Publisher's Synopsis
Transitions in Land and Housing in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland describes the shifts in control of land and housing from the public sector in those countries in the context of the transition from communism to market democracy. Most people now have a stake in the system as owners of property - farms, apartments, houses, shops, shares in enterprises - but this transition is not without cost. Housing construction has plummeted, farmland lies fallow, housing credit and farm credit are rarely available, and the poor and elderly fear loss of the social safety net. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland have responded to the challenges of transition in distinct ways, each influenced by its pre-communist past and by the extent of state power under communism. Strong, Reiner and Szyrmer's work is the first in-depth study to examine the role of real property in the transition process and will be of great interest to scholars and students of planning, public policy, political science and international affairs. Land policy research centres, here and abroad, will find it especially useful.
