Suburbanization in Multi-ethnic Area – Conflicts and Local Strategies

Abstract

The effects of suburbanization can be examined from several aspects, but beyond the individual decisions that initiated it, the real estate market aspects, or the transformation of land use, the effects on local communities and their reactions are rarely highlighted in professional circles. In our work within the agglomeration of Bratislava, the Slovak capital, we researched individual and collective opinions on suburbanization, as well as the questions and potential conflict situations arising among members of the “host community.” A striking element of the study area is that migration also means a change in the linguistic environment, as the newcomers often arrive from a predominantly Slovakspeaking city to an area mostly inhabited by the Hungarian minority. This adds additional dimensions to suburbanization and the responses it generates. Experiences show that the municipalities affected by the process use independent, yet in certain respects similar, strategies to manage it, and as part of these strategies, the ethnic factor also appears prominently in some topics.