Planning the post-communist city: Experiences from Sofia

Abstract

This paper examines adjustments of the urban planning process to the post-communist context in the case of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The main research question is whether master-planning processes have substantially changed from top-down and technocratic (as they certainly were in fascist and then communist Bulgaria) to open and participatory today. The paper tells the story of four master plans—one pre-communist, two communist, and one post-communist. It concludes that despite the increased capacity of the citizenry to both influence and challenge government planning and decision-making, there is little evidence of sharp discontinuity between past and present planning processes.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dr Christopher Shove, Dr Jonathan Levine, Dr Scott Campbell, Dr Julie Steiff and the staff of the Directorate of Architecture and Urban Design at the Municipality of Sofia for all their help with this project.