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In Between City and Village: The Development of Spatial Patterns of Czech Suburbanisation 1997–2016
Abstract
The assessment of the scope of suburbanisation within the hinterlands of Czech cities is one of the core issues of both pure and applied research of settlement geography and related disciplines. The main objective of this article is to furnish a coherent methodology for the delimitation of suburban municipalities in Czechia, to describe and explain the scope and spatial distribution and to compare the development of residential suburbanisation during two distinct periods: 1997–2008 and 2009–2016. The article uses the delimitation of zones of residential suburbanisation (Ouředníček–Špačková–Novák, 2013; Ouředníček– Špačková–Klsák, 2018), as an analytical tool for the evaluation of positional aspects of municipalities within the Czech settlement system.
... Suburbanisation and counterurbanisation are likely to transform the social environment of the destination areas by bringing alternative -urban-lifestyles to the destination areas (Ouředníček et al., 2019). An even greater transformative potential of such migration flows of immigrants than of the majority can be expected. ...
... The third group consists of migration within the same type of settlements (unshaded diagonal). As this type of migration occurs between settlements of the same type, it supposedly engenders smaller changes for the areas than the former two groups of flows (Ouředníček et al., 2019). ...
... Czech suburbs are delimited not only by spatial proximity to the city, but also by a minimal proportion of inmigration from there and by a minimal intensity of housing construction in the municipality(Ouředníček et al., 2013(Ouředníček et al., , 2019.4 The analyses were also run for moves originating in urban areas only. ...
International migrants are often a major force reshaping settlement geography. However, their role in urbanisation processes has predominantly been explored in more established immigration countries, whereas such knowledge remains limited in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper investigates trends in participation of different groups of foreign residents in urbanisation processes in Czechia, which has recently become a new immigration destination. Using a longitudinal dataset of the Czech migration registers (2005–2017), it assesses the extent of participation in urbanisation processes. It also evaluates the strength of sociodemographic and place‐based factors contributing to suburbanisation, a process which makes the Czech suburbs the settlement type with highest net migration and to which both the Czech majority and the immigrant population contribute. The paper finds similarities between the internal migration of different immigrant groups and that of the Czech majority, indicating the predominance of suburbanisation of affluence, notably in culturally and economically well‐off groups.
... As a result, they formed a major part of the housing market, with many people raised in these areas. While suburbanization was suppressed during socialism, it took over in the mid-1990s and it soon became the main urbanization process (Ouředníček et al., 2019) closely linked to families' dreams of a house with a garden. However, in the previous decade, scholars have identified the diversification of residential behavior, suggesting an emergence of reurbanization for the inner city and housing estate neighborhoods (Haase et al., 2017;Horňáková & Sýkora;. ...
... Unlike cities in Western Europe, suburbanization was initially suppressed by the construction of large housing estates concentrated in cities. Since the 1990s, suburbanization has been the main spatial process in post-socialist countries, including Czechia, and is expected to continue as well (Horňáková & Sýkora, 2021;Ouředníček et al., 2019). It is rooted in collective references (Tannier et al., 2016) about a detached house with a garden and proximity to nature as the ideal housing for families (Kubala & Hoření Samec, 2021). ...
In recent decades, evolving residential preferences among young middle-class families have diversified spatial mobility patterns, challenging the traditional suburban inclination with the emergence of reurbanization tendencies. Our study employs the concept of life course and explores the decision-making process of housing relocation in a post-socialist city and how housing needs and preferences are confronted with what is affordable for young middle-class families. Through semi-structured interviews in the Prague Metropolitan Area, our findings reveal heterogeneous mobility responses to family transitions and housing market dynamics. A significant trade-off is identified between having a garden and residing in the city without a commute, highlighting variations in parental perceptions of an ideal childhood. Our research underscores distinctions in residential preferences and housing choices in post-socialist cities compared to Western counterparts, driven by factors such as privatism, unique perceptions of suitable housing for young families, and historical development influencing intergenerational transmission of residential preferences.
... These factors changed after the fall of the Iron Curtain, when many families were able to realize their dream of owning a house with a garden. Today, because it is easier to do so than previously, people often move away from the centres of large cities, meaning that suburbanization is one of the most important processes to occur in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region as well as in other regions of Czechia (Ouředníček et al., 2019). ...
