„Lijepo je doći tu na par dana, ali je živjeti teško…“ – razvojni potencijali i prepreke ruralnih naselja Gorskoga kotara i sjevernodalmatinskih otoka iz perspektive stanovnika

Highland and island areas are dominantly rural parts of Croatia, with specific developmental challenges. Even the Croatian legal framework recognizes their special status. The paper explores experiences of residents in rural settlements that, although located in two neighbouring counties of the same Adriatic Region (NUTS2), Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Zadar County, and having a similar developmental index, geographically belong to different areas, the high-land (Gorski Kotar) and the island area (Dugi Otok, Molat and Zverinac), each with its specific developmental experiences and challenges. Theoretically, the paper builds on a secondary data analysis, illustrating the dominantly negative developmental trends in these areas. The main part of the paper presents results of the empirical research carried out by employing the qualitative methodology of in-depth semi-structured interviews (N=19) with residents of these areas in the period between January and June 2022. The convenient sample included 9 female and 10 male interlocutors of different sociodemographic