Decline and revitalization in post-communist urban context: A case of the Polish citydGdansk Dominika Polanska Department of Sociology, Baltic and East European Graduate School (BEEGS), So ¨derto ¨rn University College, 141 89 Huddinge, