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It was built in 2008, for the purpose of hosting the 21st Handball World Championship. Due to its beauty, functionality and importance, Arena Zagreb has become a new architectural symbol of the City of Zagreb.

The project was developed in cooperation between the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb and the construction company INGRA, based on the concept of public-private partnership. Partnership between the public and private sector is one of the main drivers of growth of cities and the implementation of capital projects worldwide, however this concept has only recently been applied in Croatia. Nevertheless, this concept has proven to be a highly successful model for funding key urban investments.
Due to its capacity, multi-functionality, and technical equipment, Arena Zagreb has become an invaluable asset not only to Zagreb and its surrounding regions, but to all of Croatia. Finally Zagreb has a facility worthy for concerts of the world's top musicians and great sporting events. Before this, such events were almost impossible to organize, due to the lack of adequate facilities. The pace of which events fill Arena Zagreb's calendar schedule gives testament to the importance of the Arena to Zagreb and the entire nation. Since its opening in 2009, Arena Zagreb's events calendar has been quickly filled with scheduled concerts of world-renowned musicians.

Construction of Arena Zagreb began on 21st of July 2007, and lasted for 503 days. The first event that took place in the newly built Arena was a friendly handball game between Croatia and Russia on 27th of December 2008. 15 200 spectators were there to see the Croatian side triumph over their Russian opponents. The official opening of Arena Zagreb occurred on the 17th of January 2009. The opening was accompanied by a spectacular concert led by the well-known Croatian rock group Prljavo Kazalište, in front of 22 500 spectators.