ABSTRACT
Transformation as a development stage in the conversion of socialist urban space into Westernized urban space inevitably produced certain specific spatial and business forms and phenomena that could not be attributed to a city that had not experienced transformation. These specific forms emerged and developed alongside conventional trade forms, producing a certain spatial system at certain given times. At different stages of transformation these specific forms played a different role both in the retail trade economy and in its spatial structure. For each stage of transformation we can define trade forms that could be called typical or even essential. Each of these forms produced a spatial system of its own that lent specificity to the spatial system of the retail sector as a whole. We consider the study of these specific transformation forms, their spatial structures, as well as their influence upon the market and the spatial organization of the retail sector as a whole, to be of the utmost importance.2 The most challenging objective would be to find out whether these specific transformation forms are responsible for any features of the post-transformational market and urban space that could differentiate the post-transformation city from others.
