Behind the Differentiation of Suburban Development in the Hinterland of Bratislava, Slovakia

Several tendencies seem to indicate that in the hinterland of Bratislava specific new residential zones are forming with a different socio-economic structure. This article analyses the hinterland of Bratislava from various perspectives of suburban development. The selection of variables covers the origin of in-migrants and their economic activity, education, and family status. Indicators of land use, housing construction, and property prices supplement these data. The data are processed based on a factorial ecology approach, which tries to discover the basic dimensions of the socio-spatial structure, and cluster analysis. Using these methods the authors identify similar clusters and categorise individual municipalities into relatively homogeneous units—suburban development types. The results lead to a number of very interesting findings. The same types of suburban municipalities are not arranged in concentric zones, which means that the factor of distance from the city does not play a prominent role. The prevailing factor is the sectorial structure, which reflects the different levels of attractiveness municipalities hold for different socio-economic groups of in-migrants. This article seeks to identify key factors that affect the formation of individual suburban zones and thus contributes to a better understanding of the processes that decisively shape the socio-spatial organisation of hinterlands in post-socialist cities today.