... In general, the residents of these suburbs were younger and better educated. Over the years, the spatial patterns of the suburbs have changed significantly, and currently 5% of Czechs are suburbanites (Ouředníček et al., 2019). However, in Czechia, people's tendencies for residential mobility and willingness to move are still lower than in Western Europe and the Anglosphere (Caldera Sánchez & Andrews, 2011;Kemper, 2008). ...
Suburbanization is the most significant process involved in shaping the socio-spatial structure of many western European and post-Socialist cities. In Prague, suburbanization began in the mid-1990s. In contrast with most studies, we consider the suburbs not as a final residential destination but as a place that people leave as a result of life-phase changes. For example, families who moved to the suburbs in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, and are now empty-nest households, may wish to move away. In an attempt to analyse future residential mobility and strategies for later-life suburban households in Czechia, we conducted a questionnaire survey in two suburban municipalities (n = 177). Respondents were aware that as they aged, their current residences and residential environments were likely to become less suitable. Nevertheless, most of our respondents were “stayers” and employed various assimilative coping strategies to adapt their homes, rather than moving or leaving the suburbs. It is suggested that a greater emphasis be placed on the promotion of barrier-free housing solutions and the use of innovative technologies.
... Several studies have focused on suburbanisation (e.g. Kok andKovacs, 1999 Tammaru et al. 2004;Hirt 2007) but very few studies have been conducted in recent years (Galka and Warych-Juras 2018;Ourednicek et al. 2019). Also, there seem to be an absence of papers that highlight the situation in areas just outside agglomerations. ...
... While the impact of suburbanites on the flows has been somewhat ambiguous, from a sheer numerical standpoint, suburbanisation has slowed down over time, with very few exceptions. This is contrary to developments in Czechia, where, after the financial crisis period, the intensity of in-migration increased in all agglomeration zones (Ourednicek et al. 2019). The situation in Rīga agglomeration is somewhat similar to the situation in the functional urban areas of Poland. ...
After the fall of socialism, the most pronounced changes in the spatial structure of the population have been caused by suburbanisation. These changes have been especially notable since the end of the transition period. Therefore, the aim of this research was to characterise the features of suburbanisation in the vicinity of Rīga after transition. Characteristics of suburbanisation were analysed based on the share of and number of people moving out of Rīga among all people moving. This was done for two periods – 2000 to 2011, and 2011 to 2019 – “the second of which has been less studied. The results showed that there were significant differences between the three share groups – a high proportion often went hand in hand with a large number of suburbanites. On the other hand, the differences between agglomeration and non-agglomeration areas were less clear-cut, as there were significant differences in the number of people previously living in Rīga and its changes, while there were no significant differences in the share for the first stage and share changes.
... Jde o přirozené střídání bydliště domácností, čímž se 4 část bydlení pravidelně uvolňuje pro další poptávající. Relevantní pro MD může být pokračující suburbanizace středních generací z Prahy (Ouředníček et al., 2019), stárnoucí populace sídlišť (Temelová et al., 2011a) nebo reurbanizace z pražského zázemí (Ouředníček et al., 2015). Část poptávky přesto musí být uspokojena novou bytovou výstavbou. ...
... The crisis of the cities, especially some industrial and/or artificial, planned new towns, is among the reasons moving back to rural areas was a possible reaction of the lower classes to the economic distress (Brown, D.L. et al. 2005). But mainly, it is 'classical' suburbanisation which was to be observed all over the ECE countries and was responsible for the -relativedeconcentration of the population (Kok, H. and Kovács, Z. 1999;Timár, J. and Váradi, M.M. 2001;Hirt, S. 2007a;Sławomir, K. et al. 2015;Ouředníček, M. et al. 2019). Also, especially after 2010, there was evidence of counter-urbanisation as part of the rural restructuring processes (Šimon, M. 2014;Csurgó, B. et al. 2018). ...
