Aleksandar D. SlaevFree Varna University · Department of Architecture and Urbanism
Aleksandar D. Slaev
DSc PhD MArch
About
68
Publications
24,993
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755
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Varna Free University, lecturer in Financing Urban Development at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia.
Research interests:
planning theory, market theory, market-planning relationship, urban economics, decentralized methods of planning, nomocratic planning, environmental protection, eco- social systems, ecosystem services
Additional affiliations
June 2017 - present
March 2004 - May 2017
February 2003 - February 2004
Publications
Publications (68)
This research contributes to the debate concerning the nature of planning in complex systems, and particularly to the theory of teleocracy (the approach based on direct provisions aimed at specific ends) and nomocracy (the approach based on rules aimed at general rather than specific ends). It draws parallels with the theory of regulation and estab...
This study focuses on the provision of urban green spaces (UGS) as suppliers of ecosystem services (ES). Its main goal is to study how, in market-driven urban development with scarce resources, sufficient public UGS can be provided to meet the needs of the local community. The principal issue is that many ecosystem services cannot be provided solel...
What approaches should be used to plan urban development in pluralistic societies? This paper argues that the decentralized planning method is a better fit for pluralistic societies, not only because it is inherently more democratic but also because it provides a better framework for the functioning of markets. We first distinguish between centrali...
This study contributes to the long but still heated debate on spontaneity in urban development. While the critics of spontaneity consider it synonymous with chaos, its proponents emphasise the benefits of spontaneous order. In this paper, we assume that spontaneous development may have both positive and negative aspects and we seek to identify what...
Download link until Dec 8, 2021: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1dxXVyDvMI9qH
This research contributes to the debate on the role of property rights in land and resource management. Its premise is that group/shared/collective ownership structures, such as partnerships, collective companies, corporations, associations, communities, and families are...
Although the interaction between planning and the market in urban development has been the subject of extensive research, its treatment in the literature is still problematic and controversial. Issues regarding this interaction remain topical for post-socialist urban planners, who are still lacking sufficient experience with planning in market cond...
The article introduces the notion of "housing forms" as the richest and most multifaceted concept related to housing units, residential buildings and forms of living. Nine classifications of residential buildings and structures have been studied and, on this basis, a universal classification has been proposed, which reflects the diverse qualities o...
Summary in English of a "Doctor of Sciences" thesis: In the literature, the most popular classification of property rights distinguishes between two "pure" types of ownership – private and common/public – and one intermediate type – collective entitlements. But this classification cannot explain the relationship of private and public entities to th...
The paper examines the problems of the relationship between the Master Plan of Sofia Municipality and the operation of the market in the development of Sofia. According to the paper, planning often allows for two significant weaknesses in its relationship with the market. First, urban planners usually ignore the obvious fact that the driving force...
During the first two decades of the transition from a centralized socialist to a democratic market society, the most significant change in urban development in Bulgaria was the transformation in the ownership structure of urbanized land-the bulk of the land was transformed from state/public to private. Private interests began to dominate urban deve...
After the initial rejection of planning and the enthusiasm for the introduction of private property and market relations after the collapse of socialism, from the first decade of the new century planning was re-appreciated in Bulgarian society, at least in the field of urban development. During this decade, Bulgaria experienced a powerful boom of c...
This paper contributes to the debate on whether private or common property rights are better for advancing the sustainable management of natural resources. This contest between public and private ownership is often exaggerated, we claim, because in the real world, complex entitlements with varying degrees of privateness/publicness prevail. Property...
This paper examines the role of financial instruments for the effectiveness of planning. The main goal of this research is to demonstrate the close relationship between the two main types of tools of central planning: command-and-control measures and monetary levers. The thesis of the article is that currently planning is primarily concerned with m...
The paper examines the impact of the General Urban Development Plan (GUDP) of Sofia on the development of the urban form of the Bulgarian capital. The aim of the plan is to discontinue the monocentric growth and establish polycentric and dispersed form of development. The paper concludes that the plan did not achieve its goal. With regard to the di...
Planning for sustainable urban mobility is usually seen as a process where the technical aspects prevail and, accordingly, require the application of mainly technocratic approaches. This article examines sustainable mobility planning and urban planning in general as a complex process that must address not only technical problems but also the proble...
This research focuses on a substantial gap between theories of institutions and property rights: institutions are accepted as complex social structures, but property rights are generally considered as simple, that is, either private or public. Although usually unacknowledged, this simplified understanding of property rights is actually based on Sam...
This article examines the obstacles to public participation in a representative democracy and the approaches that can help to overcome these obstacles. Democracy is never perfect because of the inherent difficulties of developing democratic institutions, yet the drawbacks of representative democracy are considerably greater than those of direct dem...
After the period of the 1990s, when in Bulgaria (like in all post-socialist countries) planning was considered a key element of the communist approach that should not be practiced any longer, in the 2000s the need for planning in urban and spatial development was re-appreciated. But this time each stage of the planning process was subject to ardent...
