Spatial Impacts of Post-Socialist Industrial Transformation in the Major Hungarian Cities

Abstract

Compared to cities in the more developed Western countries, significant changes in the industrial bases of Eastern European cities were rather belated, and the process only accelerated after 1989 when radical economic and social reforms were introduced. The main objectives of this study are to reveal the most important similarities and differences in the spatial impacts of post-socialist industrial transformation on the major Hungarian cities (Budapest, Debrecen, Gyór, Miskolc, Pécs and Szeged). The capital city and other major cities display divergent development trends owing to the changes in the post-socialist industrial space and landscape.