CAT-ference 2011

Fourth International Workshop on Post-communist Urban Geographies

Space, Culture and Transition in Post-socialist Cities

Bucharest, Romania, 14-17 September 2011

The Fourth International Workshop on Post-communist Urban Geographies (CAT-ference 2011), Space, Culture and Transition in Post-socialist Cities, will be held in Bucharest, Romania, 14-17 September 2011.

Background and aim

The Fourth International Workshop on Post-communist Urban Geographies: Space, Culture and Transition in Post-socialist Cities carries on the tradition established by three earlier workshops held in Lund (2005), Stockholm-Tallinn (2007) and Tartu (2009) with the aim (1) to draw together scholars interested in post-communist cities in order to discuss ongoing urban research in the region, and (2) to experience post-socialist urban change first hand through conference excursions. The previous workshops have been diverse both with regard to the topics presented and the geography of participants, drawing together about 50 young and established scholars in the field. The outcomes of past workshops have included the establishment of the Cities After Transition (CAT) network JISC-mailing list (with over 100 members across the globe), the CAT website, and special issues of leading international journals in the field (Geografiska Annaler. Series B. Human Geography).

We call for papers in any field dealing with post-communist urban change, either empirical or theoretical in content. Both quantitative and qualitative research from population, political, cultural, economic geographic and other perspectives on such cities are warmly welcome. In addition to this open call for papers, the subtitle of the workshop encourages plural approaches to post-communist urban areas. For example, the organizers also encourage submission of papers on topics such as:

Patterns, forms and causes of residential segregation and desegregation;

Mobility (daily mobility, residential change, internal and international in- and out-migration);

Postsocialist urban leisure, pleasure, tourism, boredom and social suffering;

Thinking between the posts: postsocialist, postcolonial and postfordist city;

Suburban transformations;

Informal, unseen and temporary city;

Functional and population change in inner cities

Creative industries and postsocialist cities;

Memory, place and subjectivity;

The transformations of socialist era apartment building districts;

Shrinking cities;

Urban governance;

Urban sprawl and changing patterns of daily mobility;

The post-socialist urban „South”, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa

Excursions

There will be two field trips during the workshop, one in town and one out of town. One afternoon we will visit one part of Bucharest to illustrate various historical processes which have shaped the city: the formation of historical centre, the massive communist-era urban renewal program of the 1980s, one area of abandoned industrial sites, a shopping mall and a cultural centre based in the former wholesale municipal warehouses. The visit will include the House of the Parliament, a huge and controversial structure constructed in the late 1980s, said to be one of world’s largest buildings. The second trip will be to the Brasov metropolitan region situated in the Carpathian Mountains, and located some three hours away hours by bus from Bucharest. The trip will last all day Saturday, but depending on the circumstances we might stay overnight. This will include the appreciation of post-communist urban sprawl and the visiting of Braşov (also known as Kronstadt in German and Brassó in Hungarian). During the evening, before the return to Bucharest, dinner will be provided, surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery location near Brasov.

REGISTRATION SCHEDULE AND FEES

Early bird registration: June 6 – July 1st

190 EUR for scholars making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the workshop)

100 EUR for PhD students making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the workshop)

Regular registration: July 2nd – July 20

210 EUR for scholars making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the conference)

110 EUR for PhD students making a presentation (applies also to the co-authors attending the conference)

Full paper submission: 15 August 2011. Papers will be posted on the conference website.

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