The purpose of this paper is to explore the forms of ownership over natural resources according to the theories of Coase and Ostrom. Coase's work is regarded as a theoretical basis for establishing private ownership over natural resources, whereas Ostrom's theory is considered the most influential one supporting common/collective ownership. The key...
The goal of this research is to examine the processes of suburbanization and sprawl in two post-socialist capital cities in Southeast Europe – Belgrade, Serbia and Sofia, Bulgaria. Our analysis begins with a survey of relevant historical developments in the two cities, which illustrates the impact of major political, economic and social drivers on...
Like most European cities, cities in South-east Europe (SEE) have been growing throughout the 20th century, however, after the end of the 1980s, the mechanisms of urban growth and expansion have changed radically: from development fully determined by central planning to market-led urban development. This paper examines how planning in large SEE cit...
This paper works towards drawing a proper relationship between the Coasean and Pigovian approaches that should be based on the distinction between individual/private and shared/common entitlements. Because of the specific goals of his work, Coase (1960) does not make an explicit distinction between the two types of property rights; however, there a...
The article discusses the problems of planning of recreational areas on the Bulgarian coast during the transition from a centralized to a market economy. The study finds that some of the key issues are related to the balance between public and private interests, the protection of the environment and the effectiveness of planning in a market economy...
The article discusses the problems of planning of recreational areas on the Bulgarian coast during the transition from a centralized to a market economy. The study finds that some of the key issues are related to the balance between public and private interests, the protection of the environment and the effectiveness of planning in a market economy...
This paper studies the changing roles of planning and the market in the
context of urban growth and suburbanization in the capitals of Serbia and
Bulgaria, specifically with regard to the socio-economic changes experienced
in Southeast Europe over the past decades. With a focus on the post-socialist
period, the work also examines specific features...
Transitioning is a unidirectional process of mainstreaming sustainability within normative societal behaviour, which communities hope will build resilience, reduce our dependence on distant resources and lead to the transformation towards more sustainable living as an end product. Throughout Europe there are numerous examples and pilot or demonstra...
: In this paper, we explore how master planning promotes and implements particular urban development patterns and, more generally, contributes to sustainability. Our goal is to understand the link between urban growth intentions articulated through the master planning process and realisation of its specific forms, e.g., monocentric or polycentric,...
In this paper we investigate the ability of the current master plan of Sofia to implement a
polycentric structure of urban development. Like most large cities over the world, Sofia is
growing and like most cities in Europe (e.g., Paris Moscow, Stuttgart, Milan, and many others)
Sofia is suburbanizing. The form of growth/expansion is an essential is...
Nowadays the process of expansion of cities in many parts of the world and Europe in particular is characterized by accelerated trends of suburbanisation. Suburbanisation is defined as growth of urban functions in peri-urban territories and is generally indicated by increases in the number of population in those territories at the expense of delaye...
Current social and economic theory has yet to explain why, despite the many advantages of the market mechanism, planning is employed at all levels of market economy. Like other studies, this research proposes an explanation based on the form of property rights; however, it uses specific definitions of market, private planning and collective plannin...
Fast urbanization rates and the rocky political history of Southeast Europe during the early 1900s sent scores of people from impoverished rural areas and small towns to settle around large cities in areas lacking basic infrastructure and hygienic conditions. After the World War II, faced with massive population flux to large cities, some of the co...
With a tradition of compact cities, generally strict planning controls, and variable growth rates, many cities in Europe have policies which aim to restrict low density growth patterns. However, there is clear evidence that low density growth is happening, and that it is essential to understand the nature, location, and extent of the urban forms em...
The aim of this paper is to provoke a debate on some key concepts, topical in
contemporary planning practice in Bulgaria. Based on the European principles and approaches
to planning the spatial development, the authors suggest more relevant and detailed definitions
of these concepts in the legal framework, urban and regional planning theory and pr...
This is the chapter on Bulgaria of the International Manual of Planning Practice (IMPP). The International Manual of Planning Practice is published once in 5 or 6 years by the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP).
The chapter on Bulgaria starts with some basic data and information about the country and the general social a...
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
This paper proposes and explanation of the allocation of social activities between private and collective planning and the market based on the structure of property rights. Private planning is teleocratic and collective planning is nomocratic.
The paper argues that in social relations simple systems are those, in which all propert...
Socialist-era city edges were subject to stringent planning control; they were typically marked by large, socially homogenous socialist panel-housing estates and well-defined urban boundaries, beyond which lay a rural periphery of modest villages. Following the fall of socialism, rings of suburbs began to emerge in and around large cities of the fo...
This paper examines the methods of planning of complex systems. More precisely, it applies property rights analysis to the methodology of nomocracy, a leading branch of the theory of complexity in planning.
To study the methodology of planning, the paper focuses on its objectives and methods, as well as the characteristics of nomocratic rules. It...
Socio-economic processes in the former socialist countries in the period of transition have resulted in accelerated growth of all capital cities in Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe. That is why many researchers have expected processes of sprawl to be observed around the capital cities in result of changes in the mechanisms of urban develop...
