city centre rapidly declined, a commercialisation and gentrification in inner city
areas starts since the mid-1990s. The large new office and retail projects have
decentralised away from the historical core towards inner city locations with
good accessibility. Older buildings have been redeveloped and transformed into
office spaces and luxury housings for higher income residents and foreigners.
New residential buildings with condominium apartments are being constructed
on vacant plots. However, the process is highly selective, affecting only certain
neighbourhoods with higher quality and socio-economic status. The residential
suburbanisation in the outer zone takes two forms: the individual developments
within the villages and the emergence of new residential districts attached
to them. However, the residential suburbanisation has been slow, limited
by the low purchasing power of the population. Nevertheless, the process
significantly changed the socio-economic status of the suburban zone, which
Fig. 4
An old house in Lozenetz,
one of the most expensive
neighbourhoods in Sofia,
awaiting demolition.
(Google Earth)Fig. 5
Lozenetz is pointed out as an
example of overdevelopment
that completely changed the
character of the once quiet
neighbourhood. (Google Earth)Yani Valkanov