This book explores urban dynamics in Europe fifteen years after the fall of communism. The 'urban mosaic' of the title expresses the complexity and diversity of the processes and spatial outcomes in post-socialist cities. Emerging urban phenomena are illustrated with case studies, focusing on historical themes, cultural issues and the socialist legacy. Among the cities analyzed are Kazan, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Prague, Komarno, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofia and Tirana.

2 Beyond transitions: Understanding urban change in post-socialist cities (p. 21-22)
Sasha Tsenkova

Introduction

In the last fifteen years, transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have experienced highly dramatic change in political, economic and social terms. Studies have pointed out the sharp divide between countries in CEE and CIS (UNECE 2003, World Bank 2002). In the west of the region, most countries have become functioning market economies, have come close to or exceeded the level of economic output of the early 1990s, and have moved to decentralized political and administrative power. Some have joined the European Union. In the eastern part of the region, changes on both the economic and the political front have been more moderate, and progress uneven (EBRD 2004). In all countries of the region, inequality and poverty are much greater than during socialism, and region-wide the number of the poor had risen to 100 million by 2001. The pursuit of private-sector-driven growth as well as macroeconomic and social reforms has delivered mixed results with respect to economic performance, provision of basic services, and the effectiveness of social safety nets, particularly in the urban areas where most of the region’s people work and live.

These important manifestations embedded in the overall process of economic, social and political change influence profoundly the spatial adaptation and repositioning of post-socialist cities. The transition from a centrally planned to a marketbased economy offered significant opportunities to increase the economic prosperity and social well-being of urban residents through more democratic governance. Fifteen years later, the cities with transition economies have remained centres of economic growth, service expansion, technological innovation and cultural diversity. However, they have also experienced rapid social polarization, poverty and environmental degradation.

This research focuses on the process of urban change in post-socialist cities in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It draws much-needed attention to an important set of urban policy issues with wide implications for the success of the transition process in the region. The study has the following objectives:

- To explore the links between the transition to democracy, markets and decentralized governance, and related processes of change in post-socialist cities, and
- To highlight the most salient characteristics of these multilayered transformations, noting differences and similarities.

The research uses data from government reports, national and regional assessments and key-person interviews with local government officials in several capital cities. At the city level, the geographic scope of the study is limited to the capital cities in the 14 countries in the region included in the UN-HABITAT survey in 2001.1 The choice of countries is driven by the premise that the region is very diverse and it is important to reflect that. The transition process has different starting points for the individual countries, but is also affected by the policy choices of governments at the national level. While the socialist legacy is no doubt an important determinant of‘path dependency’ in the institutional behaviour and spatial organization of post-socialist cities, it is argued that notions of convergence are not really applicable to the analysis of urban issues in the context of transition (Tsenkova 2003). The general hypothesis is that within the context of regional diversity, differences in national-level performance as well as in the way cities are planned, managed and developed are expected to map increasingly divergent scenarios. That hypothesis is explored here using comparable data at the national and city levels.

The paper has four parts. The first part presents the conceptual framework for the comparative analysis. Second, differences in capital cities, levels of urbanization and concentration across transition economies are examined to highlight the current importance of post-socialist cities and their diverging patterns of urbanization. Third, major outcomes at the national level of the transitions—to democracy, markets and decentralized governance—are examined with reference to their effects on the capital cities. The analysis focuses on the most salient characteristics of the transitions at the city level and their manifestations in the economic, social and governance domains. Fourth, the chapter highlights some of the spatial manifestations of change in post-socialist cities, with particular reference to spaces for production and consumption. The concluding comments first recognize the need for more effective policy solutions to urban challenges and then map a trajectory for the urban change seen in the region.