Mastering the post-socialist city: impacts on planning and the built environment - Abstract

It has been recognised that the economic strength and vitality of the post-industrial city depends mainly on the quality of the environment, its image, identity and culture, its accessibility and safety (Roger & Fisher, 1992; Tibbalds, 1992). Thus there are many complex factors connected with the increasing demand for innovation in methods to deal efficiently with the evolving problems of development and redevelopment in the built environment and the transformations that inevitably take place in the built fabric of cities.
These have been brought on by the rapidly growing processes of globalisation, the increasing significance of information technology, the shift in concentration of employment opportunities into the service sector and the increasing competition for international trade between major cities. The impact of these factors has been particularly significant for many Central East European (CEE) countries, where the recent rapid political and economic changes since 1990 have raised demands for corresponding changes in the established planning systems and especially in the development control and urban management processes.

This paper reviews the impact of the pressures of globalisation, the expansion pressures of the European Union (EU), and the impact of general market competition, on the transformation of the spatial structure of the cities, their and planning processes and regulation of the built environment, with a comparative commentary on the similarities and differences between CEE capital cities.