Paradoxes of (Post)Socialist Segregation: Metropolitan Sociospatial Divisions Under Socialism and After In Poland

Abstract

The state of the art in research on residential segregation and concentration in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) largely focuses on process description (e.g., the multitude of works on gentrification and suburbanization). Even though major advances in the conceptualization and measurement of segregation have been made, works that scrutinize the patterns of segregation and/or concentration in CEE are rare, while studies that simultaneously explore and link segregation patterns under socialism and after are virtually nonexistent. Relying on Polish census-tract level data on the educational structure of population in 1978, 1988, and 2002, this study explores the patterns of social segregation and concentration in the three major Polish cities (Warsaw, Cracow, and Łódź), representing different paths of development under socialism and after. The results show that the population of the three major Polish cities was still socially heterogeneous at the census tract level in 2002. The results also reveal that the level of social residential segregation in the three cities has been decreasing steadily since 1978, irrespective of the prevailing economic system. [Key words: Residential segregation, concentration, socialist city, post-socialist city, Poland.]