REGENERATION OF POST-SOCIALIST HOUSING STOCK: A METHOD TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HOUSING ESTATES IN OSTRAVA

This article presents a method of comprehensive analysis that was developed to classify a larger number of post-socialist housing-estates within one municipality. It enables to reveal certain patterns and potentials and classify seemingly uniform housing-estates into categories which share similar characteristics and challenges. Such classification helps set a regeneration strategy and further planning actions aimed at starting a longterm sustainable regeneration of housing estates. The method is illustrated on the case of the city of Ostrava where 34 housing-estates were analyzed based on their attractiveness and spatial and socio-economic characteristics. The analysis uncovered four specific groups of housing-estates with similar patterns. The method allows to visualize these conclusions and communicate them easily to the wide public. Hence, the method addresses two key factors when setting the regeneration policies: the ability to take decision and to communicate it.