suburbanisation are not the ‘push’ of the negative conditions in the core city,
nor the ‘pull’ of the positive features of the suburbs, but certain expectations
for the quality and size of the dwellings.^22
Future directions and policy implicationsThe fact that Sofia’s suburbanisation is a relatively limited phenomenon
doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have negative effects nor that it will not intensify
in the future. The commercial decentralisation is increasingly promoting a car-
oriented lifestyle. With the real income growth this process will tend to gain
momentum as well as the negative effects associated with it. Some of these
effects are observable in Sofia today: The intensive development on the southern
periphery has incurred the criticism of many activists and environmentalists for
the spoiling of large amounts of green areas of great importance for the city and
for the natural habitat. So far, Sofia’s suburbanisation has no serious negative
social consequences. The escape of the most affluent people into the suburbs
doesn’t pose serious problems as long as the main part of the population lives
in the city. However, this may change in future.
There are several possible factors that might contribute to the future
intensification of the suburbanisation trends. With the advancement of the
transformation towards a ‘market city’, the suburbanisation trends will be
increasingly driven by the factors and causes determining the suburbanisation
in the Western cities. With the growth in real income of the middle class,
increasingly more people would be willing and able to leave the panel housing
estates, in quest of a more attractive living environment in the suburbs. This
Yani Valkanov