Urban Change in Central Europe The Case of Kraków Routledge Advances in Regional Economics, Science and Policy Series

The changes that Central European cities have undergone since 1989 deserve a complex, interdisciplinary analysis that offers deep insight into the specific nature of the transformation taking place in the region. This book presents a multidimensional and cross-disciplinary case study of Kraków, focusing on the changes taking place in Central Europe over the last three decades.

This book answers the question of how the once neglected city of Kraków has transformed into a thriving global tourist destination, an attractive investment market, and a European leader of shared services. It examines political, socio-economic, cultural, and architectural development of the city against the ongoing processes of post-1989 political and economic transition, European integration, and globalisation. The authors offer a portrait of the evolution in thinking about the developmental resources of the city, accounting for what is broadly construed as culture and heritage. Whereas previous studies have offered only one-dimensional insights into these phenomena, this book highlights the specific characteristics of the transition and identifies the challenges typical of many cities in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, after the fall of communism.

This book will be valuable reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate and PhD students of economic geography, urban studies, public management, political studies, sociology, culture and heritage management, and modern history, as well as those with an interest in Central European and transformation issues.

List of figures. List of tables. List of contributors. Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Kraków 1989 and since. Civil society: From “Solidarity” to urban activism. Municipal self- government: 1990–2019. Kraków in the face of the transformation: The economic life of the city. Kraków: An eventful city. Kraków spatial development after 1989. Kraków and its region: Mutual relations after 1989. Kraków architecture and globalisation. Kraków culture heritage: On the way to globalizing the national potential. Kraków: A creative city. Kraków’s metropolitan functions. Afterword – Kraków: Dialectics of history and change. Names Index. Subject Index.

Jacek Purchla is Professor of Humanities and Head of the Department of Economic and Social History/UNESCO Chair for Heritage and Urban Studies at the Cracow University of Economics.