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Reconsidering the Roles of the State and the Market in Socialist Housing Systems
Abstract
Empirically tests three different theoretical solutions to the role to be played by the state and the market in the distribution of material goods in the socialist countries, one being pro-state and the other anti-state. The empirical part consists of a vacancy study conducted in 1982-83 in two middle-sized Hungarian cities (60-80 000 population). Results point to a very ambiguous picture regarding the state/market role in housing. -after Author
... In 1980, more than half of all housing estate dwellings were publicly owned, with a higher proportion in Budapest than in the countryside. The remaining estate dwellings had been financed by the National Savings Bank (OTP) and were privately owned, or were co-operative dwellings (Heged?s, 1987). The typical flat consisted of 50-60 sq.m. divided between two rooms. There was greater varia- tion in size in Budapest, with more smaller dwellings (of less than 40 sq.m.) and more larger ones (over 60 sq.m.). ...
... s within society, such as leading civil servants or enterprise managers, are favoured, however, in being accorded special provision ?those in the poorest conditions are not necessarily rehoused in the bright new estates". Cities needed educated and skilled young workers and providing dwellings for them was seen as in the interest of the whole city (Heged?s, 1987). These contradictions in Hungarian housing policy were first detailed by Szel?nyi & Konr?d (1969) and later by Szel?nyi (1983). They revealed that the ideology of equality in housing allocation was far from true, that bureaucrats and intellectuals were over-represented in the state-built housing estates whilst lower-stratum groups had t ...
... Szel?nyi (1983, p. 34) argued that "?housing allocations do not go to correct other inequalities, they tend to reinforce them". Heged?s (1987) has argued that whilst this inequality in allocation might have been the case in the 1960s, all social groups had more or less similar chances in their subsequent access to state housing. Although disputed by Szel?nyi (1987), Tosics (1987) has claimed that the strengthening of state intervention during the 1970s, along with the construction of large numbers of high-rise estates, was fol- lowed by a reduction in housing inequalities. ...
The main focus of this book is the high-rise blocks and estates produced in
the mass housing era originating in the 1960s.We will examine how high-rise
estates have experienced different ‘careers’ within and between countries,
with some experiencing a greater degree of success and others failure.We are
seeking here to identify and account for the similarities and differences
between high-rise estates from construction to the present time, and especially
those factors responsible for their current and future well-being.
In undertaking this analysis, we will focus on the buildings themselves; on
their inhabitants; their spatial settings and their location in housing markets.
Through this book, we hope to establish a clearer picture of the options available
for high-rise estates throughout Europe.
In achieving our aims, we will draw on experience with high-rise housing
in 15 European countries, Germany which crosses between Eastern and West-
ern Europe; nine in western, northern and southern Europe, Belgium, Britain,
Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, and five
countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
and Ukraine (see Figure 1.1).
The country chapters, which make up the bulk of this volume, address the
‘careers’ of high-rise estates since construction, their status and prospects,
and include one or more illustrative case studies. It has been our role as editors
to synthesise the experTo a large extent, high-rise housing in Slovakia is a result of
the industrial urbanisation of the country after 1945. In 1940,
over 50% of economically active inhabitants were employed
in agriculture, and less than 20% in industry. By 1980 this
ratio had almost reversed. In 1950, the extent of urbanisation
was 25%, a figure which had reached almost 60% by 1990.
Such a major economic transformation
resulted in a high rate of urbanisation added to
which the country’s population has increased by two million
since 1950. The effect of these major structural transformations
has been a tremendous demand for new housing, especially
in the cities.
... 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. ...
... The answers to these questions were far from straightforward (see Ferenčuhová 2016a), and scholars were sometimes even reluctant to use the concept of the socialist city (e.g. Dangschat 1987;Hegedüs 1987;Tosics 1987). Szelényi (1981) did not want to create a homogenized picture of urban development in the state socialist countries, nor use categories connected to political ideologies of the bipolar world. ...
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.
