Housing Change in East and Central Europe Integration or Fragmentation?

Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, patterns of change to the former communist nations of Europe are now discernible in a way that was impossible to see in the initial years. This insightful book focuses on the case of changes in housing based on evidence collected from across the Central and Eastern European region. The volume adopts a conceptual framework and provides cross-regional analysis, amongst which is situated a series of more focused case studies. Issues examined include the consequences of the rapid privatization of state rental housing including the emergence of 'super-owner-occupied' countries, dramatic changes in urban structure and evidence that housing, having been the shock absorber against which wider economic restructuring has occurred, now faces a whole series of deferred problems. The enthusiasm with which the market economy was initially embraced must now be tempered by a more sober assessment of what in reality has happened.

Contents: Introduction: housing in post-Communist Europe - issues and agendas. Comparative Perspectives on Housing Reforms: Housing reforms and market performance, Robert M. Buckley and Sasha Tsenkova; Housing in South-Eastern Europe, Iván Tosics and József Hegedüs; Privatization and rent deregulation in Eastern Europe, Andrew Roberts; The private rented sector - evidence from Budapest and Sofia, Stuart Lowe; Comparative perspectives on urban housing conditions, Iván Tosics. The Social Housing Sector: 'Social' rental housing in the Czech Republic now and tomorrow, Martin Lux; The prospects for social housing in Slovakia, Elena Szolgayová; The impact of property restitution on housing development in East Germany, Birgit Glock and Carsten Keller; Housing a 'Nation of Home Owners' - reforms in Bulgaria, Alle Elbers and Sasha Tsenkova; Housing markets and empowerment of tenants in Slovenia, Srna Mandic. Housing Market Responses - Case Studies: Housing challenges and policy responses: the case of Riga, Sasha Tsenkova; An emerging private rental market in Ljubljana, Richard Sendi; The new housing market in Tirana, Luan Deda; Housing markets and family incomes, Judit Székely; Housing policy matters: the reform path in Central and Eastern Europe, Sasha Tsenkova; Bibliography; Index.

Dr. Stuart Lowe is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of York, UK. Dr. Sasha Tsenkova is Associate Professor in International Development & Planning at the University of Calgary, Canada.