Confronting Suburbanization: Urban Decentralization in Postsocialist Central and Eastern Europe

Since the collapse of the communist regime in Central and Eastern Europe, cities in the former socialist countries have entered a period of dramatic transformation. One of the most important processes in the ensuing frenetic rearrangement of urban space has been the dispersal of urban functions beyond the edges of the compact city into territories that experienced very little development during the socialist years. Post–socialist metropolitan growth has been characterized by fragmented spatial patterns broadly associated with urban sprawl and its controversial environmental, economic, and social consequences. This fascinating book explores and explains the processes of suburbanization in the specific context of post–socialist societies transitioning from one system of socio–spatial order to another. The process is tracked through case studies of seven post–socialist capital city regions – Budapest, Ljubljana, Moscow, Prague, Sofia, Tallinn, and Warsaw, where the forces of urban decentralization have been the strongest during the last twenty years. By highlighting the swift trajectory of suburbanization in Central and Eastern Europe, the contributors illuminate key conditions for the emergence and proliferation of the phenomenon, and highlight its typical forms and features in a dynamically evolving urban context. 

Kiril Stanilov is a Senior Research Associate at the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, University of Cambridge. His research interests are centred on explorations of contemporary patterns of urban growth and change, and the role played by public policies in shaping urban form transformations. His book publications include Twenty Years of Transition (2009), The Post–Socialist City (2007), and Suburban Form (2003). Ludìk Sýkora is a Professor in the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. His research is focused on conceptualization and empirical studies of urban transformations in post–communist cities. He is the joint author of Regional Policy and Planning in Europe ( with Paul Balchin and Gregory Bull, 1999) and author of a number of journal articles and book chapters dealing with urban change in Central and East European cities.