... Unsurprisingly, the issue of housing inequality has been discussed extensively within various social-economic settings worldwide. Scholars have evaluated housing inequality and a general overview of its causes, which range from administrative allocation in pre-socialist countries (Szelenyi, 1983;Wang, 1995) to market allocation in capitalist countries (Clark et al., 1994;Ioannides, 1983, 1989;Plaut, 1987), or a mixture of both in transitional countries (Hegedus, 1987;Szelenyi and Kostello, 1996), as well as general socio-demographic factors such as discrimination and life cycle (Clark and Dieleman, 1996;Galster, 1988). ...
... In contrast to advanced capitalist countries, planned economies allocate housing resources based on the hierarchies in the political system (e.g. occupational stratification, administration ranks) (Szelenyi, 1983;Hegedus, 1987). Housing inequality, while relatively small, still commonly existed in pre-socialist central and eastern European countries, the Soviet Union and China (Szelenyi, 1983(Szelenyi, , 1987Smith, 1996;Wang, 1995). ...
Housing inequality has been well discussed within countries where formal institution dominates housing market. But little research has explored the issue within a society where both informal and formal institution work. Villages facing urbanization in China offer a unique institutional environment that combine both informal market-oriented transition and official socialist principle of equality. Drawing on a household survey of 32 villages in Guangzhou, this paper analyzes the housing inequality among indigenous villagers between and within villages. Empirical data shows that the socialist principle of equality still dominate the allocation of residential land for indigenous villagers but their dwellings are obviously differentiated and influenced by both individual socio-economic status and village context. It concludes that the state fails to respond to the growing difference between villages caused by rapid urbanization, and to the incremental stratification within villages caused by economic and political inequality, and by family’s life cycle. These findings contribute to a body of knowledge on understanding housing inequality with an institutional context of informal market-oriented transition under an authoritarian political setting.
... Similar results have been reported for Warsaw (Ciechocinska 1987) and Prague (Musil 1987). More recent research in Hungary finds that income, occupation, education, and personal wealth are significant predictors of a person's housing quality in both the state and market sectors, despite the imposition of income ceilings on access to state housing after 1971 (Hegedus 1987). ...
... Income is the economic variable for which other studies in market societies and in eastern European countries have had the most uniform results. Even in Hungary (Hegedus 1987;Szelenyi 1983), Poland (Ciechocinska 1987), and Czechoslovakia (Musil 1987) where egalitarian programs of public housing were implemented, income, in addition to education and occupation, was still a good predictor of housing condition. These comparisons seem to suggest that market forces had not had much impact on locational patterns in Tianjin by 1988, even after a decade of economic reforms. ...
Despite their strongly egalitarian ideology, there is considerable evidence from socialist countries that individuals of higher
socioeconomic and political status have privileged access to housing of good quality and at a low cost In this study of urban
China, we examine the broader issue of the quality of neighborhoods to which people have access. We find that the political
position of one's work unit has strong effects on locational resources. Individual characteristics including education, occupational
standing, and political status also have significant effects, but income does not. We interpret these results in terms of
a housing system based not on individuals but on firms, and not on markets but on rules of allocation.
... 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
... In his research on the housing problem in Hungary in the 1980s, Hegedus found that even after the market-oriented housing reform, the elites still enjoy housing resources with a welfare nature in the redistribution. Rather than weakening the original inequality, on the contrary, market intervention manifests and even worsens the inequality with monetization (Hegedus 1987). In response to Hegedus, Szelenyi further explained his theory: the market itself is not more equal than the redistribution mechanism, and the market under the socialist system is only the secondary mechanism. ...
