Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 142-161 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | European Urban and Regional Studies |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 22 Dec 2015 |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
For decades, public and scholarly debates on large, post-war housing estates in western Europe have been concerned with social decline. After 1989/1990, the point in time of fundamental societal change in eastern Europe, this concern was transferred to estates in post-socialist cities. However, empirical evidence for a general negative trend has not emerged. Recent publications confirm the persistence of social mix and highlight the differentiated trajectories of estates. This paper aims to contribute to an approach of how to conceptually make sense of these differentiated trajectories. Using data from a unique longitudinal survey in East Germany, starting in 1979, we investigate the state of social mix, drivers of social change and the inner differentiation in the housing estate Leipzig-Grünau. We found no proof for a dramatic social decline, rather there is evidence for a slow and multi-faceted change in the social and demographic structure of the residents contributing to a gradual social fragmentation of the estate. This is a result of path dependencies, strategic planning effects and ownership structures. We discuss these drivers of large housing estate trajectories and their related impacts by adapting a framework of multiple, overlapping institutional, social and urban post-socialist transformations. We suggest embedding the framework in a wider and a local context in which transformations need to be seen. In conclusion, we argue for a theoretical debate that makes sense of contextual differences within such transformations.
Keywords
- Context, large housing estates, Leipzig-Grünau, multiple transformations, neighbourhood change, post-socialist transition, social mix
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
- Social Sciences(all)
- Urban Studies
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: European Urban and Regional Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2, 04.2017, p. 142-161.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the social development of a post-socialist large housing estate
T2 - The case of Leipzig-Grünau in eastern Germany in long-term perspective
AU - Grossmann, Katrin
AU - Kabisch, Nadja
AU - Kabisch, Sigrun
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2015, © The Author(s) 2015.
PY - 2017/4
Y1 - 2017/4
N2 - For decades, public and scholarly debates on large, post-war housing estates in western Europe have been concerned with social decline. After 1989/1990, the point in time of fundamental societal change in eastern Europe, this concern was transferred to estates in post-socialist cities. However, empirical evidence for a general negative trend has not emerged. Recent publications confirm the persistence of social mix and highlight the differentiated trajectories of estates. This paper aims to contribute to an approach of how to conceptually make sense of these differentiated trajectories. Using data from a unique longitudinal survey in East Germany, starting in 1979, we investigate the state of social mix, drivers of social change and the inner differentiation in the housing estate Leipzig-Grünau. We found no proof for a dramatic social decline, rather there is evidence for a slow and multi-faceted change in the social and demographic structure of the residents contributing to a gradual social fragmentation of the estate. This is a result of path dependencies, strategic planning effects and ownership structures. We discuss these drivers of large housing estate trajectories and their related impacts by adapting a framework of multiple, overlapping institutional, social and urban post-socialist transformations. We suggest embedding the framework in a wider and a local context in which transformations need to be seen. In conclusion, we argue for a theoretical debate that makes sense of contextual differences within such transformations.
AB - For decades, public and scholarly debates on large, post-war housing estates in western Europe have been concerned with social decline. After 1989/1990, the point in time of fundamental societal change in eastern Europe, this concern was transferred to estates in post-socialist cities. However, empirical evidence for a general negative trend has not emerged. Recent publications confirm the persistence of social mix and highlight the differentiated trajectories of estates. This paper aims to contribute to an approach of how to conceptually make sense of these differentiated trajectories. Using data from a unique longitudinal survey in East Germany, starting in 1979, we investigate the state of social mix, drivers of social change and the inner differentiation in the housing estate Leipzig-Grünau. We found no proof for a dramatic social decline, rather there is evidence for a slow and multi-faceted change in the social and demographic structure of the residents contributing to a gradual social fragmentation of the estate. This is a result of path dependencies, strategic planning effects and ownership structures. We discuss these drivers of large housing estate trajectories and their related impacts by adapting a framework of multiple, overlapping institutional, social and urban post-socialist transformations. We suggest embedding the framework in a wider and a local context in which transformations need to be seen. In conclusion, we argue for a theoretical debate that makes sense of contextual differences within such transformations.
KW - Context
KW - large housing estates
KW - Leipzig-Grünau
KW - multiple transformations
KW - neighbourhood change
KW - post-socialist transition
KW - social mix
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018947442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0969776415606492
DO - 10.1177/0969776415606492
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018947442
VL - 24
SP - 142
EP - 161
JO - European Urban and Regional Studies
JF - European Urban and Regional Studies
SN - 0969-7764
IS - 2
ER -