The Post-socialist City, Between Inequality and Taking (Back the) Power

Abstract

With the East (the former Second World) having lost much of its scholarly appeal since the end of the Cold War, texts about, let alone special issues on, the post-socialist city in Eastern Europe continue to be relatively sparse in urban studies. Based on the Forum on Urban Inequalities held in the city of Sofia in 2022, this dossier seeks to address this lacuna, from a wide variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. The featured articles explore the promises and challenges of socially engaged architecture, the neoliberalisation of housing and the struggles against it, and the difficulties of even defining what a (post)socialist city is or could be within urban studies. The issue makes contributions to ongoing debates on the political economy of the contemporary city, the right to housing and the housing as a common, and comparative and global urbanism.