Growth and Change in Post-socialist Cities of Central Europe (Routledge Contemporary Perspectives on Urban Growth, Innovation and Change)

This book presents multidimensional socio-economic transformations taking place in the post-socialist cities located in selected countries of the Central European region. The analysis includes case studies from the Eastern part of Germany (Chemnitz, Leipzig), Poland (Łódź, Kielce, Katowice conurbation, and peripheral urban centres from Eastern Poland), Slovakia (Bratislava, Nitra), Czech Republic (Olomouc, Brno), and from Hungary (Pécs). The analysed urban areas have undergone far-reaching political and socio-economic changes in the last 30 years. These changes began with the collapse of communism and the centrally planned economy system in the region of Central Europe. The beginning of this period, often referred to as post-socialist transformation, dates back to 1989. The consequence of the aforementioned political processes was the multifaceted socio-economic and demographic changes that significantly affected urban areas in Central Europe. This book presents an attempt to summarize the main long-term processes of changes taking place in these urban areas and to identify contemporary and future trends in their socio-economic development. The book will be valuable to undergraduate and postgraduate students in human geography, urban studies, economy, and city marketing, especially with an interesting in Central Europe. This book presents multidimensional socio-economic transformations taking place in the post-socialist cities located in selected countries of the Central European region. It will be valuable to undergraduate and postgraduate students in human geography, urban studies, economy, and city marketing, especially with an interesting in Central Europe. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of Contributors 8 Chapter 1: Conceptualising urban transition in Central Europe 14 Research problem and aims 14 The thirty years of post-socialist transition 16 The methods and the structure of the book 19 References 23 Chapter 2: Post-socialist urban change and its spatial patterns: The case of Nitra 28 Introduction 28 The study area 31 Changes of physical, functional and socio-demographic intra-urban structures 33 Urban land-cover change analysis 36 Land cover in the year 1990 36 Land cover in the year 2019 38 Summary 39 Funding 40 References 40 Chapter 3: The university as the creative hub: The case of the city of Olomouc after 1989 43 Introduction 43 The changing role of universities 45 City of Olomouc and its university—University and the city of Olomouc 47 University as a creative hub 50 A creative cultural and artistic hub 52 A creative scientific research hub 52 Conclusion 57 Notes 57 References 58 Internet sources 59 Chapter 4: In the shadow of Karl Marx: The case of Chemnitz and its multiple transitions 61 Introduction 61 From Chemnitz to Karl-Marx-Stadt 62 Political change and early transition period 64 Chemnitz as a shrinking city 67 Demographic and economic stabilisation 68 Dealing with housing vacancies 69 Alternative strategies of urban development 70 Recent urban re-imaginations and societal developments 71 Urban re-imaginations and socio-cultural modernisation 73 Societal ruptures: the “Chemnitz Incident” 74 Conclusion 75 References 77 Chapter 5: Young people’s life plans and their impact on the demographic future of a shrinking city: Kielce case study 80 Introduction 80 The second demographic transition theory vs. young Poles’ procreative behaviours 81 Kielce—a shrinking city 85 Survey results 89 Characteristics of survey respondents 89 Kielce students’ plans regarding place of residence and starting a family 90 Summary 102 Notes 103 References 103 Chapter 6: Manufacturing in the post-industrial city: The role of a “Hidden Sector” in the development of Pécs, Hungary 107 Introduction 107 Pécs: transformation processes in a peripheral city 109 Historical background 109 Post-socialist development processes 111 Manufacturing in the post-industrial city 114 The institutional context of industrial change 117 Conclusions 119 Notes 121 References 121 Chapter 7: Socio-economic development in Bratislava during post-socialism 126 Introduction 126 Main dimensions of socio-economic change in post-socialism 127 Geography, history and local governance design 130 Processes of population development 131 Processes of economic transition 134 Changing inner spatial structure 137 Suburbanisation 139 Some special problems of spatial structure 143 Conclusion 144 References 146 Chapter 8: Brno in transition: From industrial legacy towards modern urban environment 149 Introduction 149 Industrial tradition in Brno and the first years