REDISCOVERING LARGE SCALE HOUSING ESTATES IN POST SOCIALIST CITIES

Large scale housing estates, once a dream of every family, now are facing serious physical and social decline. However comparison of the post war housing has showed that despite low physical quality neighbourhoods in the east-central Europe were much less deteriorated, then their western counterparts. On the other hand nowadays post socialist cities are experiencing loss of population, sprawl and shifts in the housing market. That changes position of the estates, which is rapidly decreasing. As soon as the housing shortage is eliminated, apartments in the estates go to the bottom of the market, segregation, urban problems and decline is triggered. To prevent the threat to happen it is necessary to start rehabilitation programs in early enough stage. However it is essential that regeneration policies are included in broader city plans and strategies, as that brings long lasting results, and is beneficial for the neighbourhood and for the city itself. The paper researches tools how to prevent large scale neighbourhood decline in post socialist cities, learning from western European regeneration policies.