The differentiation of housing assets is an important embodiment of wealth inequality and is also an important dimension of social stratification. The housing distribution in China has experienced a transition from welfare allocation to market distribution over the decades. This process has led to a change in the housing stratification mechanism and widened housing wealth inequality, which has evoked theoretical disputes about “market transition,” “power persistence,” and “power derivation.” Based on the 2017 Chinese Social Survey (CSS), this article examines the housing wealth inequality in urban China and probes the major drivers of housing stratification. The results suggest that with the progress of housing marketization, market mechanisms have replaced the original socialist redistribution mechanisms and have become the major drivers of housing wealth inequality. However, some of the original socialist institutional arrangements continue to have strong effects on housing wealth inequality. The persisting institutional effect may provide a new perspective for exploring housing wealth inequality in contemporary urban China.
... Az 1970-1980-as évek lakásstatisztikai adatgyűjtései sok tekintetben megelőzték korukat, és olyan, elsősorban a társadalomkutatás felől érkező igényeket is kielégítettek, melyek iránt a hivatalos lakáspolitika csak jóval később, a rendszerváltozást követően mutatott érdeklődést. Talán ezek az adatok is hozzájárultak ahhoz, hogy mire a rendszerváltozás bekövetkezett, a magyarországi lakáskutatás nemzetközi tekintélyre tett szert (Hegedüs [1987]). ...
... different from the British system of values) (McKee, Muir, 2013, p. 3). What is also analysed are the relations between housing inequality and housing systems based on the administration-subsidy model (Szelenyi 1983), systems based on the accumulation-intervention model (Yinger 1998) as well as systems based on mixed models (Hegedüs 1987). ...
The main issue of the research in this work is involvement of social actors in the housing policy process. The literature review leads the author to conclude that in housing studies there exists a conceptual gap concerning knowledge about the role of social actors in the housing policy process. The gap is particularly apparent when one attempts to examine the housing policy process in the light of the concept of deliberative democracy. Furthermore, there are no research tools in housing studies that would make it possible to grasp the involvement of social actors in the housing policy process. The research problem in this work is formulating a research scheme which would enable to examine the involvement of social actors in the housing policy process and enrich housing studies with possibility to benefit more from the constructivist approach. The theoretical and methodological aim of this dissertation is to obtain a broader and deeper insight into the role of social actors in the housing policy process by expanding the author’s ‘D-Housing’ scheme.
... In addition, public expenditure on housing construction was increased so that there would be more housing to distribute. As a result, as shown by Hegedüs (1987), the access of those in the lower strata to public rental housing ameliorated in the 1970s. Consequently, the population structure in the new housing estates built in the 1970s became more heterogeneous compared to those constructed in the 1960s. ...
This paper reviews the literature on the processes of residential differentiation in Budapest, Prague, Tallinn and Warsaw during the era of state socialism. It identifies the housing types that were part of the housing provision regime at different periods of the socialist era, and discusses the inequalities in access to them, examining how they affected the development of the socio-spatial pattern. The study finds that despite the egalitarian ideology of socialism, the socialist housing provision system produced several socio-occupational residential differentiations. Sometimes these were the direct result of projects conducted by the public sector
itself; there were inequalities in access to public rental housing. Sometimes these were a result of the toleration of, or support for, differentiation in co-operative and owner-occupied housing. Furthermore, the study finds that there was continuity in the appreciation of some residential areas. Therefore, developments during socialism did not always challenge the capitalist past, but rather actually often continued its socio-spatial patterns, especially within inner city areas
... This question was raised in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research's special issue on East European cities (vol. 11, no. 1) in which studies by Hegedüs (1987), Musil (1987) and Tosics (1987) represented what I have called the theory of altering intervention. Szelenyi (1987) questions the value of the theory in a critical commentary unusually placed before the articles to 'guide' the reader. ...
