Cities in Transition
other
urban-economics
transition-economies
Comparative Economic Studies, 2012.
We examine urban development in transition countries from 1991 to 2010, focusing on the more recent decade. Socialist-era urban policy restrained the growth of the largest cities and pushed the spatial distribution of population toward artificial uniformity; the shift to a market economy is reducing these distortions, but convergence is slow. Housing market rigidities, inadequate urban infrastructure, and inconsistent government policy continue to prevent people from moving to the largest, most productive cities.
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We examine urban development in transition countries from 1991 to 2010, focusing on the more recent decade. Socialist-era urban policy restrained the growth of the largest cities and pushed the spatial distribution of population toward artificial uniformity; the shift to a market economy is reducing these distortions, but convergence is slow. Housing market rigidities, inadequate urban infrastructure, and inconsistent government policy continue to prevent people from moving to the largest, most productive cities.
Post-socialist cities inherited industrial geographies built for central planning, not markets. This paper tracks how urban economic structure in transition countries evolved after 1991 — which cities adapted, which stayed locked into declining industries, and what that implies for regional policy.
Published in: Comparative Economic Studies, 54(3), 661–688