The long-term development of socio-spatial differentiation in socialist and post-socialist Prague

Abstract

The article examines how different social and urban processes were reflected in the spatial patterns of three dimensions of population structure (demographic, socio-economic, and ethnic statuses) in Prague during the socialist and post-socialist periods. The article has three main objectives. First, it analyses inertia and change in socio-spatial patterns and evaluates the processes that have influenced them. Second, it investigates how the importance of all three statuses in the spatial differentiation of urban space has evolved. Third, the article focuses on the level of geographical variability as recorded within different spatial scales, and the development of this variability. It examines selected indicators of socio-economic, demographic, and ethnic statuses by employing detailed statistical data on the level of basic settlement units from the Population Censuses held in 1970, 1991, and 2011. The results confirm that the most significant changes in socio-spatial patterns between socialism and post-socialism can be observed for ethnic spatial differentiation. In addition, the city witnessed considerable changes in demographic spatial patterns in both periods, while socio-economic spatial patterns have remained relatively stable. New socio-spatial processes driven predominantly by movements of young and better-off populations have taken place in previously less attractive neighbourhoods. As a result, very different populations often live side-by-side in contemporary Prague.