Ghettoization or gentrification? Post-socialist scenarios for Budapest

Abstract

During the communist period, the guarantee of cheap housing and job security constituted the cornerstone of the communist welfare state in East European countries. But a decreasing social security and an increasing social polarization were the outcome of the 1989/90 transition. This paper highlights some of the effects of the political and economic transformation on urban societies in Eastern Europe, using Budapest as a case study. The emerging social inequalities are discussed in detail, along with the growing concentration of poverty. These processes have also had direct impacts on the social differentiation of urban neighbourhoods, creating new dimensions of urban segregation. In this respect, Budapest represents a unique case among East European cities, containing a considerable number of people belonging to the Gypsy population. Presently, we can observe very upward and down-ward processes in different inner-city neighbourhoods of Budapest. Some areas show clear signs of ghettoization, while others are clearly moving in an upward direction in terms of income and social status.