Rebuilding a community ‘centre’ under free-market pressure: The post-socialist experience with local brownfield management
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Territory, Politics, Governance |
| Citation | |
| web | https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2021.1916580 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2021.1916580 |
| Keywords | brownfields; urban space; development; strategic action fields; post-socialism; neoliberalism |
| Description | In post-socialist countries, recycling urban spaces is one of the key tasks for local authorities to address. While large-scale abandoned places received the required attention, small-scale brownfields have been omitted from redevelopment strategies. Using transition theory on the effects of globalization on communities and the theory of action fields, the paper aims to increase knowledge about the ways in which local actors strive to reach the goals of post-socialist non-prime brownfield remediation. In the example of a local redevelopment project (in Brno, Czech Republic), the study focuses on the options available to public authorities in developing a civic centre against free-market pressures. The results illustrate the hierarchical limits of territorial governance in post-socialist cities which contribute to the growing imbalance between economic and social capital in the brownfield management. The effects of globalization hinder the process of creating a field of strategic action between post-socialist local authorities and free-market forces. |