The East-Central European region has undergone a unique urbanisation process during socialist and postsocialist periods. These peculiarities result from social and economic development delays, which the statehas tried to remedy through massive interventions. One such intervention is urban reclassification, where the state promotes certain places it deems crucial, granting them urban status, often without actual developmentor urban characteristics. Due to its artificial character, this intervention is called formal urbanisation in our approach being a specific local feature of the urbanisation process. The visible result is the growth of the urbanpopulation, often only by administrative causes, with the reclassification of villages as towns. The emergence of numerous small towns, which we refer to as newest towns, has significantly influenced urbanisation, alteredthe concept of towns and cities3, and generated significant debates. In this paper, we compare the formal urbanisation of the socialist and post-socialist eras, trying to estimate the added value of formal urbanisation inthe latter period. We compare the administrative backgrounds of formal urbanisation in selected ECE countries for similarities and differences. Throughout the research, we analyse their formal urbanisation involvingapproximately 800 municipalities promoted since 1990 in Poland, Czechia, Hungary, and Romania, trying to identify common and unique features in the processes. Based on historical determination, modernisation, and integration into new spatial processes, considering demographic and functional changes, we developedtypes of formal urbanisation. Our research has revealed several common factors in the reclassification process, such as local initiatives, while we have also identified disparities between principles and practices and varyinglevels of control from regional and national actors. The study has also led to a deeper understanding of formal urbanisation in the context of the urbanisation process as a whole.
... At present, suburbanization and suburban sprawl have weakened around Prague; the weakening is somewhat greater in the hinterland of the smaller city of České Budějovice (Kubeš 2015;Ouředníček, Klsák, and Špačková 2019). Housing construction in both cities has been growing slightly in recent years, and both cities are once again growing in population (Ouředníček, Špačková, and Pospíšilová 2018). ...
... The new spatial arrangement has the effect of intensifying the daily commute between the suburbs and the core city. At the same time, new secondary centers produce new microregions integrating administrative functions, retail, primary and secondary education and providing new jobs, that are induced by the growing demand of the new suburban population (Mantey, 2022;Ouředníček et al., 2019). On the other hand, many of the original centers from the era of controlled industrialization have failed to cope with the structural changes in the economy and are now part of the agglomeration shadow (Malý, 2018). ...
This paper explores the implementation of grand spatial planning narratives such as the compact city and polycentricity in planning practice. The effects of overlapping scales on the application of spatial imaginaries in metropolitan space are examined. Using post‐socialist space, the research enriches the geographical context of metropolitan studies. On the basis of a spatial analysis of metropolitan form and centrality and a textual analysis of the relevant spatial plans of three Czech metropolitan areas, the key features in efforts of planning polycentric and compact metropolitan areas are identified as “Administrative blindness”, “(De)centralization ambiguity”, and “Reactive passivity”. By identifying the limits of translating spatial visions into the practical language of statutory regional and land‐use plans, the paper contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of metropolitan planning based on the specific context of Central Europe.
... Cara kerja bumdes pada dasarnya adalah dengan jalan menampung kegiatan-kegiatan ekonomi masyarakat dalam sebuah bentuk lembaga atau badan usaha yang dikelola secara profesional, namun tetap bersandar pada potensi asli desa. Hal tersebut sesuai dengan pernyataan Ourednicek et al., (2019) bahwa salah satu agenda pembangunan pemerintah Indonesia adalah membangun Indonesia dari daerah pinggiran dan pedesaan yang ada aksesibilitas rendah, namun tetap mengacu pada potensi asli desa. ...
