Soviet Prefabricated Panel Housing Estates: Areas of Continued Social Mix or Decline? The Case of Tallinn

Abstract

Cities in the formerly centrally planned countries in the Soviet Union and Central Eastern Europe have transformed rapidly since the political and economic restructuring started in the late 1980s. To date, the main focus of research has been on new urban phenomena, particularly inner-city change and suburbanisation. However, these changes affect only a minority of the population, because most people still live in pre-transition housing stock. This study clarifies population changes in the most distinctive type of housing in the state socialist cities, high-rise prefabricated panel housing estates, in the light of the reform of housing privatisation. Many researchers have assumed that panel housing estates would quickly downgrade in the course of transition towards a market economy. However, the main results of the study show that these areas have maintained a relatively good image and social mix to the present day and that there are no straightforward signs of their socio-economic downgrading or becoming ethnic minority ghettos.