A REVIEW OF SOCIOSPATIAL DIFFERENTIATION IN ‘POST-SOCIALIST’ CITIES
LI Zhi-gang1, WU Fu-long2, XUE De-sheng1
1. Centre for Urban and Regional Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China;
2. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Abstract This paper reviews the literature on sociospatial differentiation in so-called ‘post-socialist’ cities. It argues that sociospatial differentiation and polarization are main features of contemporary cities. Under the concomitant marketization and globalization, social space in cities of Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union also witness enlarged differentiation. The reason is mainly attributed to the transitional socioeconomic and political impacts as well as path-dependency of socialist era. By conclusion, the paper proposes to develop comparative study between urban China and ‘post-socialist’ cities to achieve theorization.
2006, Vol. 21 