Desa memiliki potensi untuk dapat meningkatkan perekonomian masyarakat. Potensi tersebut berasal dari usaha yang dimiliki oleh masyarakat. Langkah nyata untuk mendorong serta membangun masyarakat dan mengasah potensi sumber daya yang ada di desa dapat dilakukan dengan menjalin kerjasama melalui badan usaha milik desa (BUMDES) untuk menghasilkan produk-produk berkualitas. Tujuan utama dari BUMDES adalah meningkatkan kesejateraan masyarakat desa. Kegiatan pengabdian ini dilakukan melalui beberapa tahap antara lain 1) sosialisasi persiapan BUMDES, 2) sosialisasi program BUMDES, dan 3) sosialisasi kerja sama BUMDES di Desa Gubugklakah Kecamatan Poncokusumo Kabupaten Malang. Pengabdian masyarakat ini menggunakan metode pendidikan masyarakat yang bertujuan untuk melakukan penyuluhan guna meningkatkan pemahaman serta kesadaran masyarakat. Sosialisasi terkait program pada BUMDES Amanah GubugKlakah yaitu Unit Perbankan, Unit HIPPAM, Unit Pertanian, dan Unit Pariwisata. Selanjutnya sosialisasi terkait hubungan kerjasama BUMDES Amanah di Desa Gubugklakah yaitu kerjasama dengan BNI dalam hal pembayaran cicilan motor, kartu kredit, cicilan bank lain, dan pendaftaran KUR mikro. Melalui pengabdian masyarakat ini diharapkan mampu meningkatkan perekonomian masyarakat di desa Gubugklakah Kecamatan Poncokusumo Kabupaten Malang.
... However, unlike in eastern Germany, the economic decline in Czechia was, in general, not accompanied by high rates of rural outmigration and depopulation. On the contrary: during the 1990s and 2000s, a distinctive suburbanization process had strong effects not only on the fringes of the large urban centers, but also on semi-rural and rural areas, and resulted in population growth in large parts of the Czech countryside (Ouředníček et al., 2019). In addition to their diverging migration patterns, a further major difference between the rural areas in Czechia and eastern Germany is in their administrative structures: in Czechia, rural areas are made up of a large number of small municipalities; whereas in eastern Germany, the municipal units are generally much bigger, with administrative and social services being increasingly concentrated in small town centers (Lešková and Vaishar, 2019;Steinführer, 2018). ...
The aim of this Working Paper is to introduce a conceptual model and study design for researching social disadvantage in rural peripheries, focusing on the interplay of social disadvantage and spatial disadvantage.
The paper presents the theoretical concepts, understandings, and definitions, as well as the research design we draw on in the international research project ‘Social disadvantage in rural peripheries in Czechia and eastern Germany: opportunity structures and individual agency in a comparative perspective.’
The project investigates the multifaceted relationships between social disadvantage, local and regional opportunity structures, and individual agency in rural peripheries in Czechia and eastern Germany from a comparative perspective.
It focuses on two sets of research questions. The first set concerns the quantitative patterns of social disadvantage and spatial disadvantage in rural areas. The second set asks about the impact of opportunity structures as part of the residential context on particularly disadvantaged groups in four case study regions.
The project applies theories of peripheralization and rural restructuring, and considers social networks and individual agency. Area-level secondary data and accessibility analyses and qualitative case studies, including ego-centered network analyses and GPS mapping of time-space activity patterns, are used.
Keywords: Social disadvantage; peripheralization; rural areas; rural peripheries; rural restructuring; opportunity structure; social networks; agency
Cílem disertační práce je přispět do oboru sídelní geografie zaprvé zhodnocením teoretických znalostí o proměnách sídelního systému v Česku, respektive ve srovnatelném prostředí. Zadruhé je cílem přinést empirické poznatky o procesech, které se podepisují na jeho podobě, zejména pak se zaměřením na Prahu jakožto na hlavní pól systému. Práce se skládá z pěti odborných textů, které se zabývají sídelním systémem, jeho strukturami a dynamikami, a to od měřítka individuální lokality až po měřítko národního sídelního systému. Články ukazují jak historickou perspektivu sídelní struktury, tak nedávné transformační procesy a také proměnlivost systému ve vztahu k denním aktivitám obyvatelstva. Průvodní rozprava představuje jednotlivé články a jejich vzájemné souvislosti. Taktéž zasazuje články, jejich dílčí témata a koncepty do teoretického kontextu studia sídelních systémů a mobility, přičemž poukazuje na možné perspektivy dalšího studia. Aktuální diskuze je v paradoxní situaci, kdy na jedné straně dochází postupně k nárůstu komplexity současného světa a na druhé straně je trendem odborné diskuse tematická specializace. Tímto vzniká potřeba syntetického výzkumu sídelního systému. Zatřetí rozprava představuje hlavní metodologické a epistemologické limity práce, které vyplývají z použití dat z mobilních telefonů a ze zobecňování výsledků v rámci post-socialistického prostoru.