The thesis examines urban issues arising from the transformation from state socialism to a market economy. The main topics are residential differentiation, i.e., uneven spatial distribution of social groups across urban residential areas, and the effects of housing policy and town planning on urban development. The case study is development in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, in the context of development of Central and Eastern European cities under and after socialism. The main body of the thesis consists of four separately published refereed articles. The research question that brings the articles together is how the residential (socio-spatial) pattern of cities developed during the state socialist period and how and why that pattern has changed since the transformation to a market economy began. The first article reviews the literature on residential differentiation in Budapest, Prague, Tallinn and Warsaw under state socialism from the viewpoint of the role of housing policy in the processes of residential differentiation at various stages of the socialist era. The paper shows how the socialist housing provision system produced socio-occupational residential differentiation directly and indirectly and it describes how the residential patterns of these cities developed. The second article is critical of oversimplified accounts of rapid reorganisation of the overall socio-spatial pattern of post-socialist cities and of claims that residential mobility has had a straightforward role in it. The Tallinn case study, consisting of an analysis of the distribution of socio-economic groups across eight city districts and over four housing types in 1999 as well as examining the role of residential mobility in differentiation during the 1990s, provides contrasting evidence. The third article analyses the role and effects of housing policies in Tallinn s residential differentiation. The focus is on contemporary post-privatisation housing-policy measures and their effects. The article shows that the Estonian housing policies do not even aim to reduce, prevent or slow down the harmful effects of the considerable income disparities that are manifest in housing inequality and residential differentiation. The fourth article examines the development of Tallinn s urban planning system 1991-2004 from the viewpoint of what means it has provided the city with to intervene in urban development and how the city has used these tools. The paper finds that despite some recent progress in planning, its role in guiding where and how the city actually developed has so far been limited. Tallinn s urban development is rather initiated and driven by private agents seeking profit from their investment in land. The thesis includes original empirical research in the three articles that analyse development since socialism. The second article employs quantitative data and methods, primarily index calculation, whereas the third and the fourth ones draw from a survey of policy documents combined with interviews with key informants. Keywords: residential differentiation, housing policy, urban planning, post-socialist transformation, Estonia, Tallinn Tutkimus käsittelee asuinalueiden erilaistumista, asuntopolitiikkaa ja kaupunkisuunnittelua siirryttäessä sosialismista markkinatalouteen. Erilaistumisella tarkoitetaan sitä, miten sosiaaliset ryhmät ovat jakautuneet kaupunkialueille. Tapaustutkimuskohteena on Tallinna, mutta sen rinnalla tarkastellaan yleisemmin itäeurooppalaisten kaupunkien kehitystä. Väitöskirjan keskeisin osa ovat neljä itsenäistä tutkimusartikkelia. Ne yhteen kokoava tutkimuskysymys on, kuinka asuinalueet erilaistuivat sosialistisena aikana sekä miten ja miksi tilanne on muuttunut markkinatalouteen siirryttäessä. Ensimmäinen artikkeli on kirjallisuuskatsaus, joka käsittelee asuinalueiden erilaistumista Budapestissa, Prahassa, Tallinnassa ja Varsovassa sosialistisena aikana. Tarkastelun keskiössä ovat asuntopolitiikan linjaukset sosialistisen ajanjakson eri vaiheissa ja se kuinka ne suorasti ja epäsuorasti vaikuttivat erilaistumisprosesseihin. Toinen artikkeli analysoi sosiaalisten ryhmien jakautumista Tallinnan kahdeksan kaupunginosan ja neljän erilaisen asuntotyypin välillä vuonna 1999 