- Urban Development in Central and Eastern Europe: From Transition to »creative« Competition?    366 kb by    Pichler-Milanovic, Nataša | natasa.milanovic@ff.uni-lj.si    Short Outline The paper examines relationships between the process of globalisation, EU-isation and inter and intra-urban transformations of CEE capital cities towards competitive, creative and livable places, establishing the new (inter)national identity. Abstract The dramatic changes since 1989 including the collapse of Communist ideology, the break-up of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, the end of the Cold War and the impact of globalisation and European integration, have reconfigured the Central and Eastern European region and affected re-integration of cities and regions into European and global networks. The paper examines the similarities and differences between significant Central and Eastern European capital cities, comparing the differing patterns of transition, and the impacts of internal and external forces on re-shaping these cities and their paths of transformation since 1990. The paper also examines current urban development and planning practices and policy networks explored in a rich set of capital cities in Central Europe (Berlin, Budapest, Prague, Ljubljana, Warsaw), the Baltic states (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius), South-East Europe (Sofia) and Eastern Europe (Moscow). The paper demonstrates the similarities and differences between Central and Eastern European capital cities, their re-integration into city networks and the importance of cross-border cooperation and »regionalisation« for the formation of the new city identity and i.e. »global integration zones«. What these cities achieve and how they develop will be profoundly shaped by interactions within both global and local contexts, and wider developments in economies, politics and society. The paper is based on the findings from the book: F. E. Hamilton, K. Dimitrovska Andrews, and N. Pichler-Milanoviæ (Eds.) Transformation of Cities in Central and Eastern Europe: Towards Globalisation, UNU Press, 2005. Therefore the paper emphasises the inter-relationship between the process of globalisation, European integration and enlargement and inter- and intra-urban transformations of Central and Eastern European cities – from socialist cities to competitive, creative and livable European cities, striving to establish their new identity in the national, European and global networks. Most notably one of the aims of the paper is to answer the following questions: • What does the “creative economy” mean for cities in Central and Eastern Europe? • How to shape transitional advances and transform them into urban opportunities? In a competitive world, how can attractiveness be sustained? • What urban strategies can be developed that will have a sustainable impact on Central and Eastern European cities as nodes of creativity and the economy? • Is a new disparity emerging between CEE cities? Keywords inter and intra urban transformation, capital cities, Central and Eastern Europe Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2005: Making Spaces for the Creative Economy   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper