SimDiff - Similar but different: neighbourhood change in Halle (Saale) and Lodz

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Matthias Bernt
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research ; Human Geography ; Political Science ; Urbanism, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 381588618

The proposed SimDiff project studies the relationships between different pathways of institutional transition and neighbourhood change in two cities in East Germany and Poland. It aims to contribute to the existing literature in two ways. First, by focusing on different institutional environments and their effects on individuals and households, it advances research on the significance of context-effects to the dynamics of socio-spatial differentiation. Second, the project goes beyond the state of the art literature on postsocialist transitions and studies how different pathways of transition impact on patterns and trajectories of neighbourhood change. Thus, in contrast to positions which emphasize a convergence of postsocialist urban changes, the project explores how disparate institutional formations lead to different logics, dynamics and patterns of neighbourhood change. Empirically, SimDiff is based on a comparative analysis of the relations between institutional change and socio-spatial differentiation in eight neighbourhoods. Thereby, the project focuses on processes of suburbanization, gentrification and the development of large-scale housing estates. Based on the different but complimentary scientific profiles of the members of the research team, the project is fundamentally interdisciplinary. Its focus thus goes beyond the scope of one individual research community and has the potential to impact on wider scientific debates. SimDiff has the potential to advance considerably the existing body of knowledge on urbanization in Central Eastern Europe. Moreover, its methodological design, as well as the selection of cases provides a unique and innovative contribution to the literature about socio-spatial differentiation that should extend the relevance of this project far beyond regional interest. The findings of the project also provide orientative knowledge for practitioners and decision-makers at the local, national and EU-level and can be used for adapting development strategies and funding schemes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Agnieszka Ogrodowczyk