When social and spatial disadvantages meet, are they doubled? Empirical studies have convincingly demonstrated that disadvantages tend to accumulate. Our paper advances this scholarship by focusing on the under‐researched issue of social positions, subjective perspectives, and agency among single mothers in rural peripheries characterized by weak labor markets and accessibility issues. Drawing from problem‐centered interviews conducted in eastern Germany and Czechia, we investigate how single mothers perceive and evaluate the local and regional opportunities available to them. Additionally, we employ the concept of coping to analyze how they navigate spatial constraints. Our findings reveal that while our respondents encounter various spatial limitations and some feel ensnared in cycles of accumulating disadvantages, they often view these constraints as balanced or outweighed by the advantages of their living environment. Our in‐depth analysis identifies room to maneuver in coping with spatial disadvantages and sheds light on the costs and risks associated with different coping strategies. In conclusion, we argue that incorporating a perspective on agency and subjectivity into research on inequalities allows for a nuanced understanding of the interrelation of social and spatial disadvantages.
Gated communities, which physically embody prestige and exclusivity through their security features and gating practices, started proliferating in the United States and were subsequently copied by other countries worldwide. However, even when replicated, the suburban gated communities in the Prague Urban Region differ in terms of size and the function of their security features and gating practices. Applying the typology of Blakely and Snyder, the research results propose a new type of development: the bubble community. This term refers to social separation with rather weak and temporary enclosure practices. The research findings indicate that bubble communities are usually small developments with weak gating practices and security features, where residents prefer to live in their own small social bubbles. Analyzing data acquired from extensive field mapping, field survey, and photo documentation, the research focuses on the physical distribution and spatial and physical characteristics of the two surrounding administrative districts: Prague-West and Prague-East.
This study examines the patterns of suburban development in major Polish agglomerations with the aim of uncovering uneven suburban growth and the consequent emergence of a polycentric arrangement against the backdrop of metropolitanization. Out of 17 agglomerations, six representative ones were selected for in-depth analysis. Uneven growth has delineated hierarchical levels in five of the six chosen agglomerations, laying the foundation for polycentric development. However, the disparities between cores and suburban municipalities are so substantial that a more precise approach lies in considering the development based on multiple sub-centres (Polysubcentric), rather than polycentric. These sub-centres exhibit an upswing in population and a relative share compared to the core’s size, alongside an increase in inbound to outbound commuters (and consequently, an augmented economic function). They also evolve into important nodes for commuting. The study classifies sub-centres into two types based on achieved functional shifts (SUB-C, SUB-R). The differences among agglomerations underscore the distinctive nature of each local environment. In certain cases, sub-central networks develop successfully, although the process is selective and intertwined with geographical location, economic factors, and the condition and capacity of transport infrastructure.
The study makes a brief overview of the demographic processes and research on them in Czechia and Slovakia during the past three decades, the period following the splitting of the common Czechoslovak state. General trends in selected demographic processes are identified and described. Research is summarised and critically evaluated in three basic areas: an analysis of recent trends, forecasting and, finally, applied demographic research. The study focuses more on applied research and forecasting because they have been less frequently appearing in the recent review studies. We intentionally omit the structures and general population dynamics. While recognizing several advancements in developing research topics and methodologies, and their increasing representation in prestigious journals, this study also highlights certain reservations and future challenges inherent to these developments.
Internal migration is an important process investigated by spatial and regional sciences. When intensive, it can significantly change settlement and regional systems. The paper reveals the structures of internal migration based particularly on distance of movements and partly on their motivations. In order to distinguish between short and long distance migration based on informed decision and not on ad hoc threshold (estimate) we employ (i) the concept of the time geography as behavioural framework, (ii) the concept of daily urban (spatial) systems as spatial framework, and (iii) the concept of (sub)urbanisation as theoretical framework. The results are based on the combination of these three concepts, together with the quantitative analysis of statistically recorded internal migration in the Czech Republic (length of movements and their motivations). The daily urban system of the city of Olomouc (the Czech Republic) is further analysed using the time geographic approach and time use diaries of individuals. The analysis of internal migration in the Czech Republic showed us that short distance migration was defined by 50 km upper distance limit, by other motivations than employment, by intra-regional rather than inter-regional flows, and by the existence of areal overlap of activity time spaces before and after the move was completed. Patterns of time-space behaviour for urban and rural (suburban) population sample in the daily urban system of Olomouc have been generalised and two basic types of time space existence of individuals identified: radial for urban population and circular for rural (suburban) population.
