Dugi Rat is the "lighthouse" that imposes the integral approach in environmental and spatial planning and where the problems at the site precondition active involvement of stakeholders in the decision - making process.
In 1918, the factory for the carbon production was built in Dugi Rat. Still back in the last century, a factory caused environmental and visual degradation of the area, and the situation only emerged into the acute problem through the continuation of the production for more then hundred years. Industrial complex delayed area's potentials to reconsider the other bases for its development, mainly in the form of tourism service. However, in 1995, the major part of the production stopped, because a factory proclaimed a bankruptcy.
In 2001, the results of the public referendum show that citizens (87% of them) vote for the reconstruction and reprogramming of the site whilst state company for the electricity production and distribution tends to restart the production. The complex situation is stressed by the fact that according to legal document, Splitsko - Dalmatinska County, this area is designated for recreational, tourism and housing activities which is in line with the desires expressed by the local community. Nevertheless, the state company for the electricity production and distribution is a powerful partner in a dialogue on a spatial transformation. The decision-making process that would result in a solution for the location of the old factory has come to a "dead end" and while the decisions are postponed to be made local community is hindered in its efforts to articulate the roadmap for the community's development.
This is probably the most obvious choice, considering the transitional context of Croatia. How architecture and urban design can participate in transitional processes and how much they can affect those processes – this will be a very interesting element of the Dugi Rat project. Dugi Rat looks like the ideal laboratory for testing different scenarios and valuating them in relation to economic, ecological and social contexts. Moreover, Dugi Rat is an exceptionally complex task, but this is why it requires architectural vision – to reduce its complexity. In fact, the potential of architecture lies in the possibility to show a vision of development that can motivate imaginations of the political or economic kind.