First, it is a consequence of the transformation process. The socialist cities’
distorted spatial structure is inefficient from the perspective of an evolving
market economy. The lack of adequate commercial space in the city centre,
the low utilisation of the inner city and the excessive domination of the central
city over the metropolitan region are sources of many local and regional
imbalances and inefficiencies. Thus, the current changes in Sofia could be
looked upon as a process of balancing the urban spatial structure and making it
more suitable for the requirements of the modern market economy. From this
perspective, some suburbanisation might, to a certain extent, produce more
efficient balance between the city and its hinterland. Some settlements in the
outer zone of Sofia, for example, have attracted better-educated population
with higher incomes, thus enhancing their economic viability. The problem is,
however, that such settlements are situated almost exclusively in the southern
part of the suburban zone, which is a base for another spatial imbalance.
Fig. 10, 11
A modern residential
development in the southern
suburb of Boyana.
(Google Earth)Yani Valkanov