of the transition period 150 Changes in the city economy and policy 155 Spatial and social aspects of de-industrialisation 157 Brno—modern urban environment 163 Brno interconnected and liveable 163 Brno cultural, sporty and entertaining 165 Brno educated and entrepreneurial 165 Conclusion 166 Acknowledgement 166 References 166 Chapter 9: Challenges and problems of re-growth: The case of Leipzig (Eastern Germany) 171 Introduction 171 Background, materials and methods 172 Leipzig’s development as a shrinking and re-growing city 174 Leipzig as a growing city during industrialisation 174 The GDR era: Towards long-term shrinkage 175 Massive shrinkage after 1989 175 Moderate re-growth: The 2000s 176 Challenges and problems of re-growth 178 Housing provision 179 Schools as an example of social infrastructure 181 Public transport as an example of technical infrastructure 183 Discussion 185 Conclusion 186 References 188 Chapter 10: Łódź : A multidimensional transition from an industrial center to a post-socialist city 191 Introduction 191 Presentation of the research area 193 Research results 194 Before 1989 194 After 1989 198 Summary 203 Note 205 References 205 Chapter 11: The socio-economic transformation of the Katowice conurbation in Poland 208 Introduction 208 Katowice conurbation—formation of strong monofunctionality 210 1989’s political and economic crisis and its consequences 212 Political and economic crisis in the face of traditional economy 212 Regional crisis into the agenda setting 214 Re-industrialisation and the Special Economic Zone as a way to solve different problems 214 Social dimension of changes 215 Metropolisation of conurbations as an attribute of the expected direction of changes 216 The Katowice conurbation after 30 years of transformation—what next? 217 Modelling the economic transformation process 217 Socio-demographic transition 220 Spatial patterns 222 Environmental challenges 223 Conclusion 224 Notes 226 References 226 Chapter 12: Population ageing processes in towns and cities situated in peripheral areas: An example of urban centres in Eastern Poland 230 Introduction 230 Peripheral areas 235 Eastern Poland as a peripheral area 237 Relations between natural growth and migration balance in the towns of Eastern Poland (Webb’s demographic types) 239 The pace of ageing among the inhabitants of urban centres in Eastern Poland 246 Conclusions 251 References 252 Chapter 13: Hallmark features of post-socialist urban development in Central Europe 255 References 265 Index 267 urban,growth;,urban,change;,postsocialist,Europe;,growth,and,change,in,cities;,european,cities;,eastern,european,cities urban growth,urban change,postsocialist Europe,growth and change in cities,european cities,eastern european cities This book presents multidimensional socio-economic transformations taking place in the post-socialist cities located in selected countries of the Central European region.The analysis includes case studies from the Eastern part of Germany (Chemnitz, Leipzig), Poland (Łódź, Kielce, Katowice conurbation, and peripheral urban centres from Eastern Poland), Slovakia (Bratislava, Nitra), the Czech Republic (Olomouc, Brno), and from Hungary (Pécs). The analysed urban areas have undergone far-reaching political and socio-economic changes in the last 30 years. These changes began with the collapse of communism and the centrally planned economy system in the region of Central Europe. The beginning of this period, often referred to as post-socialist transformation, dates back to 1989. The consequence of the aforementioned political processes was the multifaceted socio-economic and demographic changes that significantly affected urban areas in Central Europe. This book presents an attempt to summarize the main long-term processes of changes taking place in these urban areas and to identify contemporary and future trends in their socio-economic development.The book will be valuable to undergraduate and postgraduate students in human geography, urban studies, economy, and city marketing, especially with an interest in Central Europe. "This book presents multidimensional socio-economic transformations taking place in the post-socialist cities located in selected countries of the Central European region. The analysis includes case studies from the Eastern part of Germany (Chemnitz, Leipzig), Poland (Łódź, Kielce, Katowice conurbation, and peripheral urban centres from Eastern Poland), Slovakia (Bratislava, Nitra), Czech Republic (Olomouc, Brno), and from Hungary (Pécs). The book will be valuable to undergraduate and postgraduate students in human geography, urban studies, economy, and city marketing, especially with an interesting in Central Europe"-- Provided by publisher