ABSTRACT

Since the systemic changes of 1989-90 the socio-spatial structure of Budapest has gone through gradual changes. These changes could be linked with a solid occupational stratification caused by deindustrialisation and the growing role of services. In this process the share of more educated and higher-income groups increased, whereas the weight of lower-status groups shrank. Economic restructuring generated not only occupational reconfiguration but also increasing wage differences. According to our findings growing income differences have only slowly translated to new patterns of social segregation in Budapest. One important aspect of the new segregation pattern is that lower socio-economic groups became more segregated while upper occupational categories, especially professionals, became more evenly dispersed in the city.