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In the final decades of the twentieth century, the post-industrial regions of western Europe and the US were hot-spots of urban shrinkage, and this also affected large areas in post-socialist countries. Despite ongoing calls for a better integration of diverse global urban experiences into theorization, post-socialist cities and their trajectories, as well as their experiences with rapid urban change, have been largely disregarded in general theory development. At the same time, we face a somewhat inconsistent situation in the theoretical discourse on urban development. There are requests for \"new geographies of theory\" or to regard all cities as \"ordinary\", in order to include different types of narratives and experience into overall comparisons and/or theory building. Set against this background, this paper aims to deal with the case of shrinking post-socialist cities, that is, cities that are \"excluded\" from hegemonic discourses for two reasons: they are post-socialist and they are shrinking. In contrast to this situation, we understand shrinking post-socialist cities as valuable examples for strengthening the debate on current and future forms of, and determining factors for, general urbanization. At the focus of our paper, therefore, are the questions about what we can learn from the analysis of shrinking post-socialist cities for the general discourse, as well as for theory building for cities, and how we can overcome the observed reluctance to integrate the post-socialist experience into general theory development. The paper draws on an EU 7 FP research project finished in 2012 that comparatively analysed urban shrinkage across several regions of Europe, with a particular focus on post-socialist countries.

The cultural politics of attributing names and the popular responses to the naming process of the urban landscape are core issues in 'critical toponymies'. In many Romanian cities there are place names that articulate a collective memory agenda with respect to the 1989 Revolution, and Timişoara stands at the forefront of streets bearing martyr names. However, there have been recent calls for more attention to the popular responses to place-naming practices. This paper explores these calls by addressing the issue of users of urban street place names. It also highlights the need to introduce the theory of 'the politics of practicality' in place- and street-name studies. We seek to explain if Timişoarians are (un)happy with the new 'martyr city-text' and how social justice and the contextualisation of the conflict as a case of the practical and the ideological are interrelated. By analysing the concerns of local service workers and by surveying local people's opinion on the use of the martyrs' names, we look to determine to what extent they accept or reject the new names and their use. In particular, pride and recognition versus everyday difficulties in martyr name uses produce major tensions at a local level. Therefore social justice (restitution) issues created local conflict over the uses of new names, and the politics of practicality in the martyrs' case shaped how political and symbolic changes are received by the people. This paper is developing and challenging previous work on place and street naming in geography by considering, beyond the understanding that conflicts over naming are symbolic or ideological, that ordinary citizens use, connect with, and depend upon street names in practical terms: they internalise and react differently to the costs of rewriting the city-text.

Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is located in a karst geomorphological environment. The topographical setting strongly influences the urban geographical distribution and urban development, as well as the sustainability policies implemented in the city. The incorporation of an environmental agenda and the focus on sustainable development have characterised urban planning in cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are transitioning from socialist to capitalist economic systems. Environmental policies in Sarajevo are defined within the Sarajevo Canton Development Strategy developed under the supervision of international experts at the end of the three-and-a-half years of siege in December 1995, and this is expected to last until 2015. This paper argues that, despite the consensus achieved for developing Sarajevo through strategies aligned with European regulations for sustainability, the built environment of the city has moved in an increasingly unsustainable direction as a result of the need to deal with vulnerable groups in the population and the international policies that tend to promote a neoliberal urban development. The first section of analysis focuses on Sarajevo's existing particular geomorphological constraints on the development of a secure and sustainable built environment. The second section examines the increase in the geomorphological risks of new construction developed after the conflict in relation to the post-war and post-socialist urban processes.

Numerous authors have asserted that suburbanization contributes to many problems in both suburban and inner city localities. Research of suburban development demonstrates variations in spatial patterns, the intensity of spatial processes, and the social and economic status of new suburbanites. While some forms of suburban development could cause serious problems throughout the urban region, other forms could be perceived as processes improving the quality of life in suburbia. This paper seeks to investigate different types of suburban development in the Prague urban region over the past fifteen years of transformation. The focus of my interest is residential suburbanization, which is one of the most significant spatial processes today in the settlement systems of post-socialist countries. The theoretical part of the contribution deals with the differentiation of spatial processes changing the suburban zone. Here I discuss the concepts of several processes of suburban development and their distinctive impact on both suburban and inner city localities. The empirical part of the contribution is based on an analysis of migration flows in the various localities of the Prague urban region in the period 1995 to 2003. I attempt to describe the magnitude and spatial patterns of suburbanization and the composition of migrants to suburbia. The paper concludes with a discussion about the possible future development of suburbanization in the Prague urban region.

