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Inequalities in East European cities: can redistribution ever be equalizing, and if so, why should we avoid it? A reply to Iván Szelényi
... The most influential and well-known international academic debate on cities in socialist countries emerged in 1980, and this is strongly linked to the French and Hamilton's publication Socialist City: Spatial Structures and Urban Policies [1], and with a large number of scientific articles written by scholars from Central, Eastern and Western Europe [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In European socialist countries, much has been written about the principles that should trace socialist urbanism and architecture, especially in specialized journals and publications, and many ideas have been adopted from Soviet literature and practice [15]. ...
... The most influential and well-known international academic debate on cities in socialist publication Socialist City: Spatial Structures and Urban Policies [1], and with a large number of scientific articles written by scholars from Central, Eastern and Western Europe [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In European socialist countries, much has been written about the principles that should trace socialist urbanism and architecture, especially in specialized journals and publications, and many ideas have been adopted from Soviet literature and practice [15]. ...
The cities and their centers, as the most relevant indicators of events and conditions in the society, during the transition period suffered a significant identity crisis, which followed not only as a result of new cultural and ethical patterns of living and participating in the
use of the urban environment, but as a result of numerous conflicts and manipulation of public space. Significant social, cultural and spatial changes have taken place in this settlement, and on this occasion the emphasis will be on spatial transformations. Over the
last few years, Inđija has been developed and built at high speed. Foreign investors, attracted by the good location of the settlement, invest in this town and many factories are being opened. Industrial zones are being upgraded and industry is being developed. The city increasingly supports culture and education. Spatial transformations have affected both the central parts of the city and the urban periphery. There was a transformation of residential into a commercial space, but also the construction of new, modern business premises. Single-family housing units in central parts of the city are increasingly being replaced by collective housing facilities, while at the same time the number of single-family housing units is being increased on the outskirts of the city.
Keywords: post-socialist transition, urban challenges, transformation, Inđija, Serbia
... The most influential and well-known international academic debate about cities in socialist countries appeared in the 1980s, and it was strongly connected to the publication of French and Hamilton's The Socialist City: Spatial Structure and Urban Policy in 1979, as well as to a number of research articles written by scholars based both in CEE and in Western Europe (e.g. Szelenyi 1981Szelenyi , 1983Musil and Ryšavý 1983;Murray and Szelenyi 1984;Dangschat 1987;Hegedüs 1987Hegedüs , 1988Musil 1987;Tosics 1987Tosics , 1988; for different overviews see Gentile and Sjöberg 2006;Ferenčuhová 2013Ferenčuhová , 2016aHirt 2013Hirt , 2016. Before this, however, various ideas about cities under socialism had been emerging. ...
This conceptual forum consists of three contributions that critically assess the relevance of the theme issue’s central concept – the post-socialist city. By doing so, we elaborate on a long-standing discussion that has been taking place among urban scholars interested in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which is whether and to what extent “post-socialist” still makes sense to describe and understand what has been happening in this region’s cities over the past 30 years. In addition, this forum maps potential pitfalls urban scholars encounter when they use this term and searches for ways to overcome these. The first two contributions (Hirt, Ferenčuhová) deal with the role of the socialist city as a theoretical concept to which the post-socialist city is inherently connected. The third text (Tuvikene) proposes a new conceptualization of post-socialism in urban studies that would extend the relevance of the term beyond the imaginary world of post-socialist cities. Together, the three contributions attempt to add to the debate about research on post-socialist cities and its relation to, and position in, international urban theory.
Torrential floods are hydrological natural hazards by nature of their occurrence, but with a high scale of severe damages to the facilities and infrastructure and a high number of casualties in human populated environment, they can become a natural disaster. In addition, they cause more or less significant environmental changes, such as geomorphological damages to river banks and river channels. In enhancing the existing capabilities of flash flood risk management for meso- and small-scale basins, building a hydrological model for a specific watershed is of great significance. In this paper, a hydrological model is created using the Shetran hydrological software for the upper part of the Toplica River basin located on the eastern slopes of Mount Kopaonik in Southern Serbia. The watershed model is based on extreme rainfall events and involves a large dataset of natural characteristics (relief, geological terrain, soil, vegetation and microclimate) and land use factor in the calculation of torrential flood occurrence. Shetran is used to enable the transformation of rainfall in the runoff with the aim of getting simulated flood hydrographs that correspond with the registered hydrographs as much as possible. Model-sensitive parameters are determined and subsequently calibrated and validated. The average coefficient of determination for the watershed model of the Toplica River/ profile Magovo when registered and modelled hourly discharges are compared reaches 0.87, showing a good precision so that it can be useful in torrential flood forecasting.