sekä kaupungin sisäisen muuttoliikkeen vaikutusta erilaistumiseen. Artikkelissa kritisoidaan kirjallisuudessa usein esitettyjä yksinkertaistavia käsityksiä nopeasta erilaistumisesta ja muuttoliikkeen suoraviivaisesta vaikutuksesta siihen Itä-Euroopan suurimmissa kaupungeissa 1990-luvulla. Erilaistuminen kyllä lisääntyy siten, että parempituloiset ovat vapaampia käyttämään asuntomarkkinoiden tarjoamia uusia mahdollisuuksia, ja siten että heikompituloiset joutuvat mukauttamaan asumistasoaan tulojensa mukaiseksi. Vielä 1990-luvulla asukkaiden liikkuvuus oli kuitenkin suhteellisen vähäistä. Tallinnan asuntomarkkinat ovat vilkastuneet 2000-luvulla, mikä viittaa suurempaan liikkuvuuteen, mutta on edelleen avoin tutkimuskysymys missä määrin keskituloiset ovat niillä mukana, tai jos ovat, niin miten erilaistavia, sosiaalista kaupunkirakennetta merkittävästi muuttavia valintoja heillä on varaa tehdä. Esimerkiksi lähiöiden taantumisesta ei ole vielä merkkejä, vaan ne edustavat neutraalia standardiasumista, kuten ennenkin. Selvin uuden erilaistumisen indikaattori Tallinnassa on uusien ja läpikotoisesti kunnostettujen asuinrakennusten keskittyminen keskustaan, sen liepeille ja pientaloalueille. Näihin pystyvät asettumaan vain suhteellisen hyvätuloiset. Kolmas artikkeli tarkastelee Viron valtion ja Tallinnan kaupungin 2000-luvulla harjoittaman asuntopolitiikan vaikutusta Tallinnan asuinalueiden erilaistumiseen. Artikkeli osoittaa, että Virossa asuntopolitiikka ei ole pyrkinyt vähentämään, ehkäisemään tai hidastamaan erilaistumista eikä asumisoloihin liittyvän eriarvoisuuden syvenemistä. Tulevaisuuden haaste ja todennäköinen uuden erilaistumisen tason tuottaja ovat suurimittakaavaiset peruskorjaukset, joihin sosialistisena aikana laiminlyödyssä asuntokannassa on tarve. Odotettavissa on talo- ja aluekohtaista asukkaiden valikoitumista sen mukaisesti kenellä on korjauksiin varaa, ja seurauksena entistä selkeämpi asumistason erilaistuminen suhteessa tuloihin. Neljäs artikkeli tarkastelee Tallinnan kaupunkisuunnittelujärjestelmän kehitystä. Näkökulma on minkälaisia välineitä se on tarjonnut vaikuttaa kaupunkikehitykseen ja kuinka Tallinnan kaupunki on näitä välineitä käyttänyt. Artikkelin johtopäätös on, että vaikka kaupunkisuunnittelun asema on vahvistunut viime vuosina, Tallinnan kaupunkikehityksen suunnan osoittavat edelleen yksityiset voittoa tavoittelevat toimijat. Väitöskirjan empiirisessä analyysissä yhdistellään erilaisia aineistoja ja metodeja. Toisessa artikkelissa käytetään kvantitatiivisia metodeja, etenkin indeksilaskentaa, aineistona Viron tilastokeskuksen keräämä työvoimatutkimus. Kolmas artikkeli perustuu politiikkaohjelmien analyysiin täydennettynä asiantuntijahaastatteluilla. Neljäs artikkeli perustuu suunnittelulakien, rakennusjärjestysten ja keskeisten suunnitteludokumenttien analyysiin, jota on täydennetty asiantuntijahaastatteluilla. Asiasanat: Asuinalueiden erilaistuminen, asuntopolitiikka, kaupunkisuunnittelu, post-sosialismi, Viro, Tallinna
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.
In Hungary's housing system, home ownership has become the dominant tenure, covering 85%–90% of the housing stock after the first decade of intensive privatisation in the 1990s. Mortgage loans were heavily subsidised between 2000 and 2004 as a part of pro-homeownership housing policy. After cutting the subsidies in 2004 (as the cost of the subsidy programme was unsustainable), the tenure preferences of households have not changed: the low interest rate, high risk foreign exchange mortgage became the typical loan product. After 2008 the housing and mortgage market collapsed: new construction decreased by 70%--80%, housing transactions plummeted, house prices decreased and mortgage arrears become a huge social problem. The mortgage crises proved that homeownership could be as risky and unpredictable as renting. It is expected that there will be a shift in tenure choice as a consequence of the mortgage crisis. The paper sets out to assess if stakeholders in the housing sector (households, government, banks, etc.) will learn from these experiences, and start showing a stronger preference and support for renting, which could result in a more balanced tenure structure and more stable housing system.
