ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the situation in cities in the new Member States, where cities play an extraordinary role in the transformation process. It provides a brief overview of demographic developments and then focus on urban competitiveness and, more specifically, on the position of cities in New Member States. Suburbanization is an important cross-cutting phenomenon in the new Member States, from Budapest and Prague to Warsaw and Tallinn. The various city-types tend to be spread right across the European territory although there is a degree of clustering evident. Re-invented capitals, for example, are typical of the new Member States, as are De-industrialized cities. Yet, more recent developments demonstrate a decreasing tendency of unemployment in the De-industrialized cities in the new Member States, whereas levels in the ‘old’ Member States remain structurally high – clearly pointing to higher levels of transition in the new Member States.
