Across Croatia, silent megastructures stand abandoned — hospitals, military bases, resorts, and socialist megaprojects. Beneath their cracked facades lies an overlooked climate story.

Engineering estimates suggest Croatia’s abandoned and empty large-scale buildings may contain between 30 and 70 million tonnes of reinforced concrete. Concrete production alone accounts for roughly 8% of global CO₂ emissions, making these ruins more than architectural relics — they are embodied carbon archives.

This episode explores infrastructure legacy, demographic decline, post-socialist transition, and the environmental cost embedded in concrete itself.

What happens when development outlives the population it was built for?

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