At present urban sprawl is considered to be the main threat to sustainable urban development by most urban planners. As a trend that was first been observed in North America after the Second World War, it was not seen as a threat to urban development until the 1980s. It was then, with the evolution of the concept of sustainability, that the attitud...
The present study seeks to contribute to the dispute concerning the nature of planning and regulation based on the perception that planning, regulation and the market are the three basic forms (mechanisms) of coordination of any social activity. The paper makes two key assertions:
First, planning should be considered in a broad and in a narrow sens...
More than two decades after the start of the transition new trends of urban development in the former socialist countries in South-eastern Europe are now obvious. Current studies support the view in Bulgaria as one of the former socialist countries new processes of urban sprawl have emerged and their rates in some areas are already accelerated. How...
More than two decades after the start of the transition new trends of urban development in the former socialist countries in South-eastern Europe are now obvious. Current studies support the view in Bulgaria as one of the former socialist countries new processes of urban sprawl have emerged and their rates in some areas are already accelerated. How...
Urban sprawl has become a topical urban issue first in North America and later in Western Europe. It turned into a major challenge to urban sustainability. However, sprawl in Western Europe has displayed many specific features different than that in North America and these features are related to the concrete circumstances in the two continents. Th...
This paper evaluates the performance of Bulgarian planning in the tourism sector during the
country’s transformation from a state-run, socialist economy to a capitalist democracy over the
last 20 years. Specifically, it explores whether planning objectives related to tourism were
achieved. By analyzing data on the development of the tourism sector...
This paper reflects on the contributions of several empirical pieces on the status of the urban planning and architecture professions in world regions that have undergone dramatic socioeconomic and political changes, referred to as post-statist systemic transformation, over the last two decades. Specifically, evidence is presented on post-socialist...
An excerpt from the editorial article:
It has been 34 years since Deng Xiaoping introduced reforms for “a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics,” 23 years since state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed, and 21 years since the USSR disintegrated. Over this period, the whole world, not just Eurasia, has been undergoing...
The paper analyses the specific nature of urban sprawl in Europe and in South-eastern Europe in the context of social changes and transition. It compares the specific definitions of suburbanization with respect to local conditions and traditions by distinguishing between conditions in North America and Europe
The first of two books presenting a market theory of urbanism: 1) Economics of Urban Development and 2) Urban Planning in Market Conditions. This book comprises eight chapters: 1. Subject and scope of study, 2. Urbanization processes induced by internal economies of scale, 3. Urbanization processes induced by external economies of scale, 4. Market...
Guest edited by S. Hirt, A. Slaev and J. Anderson.
This paper reflects on the contributions of several empirical pieces on the status of the urban planning and architecture professions in world regions that have undergone dramatic socioeconomic and political changes, referred to as post-statist systemic transformation, over the last two decades. Specifically, evidence is presented on post-socialist...
The paper stuies the performance of urban and regional planning in Bulgaria in the area of tourism and recreation. It investigates the goals that Bulgarian planning had set in this area in the last couple of decades and it then seeks to assess whether ant to what extent these goals were acieved.
The paper investigates the connection between different types of housing forms and the models of urban development
The paper investigates the problems and factors of sustainability relating to alternative models of urban development
Over the last couple of decades Bulgaria like all post-socialist countries went through a period of
“laissez-faire” planning. Following the end of the socialist era, planning, in all contexts, was
largely discredited. In its place, market forces dominated. In result for 15 years not a single new
general urban plan of a city was elaborated. Instead,...
The paper argues that the national and local authorities in Bulgaria do not utilize the vast experience accumulated by many developed and developing countries, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) and the World Bank in providing housing for the poor and dealing with squatter settlements. Ignoring this experience is a serious omis...
The paper seeks to explore the role of public administration in urban development in Bulgaria with respect to the socio-economic situation and the current stage of establishment of a democratic, market-based social system. The main areas of study are:
• The relevance of functions and powers of the local governments and the local planning authoritie...
Sustainable development has become a key term in urban planning on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. There are several well-accepted definitions of the term, such as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987)....
The paper is exploring the roles of the main stakeholders in urban development in Bulgaria, as well as the way those roles affect the market process. The main parties are identified as:
o The population – As end consumers and customers in the property market local people form the demand for housing property and indirectly – the demand for any kind...
Questions
Questions (3)
My name in my RG profile is in English, because most of my citations are in English. But in this way I get no information about the citations of my works that are in my native language - Bulgarian. Can I add relevant info to my RG profile, like "also known as"? There must be some option, I think
In "The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure" Samuelson defined only private (rivalrous & excludable) and public (non-rivalrous & non-excludable) goods and no intermediate type. So I wonder who defined the intermediate types - rivalrous-but-non-excludable and public non-rivalrous-but-excludable goods. I suspect it were Samuelson & Nordhaus in "Economics", but I am not sure and if yes - which edition of "Economics"?
Projects
Projects (9)
Planning and the Invisible Hand: Allies or Adversaries? (Holcombe 2013). Are planning and the market necessarily in conflict?