In the present study, 43 watersheds in Serbia and Bulgaria are taken for the morphometric analysis using digital elevation model in the environment of geographical information system. Statistical analysis, including correlation, regression and factor analysis is conducted with the following results and conclusions: (1) as evidenced in the correlation matrix, there is a high correlation between maximal discharges and watershed area, primarily and watershed length, secondarily; (2) the high correlation is found between independent variables watershed area and watershed length, as well as Melton index and relief ratio; (3) the multiple linear regression model encompassing all seven independent variables is obtained with R squared of 70,99, indicating that the model as fitted to that extent explains the variability in maximal discharge, and adjusted R squared of 0,65. An additional multiple regression analysis is done excluding the watershed area, due to a high starting impact on the dependent variable. In this case, a multiple regression linear model is obtained with R squared=60,116 and adjusted R squared=0,535, leading to the conclusion that the excluded parameter has a high influence which is also confirmed by the results in correlation matrix; (4) according to the rotated component matrix in principal component analysis, first component is mostly influenced by the relief ratio, Melton index and watershed length, while the second component is determined by parameters of relief characteristics, slope >25ᵒ and watershed relief. Having regard to the results of correlation and factor analyses the watersheds are prioritized on the basis of the morphometric parameters with a purpose to indicate the watersheds with the high priority for implementation of measures reducing the flood risks. Though morphometric study itself is not sufficient to explain extensively the occurrence of maximal discharges in the events of demolishing torrential floods, morphometric analysis may meaningfully contribute to the flood risk assessment.
This article seeks to contribute to the debate on the proposal to decentre urban theory and to develop postcolonial urban studies, and on the related issue of the geography of the production and circulation of knowledge. It focuses on how scholars writing about post-socialist cities explain why their sub-field has so far contributed little to urban theory, and it proposes an alternative—historically informed—perspective on the issue. Based on an analysis of the ties and exchanges that existed between urban studies in Central and Eastern Europe and ‘West-based' urban theory and research during the state-socialist period, this article argues that the recognized current position of research on post-socialist cities in relation to international urban scholarship has important historical parallels with the period prior to 1989. The article thus underlines the need to include a historically informed analysis of geography of knowledge production in critical thinking about urban theory and in the project of cosmopolitan urban studies. The capacities of researchers in different localities to contribute to this project are various and shaped by the history of the discipline. The conditions and perspectives in and from which researchers contribute to urban theory should therefore be taken into account if the project of cosmopolitan urban studies is to succeed.
Pour comprendre ce qu'on appelle la ville post-socialiste, ou post-soviétique, il est encore nécessaire, vingt ans après la chute Rideau de fer, de relire ce qu'était la ville socialiste, d'autant plus que le débat est réactualisé depuis 1990. Il y a trois manières de comprendre la manière dont une idéologie (le socialisme) et une réalité spatiale (la ville) étaient liées. La première interroge l'idéologie qui sous-tendait le développement urbain en URSS puis dans le reste du bloc de l'est. Mais ce champ n'est guère fertile, car la littérature marxiste en dit davantage sur les relations entre les mondes urbain et rural que sur ce que devrait être la nature de la ville socialiste. Le deuxième niveau est donc fait de ce qui fut réalisé et écrit dans le domaine de l'urbanisme et de l'architecture de ces pays. Le troisième niveau vient de la littérature des sciences sociales, qui permettent de comprendre quelles étaient les spécificités de la ville du socialisme réel. Ceci fut fait en 1979 et de nouveau après 1989, avec de nouveaux points de vue. Aujourd'hui, le débat à propos de la ville socialiste n'est pas seulement académique ; dans de nouvelles démocraties, dans des villes sous pression économique, les élites politiques nationales et locales, les acteurs économiques, les habitants, l'opinion publique voient d'un œil nouveau cette phase du développement urbain. Les articles rassemblés dans ce numéro spécial de la revue Histoire Urbaine montrent différents aspects de ces enjeux dans des pays comme l'Allemagne, l'Arménie, la Roumanie, la Russie.
Examines the post-war development of Hungarian housing policies, throwing new light on the determinants and impact of these policies. Begins with a re-interpretatin of the 'housing classes' concept, and details the external conditions of Budapest's housing market from 1945 to date. Three periods are examined in detail: the attempts to develop total state control over the housing market (1950-56); the temporary compromise with the private sector (1957-70); and attempts at the institutionalisation of the private sector (1971 onwards).-R.House
Develops three themes seen to be central to this special issue of the Journal: firstly, inequalities in housing allocation in eastern Europe, particularly the role of state and market in shaping them; secondly, the increasing importance of urban residential segregation of different social strata in state socialist cities; and thirdly, the importance of studying housing system and policy in socialist countries to explain the patterns and dynamics of residential segregation. -from Author
Housing inequalities and occupational segregation in state socialist cities
- Szelényi
Economic organization and housing policy in Hungary: explaining change in the pattern of state socialist redistribution. Paper prepared for the Ninth World Congress of Sociology New Delhi
- C G Pickvance
Stagnation and renewal in social policy
- I. Szelényi
- R. Manchin
New tendencies in social housing in Hungary
- I. Tosics
Az uj lakótelepek szociológiai problümái (Sociological problems of the new housing estates)
- I. Szelényi
- Gy. Konrád
Social inequalities in state socialist redistributive economies
- Szelényi