Housing estates' trajectories in post-socialist countries: Similarities and differences of Estonian and Czech cities

Abstract

An increasing number of studies focus on the divergent trajectories of housing estates in post-socialist cities; however, they are mostly case studies of particular cities. There is little research that offers a more systematic and comparative analysis of different housing estates between the settlement systems of different countries. This study aims to explore the trajectories of housing estates from 1989 to 2011 by examining neighbourhood transitions in Estonian and Czech cities based on socio-economic, demographic, and ethnic characteristics of their residents. We use data from population censuses and clustering techniques to create typologies of housing estate neighbourhoods. Our results suggest that the main development trajectory of Estonian and Czech housing estates has been stability with neighbourhoods remaining in the same housing estate type and developing similarly as other urban neighbourhoods. This is mainly related to housing market specifics of post-socialist countries, and ageing being the main mechanisms of residential change of housing estates. Other types of trajectories are differentiated along two lines: the position of the city within the settlement system and the location of heavy industry in the city during the socialist period, indicating persistent impact of socialist urban development for housing estates.