Contemporary housing preferences and related behaviour are highly diverse due to the variety of lifestyle cultures in cities, dissimilarities in residents’ resources, and urban changes. In recent years, the Prague Metropolitan Area in Czechia has seen gradual changes in residential mobility patterns. While suburbanization remains the most significant type of residential change, other processes have emerged. The aim of the article is to examine changes in the residential mobility patterns of families with young children living in and moving between different residential zones in the Prague Metropolitan Area. Migration data relating to individuals are used to examine spatial and temporal shifts in mobility flows. Even though suburbs are still the main destination for families with young children, the authors identified a certain degree of diversification in residential behaviour. They conclude that this finding points to the emergence of reurbanization tendencies towards the housing estates and intensifying mobility within residential zones with housing that is similar in appearance.
The academic debate on methodological approaches to the measurement of urban sprawl, particularly its most cited dimension, the density of residential settlement, is discussed in this article. The methodology of point pattern analysis, and its benefits in comparison to land-use data analysis, especially for researching the morphology of residential development, is examined. This empirical study was conducted in the hinterland of Prague and is based on point data from 2007, 2010 and 2016. The paper contributes to the scholarly discussion of suburbanisation in Central and Eastern European countries, including the morphology of suburban development. The role of scale is also emphasised, given our observation of two ambiguous means of development, namely spatial dispersion at the regional scale and increasing density at the local scale. The findings support claims regarding the crucial role of micro-scale research in understanding suburban form. The largest Czech suburb of Jesenice serves as a case study, where the morphology of built-up areas is analysed in the local context.
The article brings a perspective of governmentality theory to the studies on residential suburbanization of the European postsocialist cities. By examining the accounts of the mayors of fringe urban districts and municipalities located in the metropolitan area of Brno, the second-largest Czech city, we identify two interlinked discourses – the reactive discourse and the proactive discourse, both underlined by a specific sociospatial imaginary of rurality. The lens of governmentality theory led to the focus on the mayors' understanding of the process, their position within it, the political tools they did (not) apply and the legitimation of their decisions. The two-wave research design (2006–2009 and 2019, 26 interviews in total) enabled us to capture the substantial change in the intensity of these discourses over time to examine how they relate to the construction of the boundaries of municipal responsibility within the challenging suburbanization process.
The main objective of this paper is to apply a synthetic approach to the delimitation of metropolitan areas, which combines traditional commuting data from the population census with alternative approaches. The presented delimitation, which was originally realized in response to a request from Prague’s planning authority, is based on three methodological pillars: the use of economic and social aspects of metropolization; suburbanization; and daily mobility within the Prague Metropolitan Area. Integrated systems of centers calculated from population census data are complemented with the use of mobile phone data. There was a surprising level of similarity in the spatial patterns gained from the two methods. Zones of residential suburbanization and time spent in the core city provided a complex perspective on the daily urban system within the Prague Metropolitan Area. A synthetic map based on the four methods is provided, accompanied by five analytical maps on a smaller scale.
Several tendencies seem to indicate that in the hinterland of Bratisla-va specifi c new residential zones are forming with a different socioeconomic structure. This article analyses the hinterland of Bratislava from various perspectives of suburban development. The selection of variables covers the origin of in-migrants and their economic activity, education, and family status. Indicators of land use, housing construction, and property prices supplement these data. The data are processed based on a factorial ecology approach, which tries to discover the basic dimensions of the socio-spatial structure, and cluster analysis. Using these methods the authors identify similar clusters and categorise individual municipalities into relatively homogeneous units—sub-urban development types. The results lead to a number of very interesting fi ndings. The same types of suburban municipalities are not arranged in concentric zones, which means that the factor of distance from the city does not play a prominent role. The prevailing factor is the sectorial structure, which refl ects the different levels of attractiveness municipalities hold for different socioeconomic groups of in-migrants. This article seeks to identify key factors that affect the formation of individual suburban zones and thus contributes to a better understanding of the processes that decisively shape the socio-spatial organisation of hinterlands in post-socialist cities today.
