Magdalena Górczyńska

Mechanisms of property ownership change and social change in inner-city Warsaw (Poland)

Taking a production-side approach, the article discusses how property restitution and privatisation have created rent and value gaps, and influenced social change in the inner city of Warsaw (Poland). Specifically, a rent gap (resulting from restitution) and a value gap (created by low-cost privatisation) are hypothesised to have produced different ownership structures in pre-war residential buildings, with different implications for social change. These effects are assumed to be modulated by three factors: legal constraints, availability of private capital and changing residential preferences. The main findings show that the national legislation and municipal regulations with respect to low cost privatisation created the value gap and favoured intergenerational property transfer and lower residential mobility. The value gap has been eliminated by the changes in municipal regulations. Second, a lack of private capital was a key element in disinvestment in the 1990s, and private developers have since become key actors in shaping the housing offer and have triggered intensive gentrification. Third, residential choices often follow family reasons (inheritance of a unit), and are loosely coupled with a ‘back to the city’ movement. The contemporary choices of many newcomers are still embedded in opportunities created by earlier privatisation. Finally, former municipal tenants in restituted buildings come under pressure from new, private owners to leave their homes. Paradoxically, restitution, seen as a mechanism for social justice, has led to social injustice. Overall, it appears that both privatisation and restitution have fuelled problems of affordability, and led to the exclusion of lower-income households from the housing market.

The Impact Of Location On The Role Of Small Towns In Regional Development: Mazovia, Poland

Abstract The paper explores the role of small towns in the Mazovia region in Poland which is both characterized by rural areas and the suburban zone of Warsaw. The analysis of changes in the local labour markets reveals that microregions formed by small peripheral towns were more resistant to changes than those located in the suburban area of Warsaw. The latter were absorbed by the capital city whose zone of influence expanded in the detriment of adjacent small towns and their microregions. Using the concept of exogenous functions performed by small towns, we also shed light on their role with regard to the surrounding areas (with dominant agricultural function) in the past decade. The values of the service concentration index (SCI) and the level of population concentration showed that the majority of services to local and neighbouring inhabitants were delivered in small county towns located in the periphery. On the other hand, small county towns located in the vicinity of Warsaw mainly provided services to their inhabitants.

Social and housing tenure mix in Paris intra-muros, 1990–2010

Abstract This paper sheds light on the relationship between the social and tenure mix in Paris between 1990 and 2010. Using two quantitative methods (cluster analysis and entropy indices) it explores the relationship between the social and tenure mix at the microscale. Although no statistical correlation was found, other relationships were discovered. First, the social mix is a function of the general characteristics of the neighbourhood or district. Second, social upgrading and homogenization began in the 1990s, and the ‘ideal’ social mix was a temporary phase before upper socio-professional groups became overrepresented. The growing availability and diversification of social housing has neither created a greater social mix nor slowed down social upgrading, either in general or for social housing in particular. Finally, the fact that there are different categories of social housing landlords nuances the outcomes of policies.