A Survey of the Satisfaction with Communal Hygiene in the City of Rijeka

Abstract

It is challenging to develop a municipal economy which serves the requirements and interests of the residents of the local self-government unit in a centralised state like the Republic of Croatia. The type of services that form the cornerstone of urban life reflects the particularity of communal activities. The following communal activities ensure the maintenance of communal infrastructure: maintenance of unclassified roads, maintenance of public spaces with no vehicular access, maintenance of public storm water drainage systems, maintenance of public green spaces, maintenance of buildings, devices and objects of public use, maintenance of cemeteries and crematoriums inside the cemetery, maintenance of cleanliness of public areas, and maintenance of public lighting. In order to meet the needs of the residents better, the local government should therefore continuously monitor, identify, and respond to those demands as they arise. The City of Rijeka, as the smartest large city in the Republic of Croatia, is at an enviable level in this regard, which contributes to the overall communal economy of the country, and creates the prerequisites for maintaining sustainability, high quality of life and work of citizens in urban environment. However, the areas
that involve the city’s public hygiene, garbage disposal, and the overall waste collection system, which is not entirely resolved even at the national level, continue to pose considerable challenges. One of the main difficulties for every city is smart waste management, which includes separation and recycling. It is well
recognized that managing garbage responsibly presents a constant and growing problem for local governments, who tirelessly strive to manage it in a sustainable way. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper was to investigate the level of satisfaction with communal hygiene in the City of Rijeka. This objective is reflected in the identification of variables that directly and significantly influence the degree of satisfaction of city residents with communal hygiene in Rijeka. The research findings indicate that the citizens who participated in the survey were not very satisfied with the city’s communal hygiene, which highlights the critical need to raise both the standard of the municipal company’s services and the citizens’ culture of waste disposal.