The main purpose of this paper is to identify ongoing changes in post-socialist large housing estates and to clarify their main factors, using a case study approach. The paper examines the transformations of nine housing estates in the third largest Polish city -Łódź. The transformations were analysed in two dimensions: social (socio-demographic changes) and physical (changes in the spatial and functional structure and changes in the physiognomy). The key question was whether the changes occurring in large housing estates in Łódź protect them before the development of the social and physical degradation, identified in many estates in Western Europe, referred as the "large housing estate syndrome". Research has shown that in examined housing estates there are no symptoms of physical or social degradation. Moreover, processes found there contribute to the prevention of the negative phenomena leading to the development of the "large housing estate syndrome".
For several decades, urban shrinkage has been a common pathway of demographic development for many large cities throughout Europe. Although this process began after the collapse of communism in most countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), it should not be interpreted merely as a consequence of systemic transformation. This process was accompanied by the rapid withdrawal of state involvement in the housing sector, which resulted in an escalation of the housing shortage inherited from the socialist period. Thus, the aim of this article is to present a perspective of shrinking in CEE, which is often marginalized in the global discourse on shrinkage. The main purpose is to investigate the relationship between housing and demographic changes after the collapse of communism and answer the following question: Is the old housing structure a positive legacy, a patrimonial inheritance, or a burden in the context of demographic decline? Methodologically, this paper is a case study illustrating the transformations of housing within the context of the historical and spatial demographic development in the selected city. We focus our attention on the example of Łódź, Poland, which reflects the entire CEE spectrum of problems associated with shrinkage while presenting some particularities. However, the shrinkage phenomenon in Łódź also presents an opportunity for improving future housing options. Within a wider context, this example can be considered a lens for the very complex demographic and housing situation of CEE cities. This case shows that legacies of the communist regime influence the relationship between the demographic decline and housing situation and that even a city with a high range in the urban network can be affected by a severe decline.
The main purpose of this paper has been to identify ongoing changes in post-socialist large housing estates and to clarify the main factors underpinning them. The transformations in question were analysed in two dimensions: a social dimension encompassing structural socio-demographic and socio-economic changes among inhabitants, and a spatial dimension relating to socio-spatial, functional and physical (morphological and physiognomic) changes. The main question concerned the ways in which large housing estates built during the communist era have changed under the new socio-demographic, political and economic conditions emerging following the collapse of communism. The study was thus based on a review of the available literature.
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