Post-Socialist Neoliberalism and the Production of Space

During the past five decades, the neoliberal market economy became one of the most influential forces in the process of spatial production, transforming cities worldwide by succumbing them to the rationale of global finance. In the world where religions and ideologies continue to lose their influence, the power of money became an adequate substitute. The global nature and overarching impact of neoliberalism made it the research focus of a vast cohort of urban and architectural scholars, historians, theoreticians, geographers, and economists, leading to a significant body of literature that discusses the relationship between the market economy and the built environment. It has been recognized that neoliberalism influences all spatial scales, from transnational landscapes to the layout of individual housing units, leading to a new global uniformity. As Peck, Theodore and Brenner have argued, “neoliberalization is never found alone”, and it is persistently confronted with various local forces, which are relevant to the “contextually specific histories of institutional organization”. Among these local forces, according to Harvey, are the pre-war economic elites that are attempting to reclaim their former financial power by reducing the control of the state, as seen in the economic reformations of the 1970s. However, while this might be accurate to the so-called ‘western world’, where pre-war elites indeed existed, this thematic issue focuses on post-socialist contexts that lacked an old financial class, and rather comprised other hegemonic groups, like party officials, unions, and military officers.

Accordingly, this thematic issue in Urban Planning challenges the common perception of neoliberalism as a post-Fordist Keynesian phenomenon. Therefore, it asks to frame the concept of post-socialist neoliberalism, focusing on the transition from a state-led (or party-led) economy to a market-led one while examining how this influenced the formation of regions, cities, and buildings. We invite scholars interested in developing the framework of post-socialist neoliberalism through place-based analyses of market-oriented urban development and architecture in various global contexts. Authors are encouraged to present research that challenges the conventional understanding of neoliberalism, illustrating the unique circumstances of post-socialism and the manner in which it influences not only urban spaces, but also transnational landscapes, individual buildings and dwelling units.