For a balanced development of cities today there obviously needsto be a dialogue between different social actors. This type ofapproach to development was established by adopting theconcept of social sustainability which emphasises the importanceof civic participation in strategic development planning. Thispaper aims to examine the satisfaction of Varaždin residents withthe level of some dimensions of social sustainability and citygovernance practices. The data were collected through a surveyof a representative sample of the adult population of the City ofVaraždin (N=500). By analysing elements of the concept ofsocial sustainability of the city, from the point of view of thecitizens of Varaždin, we arrived at the conclusion that suggests alow level of social sustainability in the city development management.This survey has also shown that the level of education is aprecondition for the ability to be critical of development issues,and that the opinions of individuals with a higher level of educationare closer to the concept of socially sustainable developmentof the city that reduces the dominance of the politicalsector and promotes dialogue between different social actors.
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