Large scale suburbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon in East Central Europe and responsible for major socio-spatial changes in metropolitan areas. Little is known about the ethnic dimensions of this process. However, large minority population groups, mainly ethnic Russians, remained into the former member states of the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991. We use individual level Estonia Census data in order to investigate the ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation. The results show that ethnic minorities have a considerably lower probability to suburbanise compared to the majority population, and minorities are less likely to move to rural municipalities – the main sites of suburban change – in the suburban ring of cities. Individual characteristics that measure strong ties with the majority population and host society exert a positive effect on ethnic minority suburbanization, and on settling in rural municipalities.
The paper examines the causes, features and consequences of the vigorous dynamics of urban sprawl seen in recent years in eastern Germany. Firstly, regarding the theory of urban development, it demonstrates that this case of sprawl displays certain peculiarities—and so cannot be sufficiently understood by drawing on ‘western’ experience. Secondly, concerning the management of urban development, it is particularly striking that urban sprawl in eastern Germany has largely proved to be the product of specific legislative and political conditions. Changes in these conditions ought thus to significantly affect urban development. To help contain urban sprawl in the context under scrutiny, however, these changes need to be geared to the situation of urban stagnation and decline.
This paper answers the question: how many Americans live in cities, suburbs, exurbs, and rural areas in the United States? Previous works have examined only one or some of these settlement types instead of accounting for the entire country’s population, or have employed highly technical classifications uncommon in common parlance. This paper develops a comprehensive classification scheme using vernacular settlement types, then organizes U.S. Census data into the taxonomy presented here. This research contributes to the existing literature by (1) reporting the number and percentages living in all four major settlement types rather than covering only one or two of these categories; (2) delineating the population into four categories in order to adequately detail the full variety of major settlement types rather than classifying the population into a simple urban/nonurban scheme; and (3) using settlement type names that are common parlance rather than jargon.
The exceptional dynamics of urban change in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries sparked an almost immediate revitalization of urban studies during the 1990s. In academia, this interest implied an urgent need to make use of theoretical concepts that would inform the description and interpretation of observed new social and spatial phenomena and processes. Consequently, developmentalism – the belief in the realignment of former socialist cities to their Western counterparts and in the gradual “correction” of their socialist character – became the dominant paradigm of urban studies throughout the 1990s in most CEE countries. A strong confidence in the explanatory and predictive function of theoretical concepts that functioned well in Western cities was typical of this period. However, more than two decades of post-socialist urban research have led to the recognition of the limited utility of some imported Western concepts. This paper documents these trends using the example of the outer areas of Czech (post-socialist) cities, which, having been shaped by socialist planning practice for decades, convinced many CEE urban scholars of the need to seek alternative theoretical concepts. It is hoped that this may create fertile ground for new ideas, which would be then exported as a part of wider and internationally more relevant urban theory.
One of the major developments in post-socialist cities is the increasing outflow of people from the city to the surrounding settlements. Budapest is a case in point. The agglomeration used to receive migrants coming to live and work in the capital (i.e., rural urbanization). After the political and economic changes of the 1980s and 1990s, the suburban area around Budapest has received people moving out of the city. Macro statistics from the Hungarian Statistical Office show that suburbanization is unevenly spread over the agglomeration. Some settlements have a dynamic building policy and a growing population, while other settlements have moderate building programmes and a stagnating or even declining population. This pattern cannot be explained simply by preferences - i.e., where people would like to live. More precise explanations can be based upon housing construction opportunities, availability of building sites, and the attitude of local governments towards suburban development. This paper is based on analyses of micro data derived from the Budapest Agglomeration household survey, conducted in July 1997. Our results show that suburbanization around Budapest is spatially a highly segregated process. Higher-status people and lower-status people have different destinations and tend to cluster in homogeneous areas, as they did in the city. Suburbanization seems to be a radial process; people tend to cross the city boundary at the shortest distance and settle in one of the nearest settlements. The moves from the city to the suburbs are initiated by the desire to adapt the housing and neighbourhood situations to the aspirations of the household. The change of job is less important as a reason. Job motives, however, are important for households moving into the agglomeration from elsewhere. This rural urbanization process is rather strong in the Eastern zone, implying that rural urbanization has not come to an end.
