Fourth International Workshop on Post-communist Urban Geographies

Fourth International Workshop on Post-communist Urban Geographies

Space, Culture and Transition in Post-socialist Cities

Bucharest, Romania, 14-17 September 2011

Background and aim

The Fourth International Workshop on Post-communist Urban Geographies: Space, Culture and Transition in Post-socialist Cities carries on the tradition established by three earlier workshops held in Lund (2005), Stockholm-Tallinn (2007) and Tartu (2009) with the aim (1) to draw together scholars interested in post-communist cities in order to discuss ongoing urban research in the region, and (2) to experience post-socialist urban change first hand through conference excursions. The previous workshops have been diverse both with regard to the topics presented and the geography of participants, drawing together about 50 young and established scholars in the field. The outcomes of past workshops have included the establishment of the Cities After Transition (CAT) network JISC-mailing list (with over 100 members across the globe), the CAT website, and special issues of leading international journals in the field (Geografiska Annaler. Series B. Human Geography).

We call for papers in any field dealing with post-communist urban change, either empirical or theoretical in content. Both quantitative and qualitative research from population, political, cultural, economic geographic and other perspectives on such cities are warmly welcome. In addition to this open call for papers, the subtitle of the workshop encourages plural approaches to post-communist urban areas. For example, the organizers also encourage submission of papers on topics such as:

• Patterns, forms and causes of residential segregation and desegregation;


• Mobility (daily mobility, residential change, internal and international in- and out-migration);


• Postsocialist urban leisure, pleasure, tourism, boredom and social suffering;


• Thinking between the posts: postsocialist, postcolonial and postfordist city;


• Suburban transformations;


• Informal, unseen and temporary city;


• Functional and population change in inner cities


• Creative industries and postsocialist cities;


• Memory, place and subjectivity;


• The transformations of socialist era apartment building districts;


• Shrinking cities;


• Urban governance;


• Urban sprawl and changing patterns of daily mobility;


• The post-socialist urban “South”, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa

Excursions

There will be two field trips during the workshop, one in town and one out of town. One afternoon we will visit one part of Bucharest to illustrate various historical processes which have shaped the city: the formation of historical centre, the massive communist-era urban renewal program of the 1980s, one area of abandoned industrial sites, a shopping mall and a cultural centre based in the former wholesale municipal warehouses. The visit will include the House of the Parliament, a huge and controversial structure constructed in the late 1980s, said to be one of world’s largest buildings. The second trip will be to the Brasov metropolitan region situated in the Carpathian Mountains, and located some three hours away hours by bus from Bucharest. The trip will last all day Saturday, but depending on the circumstances we might stay overnight. This will include the appreciation of post-communist urban sprawl and the visiting of Braşov (also known as Hermanstat in German and Brassó in Hungarian). During the evening, before the return to Bucharest, dinner will be provided, surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery location near Brasov.

Deadlines

Paper abstracts (max 200 words) to be submitted by: April 15, 2010. Thematic panels may be proposed as well. Panel proposals need to contain the title and the abstracts of all proposed papers. The deadline is the same, April 15, 2010.

Notification of acceptance: May 1, 2010

Early bird registration before: June 1, June 2010

Final registration: 1 August 2010
Full paper submission: 15 August 2010

Please send the paper proposals to cities.after.transition.2011@sas.unibuc.ro.

Registration fees

Early bird registration (payment before 1 June 2010):

• 190 EUR for scholars making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the workshop)


• 100 EUR for PhD students making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the workshop)

Regular fees (payment after 1 June 2010):

• 210 EUR for scholars making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the conference)


• 110 EUR for PhD students making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the conference)

The registration fee covers workshop materials, coffee breaks, meals and the excursions.

Payment details: Will be announced as the registration approaches, after the selection of abstracts. The number of participants is limited to 50.

Host institution

The workshop will be hosted by the Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest (www.sas.unibuc.ro). The University of Bucharest is the leading higher education institution in Romania, with 18 departments, 40000 students and many research centres (more on http://unibuc.ro/).

Organizers

Liviu Chelcea, University of Bucharest

Laura Panait, Babeş-Bolyai University

Vera Marin, Association for Urban Transition

Michael Gentile, Umeå University

Tiit Tammaru, University of Tartu

Duncan Light, Liverpool Hope University

Craig Young, Manchester Metropolitan University

Suggested accommodation in Bucharest

The Department of Sociology and Social Work is conveniently located in the central area of Bucharest. There are multiple accommodation options. The Department is located between three *** hotels, each within 2 minutes walk (Hotel Venezia, Hotel Trianon,Hotel Volo), with prices ranging from 46 to 110 Euros). A limited number of places in low cost accommodation (about 25 Euros) will be available in the guest house of the University of Bucharest.

Contact
For further information, please contact us at: liviu.chelcea@sas.unibuc.ro, University of Bucharest.