ZGRADONAČELNIK Alen Kristović

Guest Alen KristovićHosted by Tin BašićMay 3, 2026

Alen Kristović

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

Alen Kristović has spent over a decade observing a consistent paradox in urban living: despite abundant information and resources, many apartment co-owners remain disengaged from the collective management of their buildings. As the president of the Karlovac Co-owner and Tenant Association, Kristović hears the same questions repeatedly: how to remove the building representative, or how to remove the property manager. He argues that these questions stem not from a lack of knowledge, but from a fundamental disinterest in the shared responsibilities of building life. His perspective comes from sixteen years as a building representative and twelve years leading an association that successfully fought a five-year legal battle against a city heating utility. This conversation explores why the most common problems in shared living spaces persist, and what it takes to shift a community from passive complaint to active participation.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

The Karlovac Co-owner and Tenant Association didn't form around a proactive vision, but in response to a crisis: the city heating plant going bankrupt. Sometimes, the only way to spark collective organization is for an existing system to fail spectacularly.

The two most frequent inquiries Kristović receives are how to remove a building representative or a property manager. These questions, he observes, are never about improving a building; they are always about removing someone, betraying a deeper problem: a disinterest in understanding collective responsibilities, rather than a lack of information.

Despite the internet making information abundantly available, Kristović insists that disinterest, not ignorance, is the main obstacle to effective building management. The problem isn't a lack of answers; it's a lack of questions people genuinely want to ask.

Kristović laments that only three active co-owner associations remain in Croatia — in Karlovac, Rijeka, and Zagreb. Without a broader network, the potential for collective influence on policy and public awareness remains largely untapped, leaving individual groups isolated.

When confronted with apathy, Kristović's strategy is simple: "persistently repeat this mantra, send information, even a hundred times in a row." He acknowledges that if someone isn't interested, it's difficult to engage them, but a sustained, repetitive effort is the only way to eventually break through.

The fight against the bankrupt Karlovac heating plant involved a five-year legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Kristović's group ultimately won, demonstrating that even against large, entrenched utilities, collective legal action can succeed if sustained.

Seventy households, including Kristović's, successfully disconnected from the city heating system after their legal victory, yet he doesn't see this as a universal solution. Individual opt-out is a tactical win for some, but a building-wide problem requires a collective transition to an alternative system, not just an escape route for a few.

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