Methodological problems of research and zoning of residential suburbanization in the Czech Republic
Analysis of actors and problematic aspects of decision making processes in territorial management of suburban municipalities
This paper considers how far suburbanization in Hungary has followed the Western model. The authors argue that the transition period, as a distinctive era, will not bring about fundamental changes in the cause-and-effect relationships of surburban development. The decisive role of capital in Hungarian suburbanization is evident in the uneven development of this spatial process. It is contended that the actors in the suburbanization of transition, although labelled ‘distinctive’ by some commentators, do not have a trajectory which is essentially different from that of their western counterparts. Differences arise from the means and pace of acquiring property and capital. As in advanced capitalism, suburbanization in Hungary results in social tensions, segregation and exclusion.
Suburbanization is one of the most important processes changing the nature of metropolitan regions in Europe’s post-socialist countries. This paper evaluates the importance of social contacts of new suburbanites on local level social cohesion and development. The paper employs examples from empirical research into new suburban communities in the Prague metropolitan region of the Czech Republic. Our results show that both internal and external social ties are developing in such newly built areas, which is important for the well-being of both the neighborhood and the municipality. Internal ties foster the social cohesion of a neighborhood, while external ties encourage development of the whole municipality (e.g., via political participation or informal contacts).
Numerous authors have asserted that suburbanization contributes to many problems in both suburban and inner city localities. Research of suburban development demonstrates variations in spatial patterns, the intensity of spatial processes, and the social and economic status of new suburbanites. While some forms of suburban development could cause serious problems throughout the urban region, other forms could be perceived as processes improving the quality of life in suburbia. This paper seeks to investigate different types of suburban development in the Prague urban region over the past fifteen years of transformation. The focus of my interest is residential suburbanization, which is one of the most significant spatial processes today in the settlement systems of post-socialist countries. The theoretical part of the contribution deals with the differentiation of spatial processes changing the suburban zone. Here I discuss the concepts of several processes of suburban development and their distinctive impact on both suburban and inner city localities. The empirical part of the contribution is based on an analysis of migration flows in the various localities of the Prague urban region in the period 1995 to 2003. I attempt to describe the magnitude and spatial patterns of suburbanization and the composition of migrants to suburbia. The paper concludes with a discussion about the possible future development of suburbanization in the Prague urban region.
Životní styl obyvatelstva v suburbánní zóně Prahy
- G Doležalová
- M Ouředníček
• Doležalová, G. -Ouředníček, M. 2006. Životní styl obyvatelstva v suburbánní zóně Prahy. In: Ouředníček, M. (ed.): Sociální
geografie Pražského městského regionu. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Přírodovědecká fakulta, katedra sociální geografie
a regionálního rozvoje, pp. 143-159.
Zóny rezidenční suburbanizace 2013. Specializovaná mapa. Praha, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Přírodovědecká fakulta, katedra sociální geografie a regionálního rozvoje
- P Špačková
- M Ouředníček
- J Novák
- A Klsák
• Špačková, P. -Ouředníček, M. -Novák, J. -Klsák, A. 2016. Zóny rezidenční suburbanizace 2013. Specializovaná mapa. Praha,
Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Přírodovědecká fakulta, katedra sociální geografie a regionálního rozvoje, Urbánní a regionální
laboratoř. http://www.atlasobyvatelstva.cz/cs/cr-2013
Zóny rezidenční suburbanizace 2010. Specializovaná mapa. Praha, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Přírodovědecká fakulta, katedra sociální geografie a regionálního rozvoje
- P Špačková
- M Ouředníček
- J Novák
- M Křivka
• Špačková, P. -Ouředníček, M. -Novák, J. -Křivka, M. 2012. Zóny rezidenční suburbanizace 2010. Specializovaná mapa. Praha,
Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Přírodovědecká fakulta, katedra sociální geografie a regionálního rozvoje, Urbánní a regionální
laboratoř. http://www.atlasobyvatelstva.cz/cs/cr-2010