Ethnic Dimensions of Suburbanisation in Estonia

Large scale suburbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon in East Central Europe and responsible for major socio-spatial changes in metropolitan areas. Little is known about the ethnic dimensions of this process. However, large minority population groups, mainly ethnic Russians, remained into the former member states of the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991. We use individual level Estonia Census data in order to investigate the ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation. The results show that ethnic minorities have a considerably lower probability to suburbanise compared to the majority population, and minorities are less likely to move to rural municipalities – the main sites of suburban change – in the suburban ring of cities. Individual characteristics that measure strong ties with the majority population and host society exert a positive effect on ethnic minority suburbanization, and on settling in rural municipalities.suburbanisation, ethnicity, Census data, East Central Europe, Estonia

Access to homeownership in decline—rising housing inequalities for young people in the neoliberal housing market of Tallinn

The current housing affordability crisis, driven mainly by the financialization of housing and the government's retrenchment of social policies and provision of affordable housing, have affected growing inequalities in access to housing. The crises have hit young people especially hard. The recent trends call for systematic studies on the mechanisms generating such intergenerational inequality, considering the specifics of the prevailing housing regimes. Housing affordability in Tallinn has decreased due to fast-growing housing prices, as a result of an ultra-liberal housing regime, exemplified by housing financialization, capital accumulation, low level of governmental interventions and an overall increase in social inequalities. Based on EU-SILC data, it is shown how the recent trends during the decade between 2010 and 2020 have negatively impacted young people's access to homeownership—access has been greatly reduced for young cohorts, and it has become more differentiated, based on the socio-economic and labor market performance of households, as well as intergenerational transfers. Young households are increasingly residing in private rental dwellings, and many still rely on parental housing until their 30s. Rental housing, as compared to homeownership, has fewer advantages compared to homeownership—it brings no capital gains and is less secure, and rental stock tends to be located unevenly across urban space and to be in slightly worse condition compared to owner-occupied housing. This positions young people in an unfavorable position in the perspective of their housing career, and this can have severe consequences on their social inclusion

Ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation in Estonia

Large scale suburbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon in East Central Europe and responsible for major socio-spatial changes in metropolitan areas. Little is known about the ethnic dimensions of this process. However, large minority population groups, mainly ethnic Russians, remained into the former member states of the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991. We use individual level Estonia Census data in order to investigate the ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation. The results show that ethnic minorities have a considerably lower probability to suburbanise compared to the majority population, and minorities are less likely to move to rural municipalities - the main sites of suburban change - in the suburban ring of cities. Individual characteristics that measure strong ties with the majority population and host society exert a positive effect on ethnic minority suburbanization, and on settling in rural municipalities

Estonians in Finland - integration, links to homeland and forms of transnationalism

Non peer reviewe

Trends of out-mobility from large housing estates in Stockholm : influences of the housing policy and neighbourhood context

Since 1990s Stockholm housing market has seen deregulations in accordance with liberalization trends in other European welfare states. The new governance principles together with increasing immigration and public rental housing conversions into cooperative housing in attractive inner city areas have put pressure on still rental-dominated estates because fewer rental dwellings must now cater to expanding numbers of people who have little choice on the housing market. In recent decades, many estates have displayed increasing signs of stigmatization, social exclusion, and outflow of relatively affluent people. This paper improves our knowledge of how the housing policy and economic changes have affected out-mobility from the housing estates in case of three cohorts of young people and how the childhood neighbourhood conditions affect this. Individual annual Swedish registry data (1990-2014) are employed to longitudinally study the out-mobility patterns of three cohorts that grew up in the estates against the backdrop of marketization, growing inequality and deteriorating conditions. This study supplements the existing literature on housing estates by clarifying how income has become more and ethnicity less important over time in explaining sorting patterns from these estates. However, the combination of the two has determined sorting throughout the study period. Growing up in a higher socioeconomic status neighbourhood had modest impact on reducing socioeconomic differences in out-mobility from the estates, while leading to more sorting based on ethnic background

The impacts of culture-led flagship projects on local communities in the context of post-socialist Tallinn

In post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe, the effects of urban culture-led flagship projects on the quality of life of local neighbourhood communities have only received marginal attention, while the overriding focus has been on promoting economic growth and internationalisation. The aim of the article is to identify the community impacts of culture-led regeneration projects carried out in the inner city of Tallinn in the past decade. Qualitative analysis of three inner-city flagship projects-creative campus, museum, and cultural hub-revealed that culture-led regeneration projects, whether public or private initiatives, are regarded as standard business models. In terms of their influence on local communities, the projects vary depending on their focus, the degree of engagement of local groups in the planning phase and activities, and the extent of actual physical change. However, in cases where local groups have been engaged, the engagement has been selective and has primarily involved the creative class. Local residents nevertheless perceive that the projects have led to overall positive changes in physical neighbourhood characteristics.96399

Housing restitution and privatization : Both catalysts and obstacles to the formation of private rental housing in the Czech Republic and Estonia

The return of property expropriated during the communist period to previous owners or to their descendants (property restitution) led to the quick emergence of a private rental sector in those post-communist countries that applied a physical form of property restitution soon after 1990. The Czech Republic and Estonia are examples of such countries. Within just a few years, as a result of property restitution, a private rental sector grew out of almost non-existence to become a significant part of the countries’ total housing stock. However, the character of this sector remained different from the private rental sector found in countries with advanced economies – especially owing to specific rent regulation, tenant protection and, albeit indirectly, public housing privatisation. This article analyses and compares the genesis of private rental tenure in the Czech Republic and Estonia. Its main goal is to demonstrate how state regulations and interventions have influenced tenure choice, the formation of social norms, and thus the permanent perception of private renting. In both transition countries private renting gradually acquired the character of a transitional and residual form of housing. State interventions early on in the transition were probably the most significant factors behind the fact that private renting did not establish itself as a real tenure alternative to owner-occupied housing

Urban Policies on Diversity in Tallinn, Estonia

Critical analysis of existing urban policy programmes and discourses in Tallinn, Estonia. Includes overview of political systems and governance structures, key shifts in national discourses, and approaches to policy over migration, citizenship, and diversity

Patterns and drivers of inner city social differentiation in Prague and Tallinn

During the socialist era, inner residential areas of Eastern European cities were left to decay both physically and socially, and became mostly occupied by elderly inhabitants. Drawing on 2007-2011 EU-SILC data, we have analysed processes of socio-spatial differentiation in the inner cities of Prague and Tallinn during the post-socialist era, and indicate the household-level drivers of such differentiation. We found a high preference for inner city living among young people and childless households, but also the persisting patterns of elderly population in some inner city sub-areas. A weak correlation between household socio-economic status and place of residence in the inner city, however, suggests that inner cities continued to be socially mixed in the late 2000s, although differences existed in this regard between sub-areas and between the two studied cities. To a large extent, such differentiation relates to the roots found within socialist and pre-socialist legacies, but it also contains new post-socialist features, such as those created by different social and housing policies applied during the post-socialist reforms.27529