GENTRIFICATION OF PRAGUE, BUDAPEST AND BELGRADE IN THE CONTEXT OF POST-SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION AND GLOBALIZATION

Text topic: Culture Studies

Text author: Искра Крстић

This paper explores the processes of gentrification in post-socialist cities, focusing on the cases of Prague, Budapest and Belgrade. The aim of the paper is to contextualise gentrification as part of a broader process of spatio-social stratification taking place in the post-socialist city. The process of post-socialist transformation resulted in sharp changes in both social and spatial aspects of the post-socialist city. The heterogeneous social structure of the city, which existed as a partially attained goal of the socialist housing policy, changed towards a polarized social structure comprising of the winners and losers of the post-socialist transformation. This induced emergence of gentrified and gated communities. The paper deals with the political, economical, and, most importantly – cultural – factors that influence contemporary urban development and policies. It accentuates a global shift towards more flexible urban policies and democratization of decision making. Multiple urban actors (the local administration, developers, experts and the civil sector) became involved in the negotiation around decisions concerning urban development, which used to be the sole responsibility of the socialist state.