The paper deals with the approach to urban renewal in the European Union. The first section describes the concept of urban renewal in Europe and two instruments that are available to Member States in financial perspective 2014-2020 for achieving sustainable (urban) development: Community Led Local Development (CLLD) and Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI). Croatia has decided to achieve sustainable urban development for the 2014-2020 period exclusively by means of ITI mechanisms. The second section describes the use of ITI mechanisms for urban renewal in Croatia. More than 345 million euros is available to Croatia for financing comprehensive urban development in seven largest urban areas: Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar, Slavonski Brod and Pula, which represent development and innovation focal points of broader regions. In order to be able to use ITI resources, urban areas should develop strategies for urban area development with detailed analysis of the current situation, identification of development needs and potentials and comprehensive and project-oriented strategic framework. ITI should address key components for urban renewal of largest urban centres and their urbanized regions and should encourage a more balanced regional development of the Republic of Croatia by strengthening its centres.
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.
Deals with an important and until now neglected facet of East European housing systems, that is, self-help housing. In the conventional socialist approach to housing, the self-help, or self-built, form had to settle within the categories of state and market provision. This chapter argues that self-help housing cannot be fitted into either category, and that clarifying its role is essential in describing the transformations of the Hungarian housing system, including its most recent reforms. The subject of discussion is limited to the field of housing, but refers to the more general debate on the transformation of East European societies and economies. The chapter points at some of the limitations in using the terms "market' and "state' for the description of socialist and mixed societies, and attempts to go beyond that duality by emphasizing interactions between the market and the state. After suggesting an operational definition of self-help, I will discuss its place in the context of the recent Eastern European socialism. Next, the specific, and changing, historical and economic situation will be analysed for Hungary in the last two or three decades. The theoretical propositions will be supported by empirical evidence obtained in an individual household survey of 1982. -from Author
This article contextualizes the "market transition debate" on the ongoing institutional transformation of former state socialist societies by examining the system of housing inequalities in Hungary three years before the regime change. It demonstrates that, by then, the differentiation of private housing ownership had already been so advanced that the private-public distinction hides important institutional variation within "private" ownership. As an alternative, we provide a four-category emic model of housing institutions for Hungary. The analysis shows that the rules of access to housing were quite differentiated by settlement type. Hence, the redistributive predominance of the socialist state weakens as we move from the urban to the rural context. Finally, we present empirical evidence that informal social network resources play a distinct role in structuring access to such significant assets as housing.
Investigates the theory and practice of housing distribution in the USSR in the light of the XXVII congress resolution to provide each family with its own separate flat or house by the year 2000. In doing so the article exposes the myth of what is often referred to as a genuinely socialist policy. Extensive coverage is given to Bessanova's theories relating to the financing of Soviet housing which attempt to expose income tax as the real source of housing finance. The article concludes that both the state and the individual face strong opposition from deeply entrenched officialdom and popular egalitarian sentiments. -C.Mailey
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
THE CONTEMPORARY INTEREST in large-scale residential villas has found new favor among the economic elite of Hungary. Having chosen to express their social position in the material and aesthetic terms of their existence, do the architectural conventions of the elite now reflect indigenous or foreign tastes and traditions? This paper investigates how the construction of such sumptuous residences draws on a variety of sources for inspiration mirroring both the new potentials and the new disparities generated in post-socialist, central eastern Europe today. [Architecture, urban history, elite, postsocialist, Hungary]
Access to housing of sufficient space and quality has been a central element in social stratification in urban China. We examine the sources of housing inequality in 1993 in Shanghai and Tianjin, when a market reform process had been underway in the national economy for nearly fifteen years. The Chinese housing allocation system favors people with political position and connections, those of higher socio-economic background, and those whose work units have greater organizational authority. There is only slight evidence that market reform has undermined this stratification order. To the contrary, there are reasons to believe that in some respects inequalities rooted in socialism are strengthened by institutional changes. These conclusions are reinforced by comparison to results of analyses of income inequality in the same cities.
