Three Croatian coastal places named best for quality of life in 2026

Three Croatian coastal cities and towns have been named the country’s best places for quality of life in the 2026 Best Cities awards, while other towns have been recognised for economic performance, environmental initiatives and the use of European Union funding.

Biograd na Moru, Rovinj and Dubrovnik won the quality-of-life categories for small, medium-sized and large cities respectively in the ninth annual competition organised by Jutarnji list and the Gradonačelnik.hr portal.

Biograd na Moru took first place among smaller towns, ahead of Novalja and Cres. Rovinj won the category for medium-sized towns, finishing ahead of Poreč and Solin, while Dubrovnik topped the large-city category, ahead of Varaždin and Samobor.

Otočac received a separate award for the greatest improvement in quality of life, finishing ahead of Korčula and Ozalj.

The awards were presented on Wednesday, 21 October, during the Days of Regional Development and EU Funds conference in Šibenik.

Cities recognised for economic performance

The competition also recognised local authorities for their economic results.

Novalja was named the leading small town  in the economic category, followed by Bakar and Zabok. Sveta Nedelja won among medium-sized towns, ahead of Zaprešić and Opatija.

Varaždin took the award for the best-performing large city economically, with Samobor in second place and Rijeka third.

In the education, demographics, social policy and youth category, Crikvenica won among small towns, Poreč among medium-sized towns and Pazin among large cities.

Pazin finished ahead of Vukovar and Šibenik in the large-city category.

Awards for green and smart cities

Several cities and towns received special recognition for their approach to urban development and public services.

Krk won the Eco City/Town award for environmental achievements, while Zadar received the Smart City award for the use of smart solutions in municipal services, transport and other areas of city management.

Velika Gorica was named Croatia’s most attractive city, based on its net migration balance, while Osijek received the award for academic excellence. The latter recognises the number of residents with university and doctoral qualifications relative to the population.

Bjelovar was named the leading city in the use of EU funds, ahead of Đurđevac and Split.

Municipalities included for the first time

The 2026 competition expanded to include municipalities for the first time.

Đelekovec, in Koprivnica-Križevci County, won in education, demographics, social policy and youth. Rogoznica, in Šibenik-Knin County, was recognised for economic performance, while Gornja Stubica, in Krapina-Zagorje County, won the municipality category for EU funding.

The awards were announced alongside the seventh annual selection of the best county-level EU projects, organised by Jutarnji list in partnership with Župan.hr.

Winning projects covered areas including entrepreneurship, cross-border cooperation, local and regional development, education, science and innovation.

The results highlight the different ways Croatian cities and municipalities are developing their communities, from economic performance and public services to environmental protection and the use of EU funding.