Suburbanizing Sofia: Context and Characteristics of Post-Communist Spatial Growth, Issues, and Opportunities (Research Brief)

The significance of the project lies beyond the disciplinary boundaries of urban geography. By answering the question whether post-communist cities are acquiring Western-style suburban peripheries, the project contributes to the broader literature concerned with qualifying post-communism as a societal condition. Is post-communism a process of transition toward developed capitalism? Alternatively, does it represent a continuation (or even an exaggeration) of elements of the communist past (Burawoy 1997), or does it entail a combination of communist and capitalist elements (Stark 1996)? If evidence is found that post-communist cities are undergoing Western-style, upper-class suburbanization, then theories of post-communism as a transitional period leading to contemporary, Western-style capitalism will be bolstered. Lack of such evidence will add support to the alternative two theories.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

Sonia Hirt, of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, was a 2006-07 Individual Advanced Research Opportunities (IARO) fellow.