Going beyond the assumption that East Central European cities are still 'in transition' this book draws on the postsocialism paradigm to ask new questions about the impact of demographic change on residential developments in this region. Focussing on four second-order cities in this region, it examines Gdansk and Lódz in Poland and Brno and Ostrava in the Czech Republic as examples and deals with the nexus between urban development and demographic change for the context of East Central European cities. It provides a framework for linking urban and demographic research. It discusses how residential areas and urban developments cope with changes in population development, household types and different forms of in- and out-migration and goes on to explore parallels and differences in comparison with broader European patterns.

This book will be useful to academics of urban planning and development especially in transition areas, Central and Eastern European studies, demographics and population studies, and sociology/social exclusion.

Contents: Foreword: living in the European city: demographic change and residential patterns, Phillip E. Ogden; Preface; Part I Conceptual Background, Context Conditions and Methodological Considerations: Introduction: idea, premises and background of this volume, Annegret Haase, Annett Steinführer, Sigrun Kabisch, Katrin Grossmann and Ray Hall; Residential change: conceptualization, methodological challenges and research design, Katrin Grossmann and Annett Steinführer; Housing, households and demographic challenge in urban space: conceptual considerations and context conditions in East Central Europe, Annett Steinführer and Ray Hall; The post-Socialist condition and beyond: framing and explaining urban change in East Central Europe, Annegret Haase, Antonín Vaishar and Grzegorz Weclawowicz; The inner city in focus, Sigrun Kabisch and Iwona Sagan; Lódz, Gdansk, Brno and Ostrava and their inner cities: urban and demographic development during post-Socialism, Adam Bierzynski, Maja Grabkowska, Annegret Haase, Petr Klusácek, Andreas Maas, Jana Mair, Stanislav Martinát, Iwona Sagan, Annett Steinführer, Antonín Vaishar, Grzegorz Weclawowicz and Jana Zapletalová. Part II Empirical Investigations on and in Polish and Czech Inner Cities: Old-new diversity: processes and structures of socio-demographic change in the inner city, Annegret Haase, Adam Bierzynski, Maja Grabkowska, Petr Klusácek, Stanislav Martinát, Zdenek Uherek and Andreas Maas; Households as actors I: housing careers and housing arrangements, Annett Steinführer, Annegret Haase and Maja Grabkowska; Households as actors II: attitudes towards living in the inner city,Katrin Grossmann, Annegret Haase, Annett Steinführer, Maja Grabkowska and Adam Bierzynski; Flexible households, flexible dwellings, flexible neighbourhoods?, Maja Grabkowska; Brick or block – housing preferences and the urban fabric, Katrin Grossmann and Annegret Haase; Tenure change and sociability: transformation of neighbourly relations, Jana Mair and Jana Pospíšilová. Part III Summary, Conclusion and Outlook: Conclusion: findings and reflections, Annegret Haase, Annett Steinführer, Sigrun Kabisch, Katrin Grossmann and Ray Hall; Bibliography; Index.

About the Editor: Annegret Haase is a lecturer in Urban and Environmental Sociology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.

Reviews: 'Rarely have questions of demographic change and housing transformation been brought together in such a convincing and thorough manner. This will become essential reading for scholars wishing to come to grips with the complexities of urban restructuring in the post socialist world, not the least due to the depth of the volume's evidence base, and the richness of its theoretical framework.'
Stefan Bouzarovski, University of Birmingham, UK

'Using integrative approach instrumentally linking actors' perspective and structural change, this timely and ground-breaking book offers complex understanding and nuanced interpretation of the interplay between macrosocietal processes and neighborhood transformations. The book provides important new insights and is essential reading for anyone concerned with urban transformations.'
Ludek Sýkora, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic

'The reader gets a coherent, in-depth monograph of significant cognitive and practical value. That is why it can be recommended to both academics in a variety of disciplines (urban, demographic and population studies, geography, sociology, anthropology) and practitioners, in particular of urban planning.'
Housing Studies

'Overall, this book is really valuable in comprehensively laying out the issues of demographic shifts and inner-city residential change during the period of postsocialist transition. It provides and inspiring point of departure for further research on urban development in East Central Europe.'
Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy

'Residential Change and Demographic Challenge explores important new empirical ground and presents fresh analytical insights. It is recommended reading for all serious students of housing and urban development in postcommunist east central Europe.'
Slavic Review

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Foreword

Index