SimDiff - Similar but different: neighbourhood change in Halle (Saale) and Lodz
Human Geography
Political Science
City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
Final Report Abstract
The research project "Similar but Different - Neighborhood Change in Halle (Salle) and Łódź (SimDiff)" investigated the connections between different trajectories of post-socialist transformation and the patterns and dynamics of socio-spatial differentiation in two cities in Poland and East Germany. Empirically, processes of suburbanization, gentrification and the development of large housing estates were examined. The following findings were obtained: 1) The patterns of neighborhood change deviate from the predictions made in the urban sociology and human geography research literature in the 1990s. Gentrification, suburbanization and the transformation of large housing estates can hardly be generalized as "typical" processes of post-socialist urban development. They follow different logics in Poland and East Germany. 2) The different transformation paths of the two countries have had a major influence on the long-term patterns of urban development. While public subsidies and planning regulations have less of a steering effect in Poland, their impact has been crucial in East Germany (e.g. through special tax write-offs, urban redevelopment grants, rent regulations). Another major difference is the way in which ownership of existing apartments is handled: while in Poland these were essentially sold to the residents, the transformation in East Germany led to a dominance of commercial landlords and generally involved entire buildings. This set into motion fundamentally different conditions for urban development, especially for historic districts. 3) Individual housing behavior, housing markets and state policies are inextricably linked. The investigation of segregation processes therefore focused on the "decision-making environment" for the residential location choices of different household types. It could be shown that the institutional frameworks guiding post-socialist transformation in East Germany led to a temporally staggered interlocking of intensive suburbanization, gentrification and the devaluation of large housing estates, which together acted like a "segregation machine". In Poland, on the other hand, the blocking of segregation through complicated ownership structures remains a major issue.
Publications
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Sonderfall Südpark? in P. Pasternack (Hrsg.), Kein Streitfall mehr?: Halle-Neustadt fünf Jahre nach dem Jubiläum). Halle (Saale) Mitteldeutscher Verlag: 79-90. ISBN: 978-3-9631-1263-8. (2019)
Bernt, M.
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Die Segregationsmaschine: Entmischung in deutschen Großwohnsiedlungen und ihre Ursachen. Die Wohnungswirtschaft 74(2): 8-11
Bernt, M.
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Market-Based Housing Reforms and the Residualization of Public Housing: The Experience of Lodz, Poland. Social Inclusion, 9(2), 91-103.
Ogrodowczyk, Agnieszka & Marcińczak, Szymon
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Veränderungen der Eigentümerstrukturen auf ostdeutschen Wohnungsmärkten nach 1990. in I-S. Kowalczuk, F. Ebert, & H. Kulick (Hrsg.), (Ost)Deutschlands Weg: 45 Studien und Essays zur Lage des Landes. Teil I - 1989 bis heute (Schriftenreihe der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung; Nr. 10676). Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung: 509-529)
Bernt, M. & Holm, A.
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A Window Into the European City: Exploring Socioeconomic Residential Segregation in Urban Poland. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 114(3), 252-266.
Marcińczak, Szymon & Gentile, Michael
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Residential Segregation. Encyclopedia, 3(4), 1401-1408.
Bernt, Matthias & Volkmann, Anne
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Segregation in Ostdeutschland. transcript Verlag.
Bernt, Matthias & Volkmann, Anne
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Suburbanisation in East Germany. Urban Studies, 61(9), 1789-1805.
Bernt, Matthias & Volkmann, Anne
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‘Inner-city is not the place for social housing’ – State-led gentrification in Łódź. Cities, 145, 104684.
Ogrodowczyk, Agnieszka
