Prostorno planiranje u Primorsko-goranskoj županiji - zavod pgz ...

248Zoran SKALASummaryADAPTING TO EXTERNAL LIMITATIONS AND THREATS THROUGHPHYSICAL PLANNINGMany experts believe that the period between 2010 and 2020 will in many ways be crucial for thefate of humanity. Human-induced climate change, collapse of life in the oceans, loss of agriculturalland, rapid loss of biodiversity and forest cover, widespread pollution in all elements of theenvironment, water supply problem, continuing growth of population and its consumption –these are all processes that are now culminating in their unsustainability. To this we must add thefact that fossil fuels, the main development energy of the 20 th century and the prerequisite for thepresent mobility – previously unmatched in human history – are gradually disappearing.Depending on the actions that we take in the next ten years, the Earth might or might notcontinue to be a nice place for living.A rational response to external limitations and threats is to adapt as quickly as possible to thenew circumstances. Although changes will be inevitable in all spheres of life, the key areas thatwill require the implementation of necessary changes that can be affected through spatial plansand other related documents are: agriculture, energy, transport, building codes, protection ofterrestrial and marine environments, land use, organisation of settlements, etc.Abandoning fossil fuels as soon as possible and orienting towards our own renewable energysources, as well as relying on locally produced food, will be preconditions for the existential safetyof the inhabitants of the County of Primorje and Gorski kotar in circumstances of rapid externalchanges and lack of resources. Managing the process of such great changes will be the biggestchallenge for the planners and decision-makers of this generation in the County of Primorje andGorski kotar.Keywords:physical planning, crisis, sustainability, growth, fossil fuels, climate change, resilience