The Routledge Handbook to Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe

Since the fall of state socialism, the East-Central European (ECE) group of countries - Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania - have undergone new processes of socio-economic restructuring, leading to new patterns of regional differentiation and development. Influenced by a combination of inherited and newly emerging factors, territorial disparities have been on the rise. Taking a comparative approach, this book delivers a comprehensive view on the complex system of regional development within ECE region. This important contribution will be a key resource for scholars of European Studies, Development Studies, Economics and Human Geography.

Twenty-five years into transformation, Central and Eastern European regions have undergone substantial socio-economic restructuring, integrating into European and global networks and producing new patterns of regional differentiation and development. Yet post-socialist modernisation has not been without its contradictions, manifesting in increasing social and territorial inequalities. Recent studies also suggest there are apparent limits to post-socialist growth models, accompanying a new set of challenges within an increasingly uncertain world.

Aiming to deliver a new synthesis of regional development issues at the crossroads between ‘post-socialism’ and ‘post-transition’, this book identifies the main driving forces of spatial restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe, and charts the different regional development paths which take shape against the backdrop of post-crisis Europe. A comparative approach is used to highlight common development challenges and the underlying patterns of socio-economic differentiation alike. The issues investigated within the Handbook extend to a discussion of the varied economic consequences of transition, the social structures and institutional systems which underpin development processes, and the broadly understood sustainability of Central and Eastern Europe’s current development model.

This book will be of interest to academics and policymakers working in the fields of regional studies, economic geography, development studies and policy.