Revisiting Urban Planning in the Transitional Countries Sonia Hirt and Kiril Stanilov Regional study prepared for Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 Available from http://www.unhabitat.org/grhs/2009 Dr. Sonia Hirt is an Assistant Professor of urban affairs and planning at the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg where she teaches courses in planning theory and practice, urbanization and development, and European cities. She has held multiple post-doctoral fellowships such as those from the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, the American Association of University Women, and the American Council of Learned Societies. She has published in a variety of urban planning, urban geography and urban design journals. Comments may be sent to the author by e-mail: [email protected]. Dr. Kiril Stanilov is an Associate Professor of urban planning at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches courses in urban design, physical planning, and contemporary urbanization. He is a Marie Curie Fellow and the editor of The Post-Socialist City: Urban Form and Space Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after Socialism (Routledge, 2007) and Confronting Suburbanization: Urban Decentralization in Post-Socialist Central and Eastern Europe (Blackwell, forthcoming). Comments may be sent to the author by e-mail: [email protected]. Disclaimer: This case study is published as submitted by the consultant, and it has not been edited by the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. The analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme or its Member States. Acknowledgements This report was funded by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. The opinions expressed in the report are those of the co-authors, Sonia Hirt and Kiril Stanilov. The support of the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the School of Planning at the University of Cincinnati is highly appreciated. The authors also thank their graduate research assistants Amanda Bernard and Sarah Swenson at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and David Emery at the University of Cincinnati. Contents Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1 1. Major Urban Challenges Facing the Transitional Countries..................................................3 1.1. The challenges of the transition period ........................................................................................3 1.2. Globalization and its uneven impacts...........................................................................................5 1.3. Poverty, unemployment, inequality .............................................................................................7 1.4. Infrastructure and service provision.............................................................................................8 1.5. Environmental concerns...............................................................................................................9 1.6. Fine-tuning the role of the market..............................................................................................10 2. The Urban Context of Planning...............................................................................................11 2.1. Urbanization rates and patterns, regional and national variations..............................................11 2.2. The restructuring of urban space................................................................................................15 2.3. The impacts of urban restructuring ............................................................................................16 2.4. Municipal government performance ..........................................................................................18 3. The History of Urban Planning................................................................................................19 3.1. Pre-modern urban planning........................................................................................................19 3.2. Modern urban planning ..............................................................................................................20 3.3. Contemporary (post-communist) urban planning ......................................................................23 4. Institutional and Regulatory Framework of Urban Planning ..............................................25 4.1. The institutional and regulatory legacy of the communist period..............................................25 4.2. Factors underpinning recent institutional developments............................................................26 4.3. Institutional challenges...............................................................................................................27 4.4. Institutional progress and recent developments .........................................................................28 4.5. Conclusions and policy recommendations.................................................................................33 5. The Planning Process ................................................................................................................35 5.1. Planning process under communism..........................................................................................35 5.2. Current laws and practices .........................................................................................................35 5.3. Progress and success stories.......................................................................................................39 5.4. Conclusions and policy recommendations.................................................................................40 6. Urban Planning and Sustainable Development......................................................................43 6.1. The environmental legacy of the communist period..................................................................43 6.2. Current challenges to urban sustainability .................................................................................44 6.3. Planning for sustainability..........................................................................................................46 6.4. Planning for heritage conservation.............................................................................................50 6.5. Conclusions and policy recommendations.................................................................................55 7. Informal Urban Development and Sprawl .............................................................................57 7.1. Forces driving informal urban development ..............................................................................57 7.2. Types of informal development .................................................................................................58 7.3. The impacts of informal urban development .............................................................................60 7.4. Forces driving suburbanization and sprawl................................................................................60 7.5. Types of suburban development ................................................................................................61 7.6. Impacts of suburbanization and sprawl......................................................................................63 7.7. Urban planning and policy implications ....................................................................................64 8. Infrastructure Policies ..............................................................................................................67 8.1. Existing conditions.....................................................................................................................67 8.2. Infrastructure policies.................................................................................................................69 8.3. Conclusions: The impact of infrastructure policies and investments.........................................71 GRHS 2009: Regional report Hirt and Stanilov iii Transitional Countries 9. Monitoring and Evaluation of Urban Plans............................................................................73 9.1. The need for monitoring and evaluation ....................................................................................73 9.2. Possible methods of improvement .............................................................................................74 9.3. Progress and success stories.......................................................................................................75 9.4. Conclusions and policy recommendations.................................................................................76 10. Urban