Dublin Core
Titre
Socio-spatial residential segregation in post-socialist cities : The case of Tallinn, Estonia
Sujet
urban form, urban space, residential area, post-socialist city, urban change, capitalism, economics, residential segregation, privatisation, housing, residential mobility
Description
The thesis examines the main factors that have led to changes in socio-spatial residential pattern in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, and its surrounding region in the post-socialist period, and analyses transformation of this pattern during the period 1991–2005. The thesis consists of an introductory chapter and four publications. The data used for analysis have been derived mainly from national residential surveys (covering the period 1995–1999) and residential surveys carried out in Tartu (1998) and in new suburban settlements of the Tallinn metropolitan region (2006).
There is a widespread agreement that substantial differences existed between socialist and capitalist social systems, resulting in different mechanisms of socio-spatial urban pattern formation and influencing the pattern of residential segregation. Socialist cities are generally characterised by a lower level of residential segregation as compared to capitalist cities. Transition from socialist to market economy in Central and Eastern European countries has brought along new distribution mechanisms, while many continuities originating from the previous system can also be seen. The path dependence embraces the conversion of different types of capital, suggesting that capital accumulated under the communist regime can serve as an advantage, securing a good starting position at the doorstep of the new system.
All the main preconditions for enhanced residential segregation, i.e. increasing social disparities, diminished public intervention – including housing privatisation – and increasing differentiation within the housing stock have paved the way for the expansion of socio-spatial disparities in the housing market of the capital city of Estonia during the post-socialist period. Transition to the market economy has altered social stratification orders in Estonia, allowing many ‘new groups’ to join the elite, whereas the institutional setting has also supported the conversion of capital for many members of the old communist elite. The increased social disparities have led to better visibility of the previously latent residential segregation pattern, as well as to changes resulting from selective residential mobility.
The results of the empirical studies reveal that by the end of the 1990s, the socio-spatial residential pattern in Tallinn was to a large extent still characterised by the continuity of the socialist structures, and no substantial residential segregation or polarisation between housing submarkets and larger spatial units could be seen. However, new market distribution rules have led to a moderate but gradual increase in socio-economic residential disparities. The findings show that the Tallinn metropolitan area is characterised by the development of pockets of wealth and poverty within an otherwise mixed socio-spatial pattern. Some low-status tenement blocks in the inner city have been subject to continuous social decline during the transition period. In the more rapidly developing parts of the city region, in particular the most central gentrifying locations and low-rise suburbs attractive to the affluent, the structures of the old system contrast most sharply with the new market structures. Apart from these extremes, a vast majority of the population remains residing in socialist high-rise housing estates. Developments in these Soviet estates lead to a significant differentiation in the socio-economic residential status between the estates, which largely reflects the socialist housing allocation principles.
There is a widespread agreement that substantial differences existed between socialist and capitalist social systems, resulting in different mechanisms of socio-spatial urban pattern formation and influencing the pattern of residential segregation. Socialist cities are generally characterised by a lower level of residential segregation as compared to capitalist cities. Transition from socialist to market economy in Central and Eastern European countries has brought along new distribution mechanisms, while many continuities originating from the previous system can also be seen. The path dependence embraces the conversion of different types of capital, suggesting that capital accumulated under the communist regime can serve as an advantage, securing a good starting position at the doorstep of the new system.
All the main preconditions for enhanced residential segregation, i.e. increasing social disparities, diminished public intervention – including housing privatisation – and increasing differentiation within the housing stock have paved the way for the expansion of socio-spatial disparities in the housing market of the capital city of Estonia during the post-socialist period. Transition to the market economy has altered social stratification orders in Estonia, allowing many ‘new groups’ to join the elite, whereas the institutional setting has also supported the conversion of capital for many members of the old communist elite. The increased social disparities have led to better visibility of the previously latent residential segregation pattern, as well as to changes resulting from selective residential mobility.
The results of the empirical studies reveal that by the end of the 1990s, the socio-spatial residential pattern in Tallinn was to a large extent still characterised by the continuity of the socialist structures, and no substantial residential segregation or polarisation between housing submarkets and larger spatial units could be seen. However, new market distribution rules have led to a moderate but gradual increase in socio-economic residential disparities. The findings show that the Tallinn metropolitan area is characterised by the development of pockets of wealth and poverty within an otherwise mixed socio-spatial pattern. Some low-status tenement blocks in the inner city have been subject to continuous social decline during the transition period. In the more rapidly developing parts of the city region, in particular the most central gentrifying locations and low-rise suburbs attractive to the affluent, the structures of the old system contrast most sharply with the new market structures. Apart from these extremes, a vast majority of the population remains residing in socialist high-rise housing estates. Developments in these Soviet estates lead to a significant differentiation in the socio-economic residential status between the estates, which largely reflects the socialist housing allocation principles.
Créateur
Kährik, Anneli
Éditeur
University of Tartu
Date
2006
Contributeur
Tammaru, Tiit. Supervisor
Jauhiainen, Jussi S. Supervisor
Langue
en
Type
Thesis
Identifiant
http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/handle/10062/661
http://lallier.msh-vdl.fr/theses/items/show/938
http://lallier.msh-vdl.fr/theses/archive/files/c17f7b62dba56d2552a859786010bf9c.jpg