In this paper, the development of the city of Karlovac is observed in the context of increasingly growing processes of modernization and urbanization, especially during the "turn of the century" era. Simultaneously, attention is drawn to multiple changes that the city had to endure, resulting in a repeated search for its identity – caused by various historical, political, economic, and social circumstances. Efforts to arrange and beautify the city space often fell into the background until the end of the 19th century. At first, they were suppressed at a time when the city was important as a military fortification and the defense function took precedence over any comfortable living. In the following period, when Karlovac played the role of a commercial hub, the population did not have sufficiently developed feelings of civic awareness to undertake any action related to the aesthetics of the city. At the end of the 19th century, the situation changed. The loss of the identity of the commercial center, which was caused by the appearance of the railway, pushed the Karlovac elite, already formed at the time, to come to the aid of the failing city. Thus, the development of industry brought with it negative sides: pollution, overcrowding, but also the decline of the morale of the population. The response of the citizens of Karlovac was clear, they began the efforts to beautify the city in order to restore its lost reputation, but at the same time to preserve its elite. When studying the issue above, Karlovac is placed in the context of fin de siècle Croatia.