L'accès aux logements suffisamment spacieux et de bonne qualité est un élément central de la stratification sociale en Chine urbaine. Nous examinons les origines de l'inégalité du logement en 1993 à Shangai?? et Tianjin alors qu'un processus de réforme du marché dans l'économie nationale est en cours depuis presque quinze ans. Le système d'allocation de logements favorise les personnes qui ont une position et des contacts politiques, les personnes d'un milieu socio-économique élevé et celles des unités de travail qui ont une plus grande autorité d'organisation. Il y a peu de preuves que les réformes du marché aient ébranlé cette stratification. Au contraire, il y a des raisons de penser que certaines inégalités dont l'origine remonte au socialisme sont fortifiés par les changements institutionnels. Ces conclusions sont renforcées par la comparaison des résultats des analyses des inégalités des revenus dans les mêmes villes.
Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of British Columbia, 1988. Includes bibliographical references.
This paper focuses on the occurrence of ethnic and socio-economic residential segregation in Ust'-Kamenogorsk, a medium-sized city in Kazakhstan, using data collected by the author in collaboration with the Eastern Kazakhstan oblast' statistical authority in an extensive questionnaire survey carried out during January 2001. Together with the marketisation of the city's housing resources, a number of Soviet legacies, including the major industrial enterprises' housing strategies for their workers and the city's previous status as 'closed', are identified. Finally, the paper maps and analyses existing segregation patterns. Copyright (c) 2003 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.
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
Looking at housing policy in terms of the careers of vacancies in the system offers a new perspective for deciding on program priorities. Available data indicate that the filtering process enables four families to move for every new unit built. The filtering process can be modeled using probabilities for the movement of housing vacancies. New vacancies are generated by the flow of families out of the metropolitan area as well as by the flow of new houses into the metropolitan stock.
The paper introduces the concept of forms of housing production. These are defined as combinations of conditions of production, elements of labour process, and relations of production articulated through a particular constellation of agents (builder, labourer, developer, consumer). The following forms are identified: `pure' capitalist, self-produced, individual contract, institutional contract, and speculative production.
New homes and poor people ( A study of chains of moves) Michigan: Institute for Social Research
- J B Lansing
- C W Clifton
- J N Morgan
Lansing, J.B., Clifton, C.W. and Morgan J.N. 1969: New homes and poor people ( A study of chains of moves). Michigan: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Social policy and state socialism Stagnation and renewal in social policy, White Plains: Sharpe. Sharpe, C.A. 1978: New construction and housing turnover: vacancy chains in Toronto Urban inequalities under state socialism
- R Manchin
- I Szelenyi
Manchin, R. and Szelenyi, I. 1984: Social policy and state socialism. In Esping -Anderson, G., Rainwater, L. and Rein, M., editors, Stagnation and renewal in social policy, White Plains: Sharpe. Sharpe, C.A. 1978: New construction and housing turnover: vacancy chains in Toronto. In Canadian Geographer, XXII.2. Smith, W.F. 1964: Filtering and neighborhood change. University of California, Berkley. Szelenyi, I. 1983 : Urban inequalities under state socialism. Oxford: Oxford Univer-sity Press.
Market and second economy in Hun-gary
- P Galasi
- Sziriczi
- Gy
Galasi, P. and Sziriczi, Gy. editors, 1985: Market and second economy in Hun-gary. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.
European housing policy and practice. Wash-ington DC: Federal Housing Administration
- E M Fisher
Fisher, E.M. and Ractlift R.U. 1936: European housing policy and practice. Wash-ington DC: Federal Housing Administration.
Social policy and state socialism
- R Manchin
- I Szelenyi
Market and second economy in Hungary
- P Galasi
- Gy Sziráczi