoods such as Utrina and Zapruđe, but also visit individual locations like Jarun where they will learn the story of the Summer Universiade of 1987. Fountains are a popular subject in Croatia these days so one of the walks will have the group following various water sources; another will acquaint people with the history of Radnička street.
As much as we like to think we know a lot about our cities and their history, guided walks such as these can always show us there’s a great deal more to learn. You can find the schedule along with more information here.