The article examines the paradox of urban governance in Poland’s five largest cities (excluding Warsaw)—Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, and Gdańsk—where municipal authorities articulate policies aimed at population retention and growth while simultaneously experiencing persistent suburbanization and demographic decline. Drawing on 13 semi‐structured interviews with high‐ranking city officials, transcribed and coded according to a semi‐standardized protocol, the article analyzes how local authorities in these cities approach the challenge and aspiration of population retention and reurbanization within increasingly challenging demographic contexts. The findings reveal a significant implementation gap between aspirational policy goals and actual governance capacities. City authorities recognize population retention as vital for maintaining tax revenues and urban vitality, yet their policy toolkit remains severely limited by several interrelated factors (insufficient regulatory authority within the fragmented planning system; contentious relationships with suburban municipalities; weak leverage over real estate developers, and ambiguous national policies incentivizing suburbanization). The study contributes to debates on shrinking cities by highlighting how governance limitations transform reurbanization from a potentially transformative policy framework into merely aspirational rhetoric. This governance gap illuminates why potential “spaces of possibility” remain unrealized despite awareness of demographic challenges and knowledge of possible interventions. By analyzing the interplay between institutional constraints, market forces, and municipal responses, this research advances understanding of the specific governance challenges facing post‐socialist cities and their metropolitan areas attempting to navigate demographic decline in contexts of planning deregulation and weak metropolitan governance.

Our paper deals with a micro-study of one residential building in the city center of Brno (Czech Republic) where we strived to identify and better understand the main factors behind the successful implementation of environmentally friendly solutions during the regeneration process. We followed the unique, complicated, and often conflictual story of the regeneration (conducted during the years 2010–2020) of the residential building, which was originally built in the 1930s. In total, 18 solutions were discussed—all four solutions on the state level of centralization were realized, only two of six solutions on the building level of centralization were materialized, and six of eight decentralized solutions were realized during the regeneration process. In the field of energy savings requiring high investments, a significant dominance of centralized solutions (on the state level) was identified. Centralized solutions on the building level such as heat pumps or solar panels were not realized. In the area of waste management and care for community greenery (that did not require large investments), we see as the most beneficial the promotion of decentralized solutions in the form of community-funded communal composting or the planting of new greenery. The formation of various regeneration options, which is discussed in detail, appeared as an integral instrument for dealing with conflicts among residents during the planning phase.

This article aims to examine the relationship between industrial transformation and suburbanisation processes in an urban agglomeration in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), using the case of the Wrocław agglomeration (south-western Poland) in the 21st century. This relationship is analysed in the context of economic, demographic, and spatial changes occurring within the area under study. The analysis demonstrates that the observed shifts in the spatial distribution of industrial activity reinforce the dynamics of suburbanisation in the urban agglomeration. Conversely, changes in the use of industrial land and the accompanying demographic transformations (primarily within the core of the agglomeration) tend to mitigate the intensity of suburbanisation. These findings may have significant implications for spatial policy-making in CEE cities and contribute to their more sustainable development.

This study explains why Brno’s municipal participatory budgeting (PB) has become durably institutionalised and scaled, whereas Bratislava’s remains fragmented. National fiscal and programme-budgeting frameworks are treated as moderating conditions that enable or constrain local design choices, not as the primary object of analysis. Using a most-similar systems logic, we conduct a comparative multi-case analysis with embedded units – annual PB cycles, project types, core institutions/platforms, and, for Bratislava, boroughs. Evidence derives from publicly available municipal legal and budgetary documents and formally adopted PB rules and reports. The analysis integrates mechanisms from institutional theory (institutionalisation), actor – network theory (socio-technical robustness of identity, workflow, and data infrastructures), deliberative democracy (input/throughput/output legitimacy), and principal – agent perspectives (transparency and auditability). Findings show that Brno’s stable funding envelope, dedicated participation unit, codified cycles, secure digital identity, and auditable end-to-end pipeline underpin predictable delivery despite clustered turnout. Bratislava’s borough-led PB enables experimentation but creates coordination frictions, heterogeneous rules, and uneven links to programme budgeting. The study offers a portable, mechanism-based diagnostic for post-socialist municipal contexts.

Culture-led projects have long been part of strategies to regenerate cities in advanced capitalist economies. In recent decades those projects also have become a focal point of urban development in post-socialist cities. This study argues that an attempt to reimage(in)e the city of St Petersburg through its culture-led flagship project, Mariinsky Theatre-2, has generated significant changes not only to its built fabric, but also to its social fabric. In the context of a post-socialist city, this study examines how the urban space of the historical centre is being contested by its urban users, often on the basis of differences in perception, including the impacts of the culture-led project on those perceptions. Civic awareness about social exclusion and inclusion in urban space is on the rise in this post-socialist city.

The paper traces the particular moments of historical development of the Bratislava (now the capital of Slovakia) embankment along the Danube River during the 20th century until present. The observed territory is understood as a relatively newly formed terrain that resulted as a by-product of river regulation at the end of the 19th century. The emerged space offered attractive and spacious building plots for various new typologies and rather than a compact city block, these were mostly hosted in the container-like structures. Referencing the theoretical work of De Solà-Morales, the containers are understood as self-standing, large-volume envelopes creating a controlled platform for order and consumption. Research was focused on the study of visual archival materials and contributions in architectural journals of the period. The selected aspects were subsequently displayed in the form of author’s schemes, which combine map data with an axonometric representation of the described objects. The paper distinguishes three different periods of embankment development that correspond to the political and economic historical framework and highlights the specific characteristics of each of them. While the interwar era brought the concept of free-standing palaces on the waterfront, the period of socialism was generally characterised by failed ambitious plans. Finally, the period of the neoliberal transformation of the city set the new condition for real estate market and resulted in the construction boom on the waterfront. The long-awaited construction on the waterfront is now in the hands of the private sector, while containers-like residence complexes and shopping malls are ultimately raising the questions about their generic nature.