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  • © 2019

Housing Estates in the Baltic Countries

The Legacy of Central Planning in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

  • Explores the differences in large housing estates in socialist and capitalist Europe
  • Quantifies historical and evolving socioeconomic integration and ethnic separation in housing estates
  • Explores the uniqueness of housing estates in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
  • Outlines the future of housing estates

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series (UBS)

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Table of contents (17 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. Introduction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
  3. Context and Vision

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 29-29
    2. A Turbulent Political History and the Legacy of State Socialism in the Baltic Countries

      • Allan Puur, Martin Klesment, Luule Sakkeus
      Pages 31-49Open Access
    3. Baltic Crossings: Soviet Housing Estates and Dreams of Forest-Suburbs

      • Laura Berger, Sampo Ruoppila, Kristo Vesikansa
      Pages 95-115Open Access
  4. Housing the Masses: Establishing Socialist-Modernist Housing Estates in the Baltic Countries

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 137-137
    2. Socialist Ideals and Physical Reality: Large Housing Estates in Riga, Latvia

      • Sandra Treija, Uģis Bratuškins
      Pages 161-180Open Access
    3. Living in a Large Housing Estate: Insider Perspectives from Lithuania

      • Viltė Janušauskaitė
      Pages 181-199Open Access
  5. Exploring the Socio-Demographic and Ethnic Characteristics of Previous and Current Housing Estate Dwellers

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 201-201
    2. Socio-economic and Ethnic Trajectories of Housing Estates in Tallinn, Estonia

      • Anneli Kährik, Karin Kangur, Kadri Leetmaa
      Pages 203-223Open Access
    3. Residential Change and Socio-demographic Challenges for Large Housing Estates in Riga, Latvia

      • Zaiga Krišjāne, Māris Bērziņš, Guido Sechi, Jānis Krūmiņš
      Pages 225-245Open Access
    4. Soviet Housing Estates in Vilnius, Lithuania: Socio-ethnic Structure and Future(-Less?) Perspectives

      • Donatas Burneika, Rūta Ubarevičienė, Aušra Baranuskaitė
      Pages 247-270Open Access
  6. Complexities of Built Environments in Housing Estates

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 271-271

About this book

This open access book focuses on the formation and later socio-spatial trajectories of large housing estates in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It also explores claims that a distinctly “westward-looking orientation” in their design produced housing estates that were superior in design to those produced elsewhere in the Soviet Union (between 1944 and 1991, Estonia was a member republic of the USSR).
  
The first two parts of the book provide contextual material to help readers understand the vision behind housing estates in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These sections present the background of housing estates in the Baltic Republics as well as challenges and debates concerning their formation, evolution, and present condition and importance. Subsequent parts of the book consist of:


  • demographic analyses of the socioeconomic characteristics and ethnicity of housing estate residents (pastand present) in the three Baltic capital cities, 
  • case studies of people and places related to housing estates in the Baltic countries, and 
  • chapters exploring relevant special topics and themes.



This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and advocates interested in understanding the past, present, and future importance of housing estates in the Baltic countries.


Reviews

“This is a useful book that addresses the breadth and depth of issues related to housing estate revitalization across Europe and should meet students’ and academics’ appetites for more detailed excavations of housing estates development today. It presents substantial progress in understanding urban issues like ethnic-spatial segregation, inner city revitalization, limiting urban sprawl, and social cohesion, and generates fresh ideas for potential collaboration, among many other things.” (Marcela Mele, Eurasian Geography and Economics, May 8, 2023)

“This much-needed book pays great attention to explaining the historical context of the birth of this sort of housing, the use of standardized types and projects versus innovative planning principles … and the architect’s aspiration towards novelty and original solutions in developing housing estates for the Soviet man.” (Triin Ojari, European Planning Studies, Vol. 28 (6), 2020)

“I strongly recommend [this book] to housing scholars and practitioners on both sides of the Atlantic. The editors and the pub­lisher, Springer Open, deserve credit for publishing two attractive and useful books that address the breadth and depth of issues related to housing estate revitalization across Europe. The numerous photographs (color as well as black-white) throughout the book helped me to understand changes in the design of European housing estates—the good as well as the bad.” (David P. Varady, Geography Research Forum, Vol. 39, 2019)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, USA

    Daniel Baldwin Hess

  • Department of Geography, Centre for Migration and Urban Studies, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Tiit Tammaru

About the editors

Daniel Baldwin Hess is a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. He is a former Visiting Scholar and Director of the Centre for Migration and Urban Studies at the University of Tartu, Estonia, where he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie International Fellow funded by the European Commission. His research develops new pathways for understanding the complex socio-economic and ethnic landscapes of cities and related spatial inequalities. He is co-editor of the journal Town Planning Review (Liverpool University Press) and co-editor of the book Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation, and Policy Challenges (Springer Publishing 2018).



Tiit Tammaru is a Professor at the Centre for Migration and Studies at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Tammaru is also the Head of the Centre for Estonian Diaspora Studies and has received both the Estonian Science Award in the Social Sciences (2010) and the Natural Sciences Award (2011). His fields of interest include socio-spatial inequalities, geographical changes in urban regions, governing urban diversity, and social mobility.


Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access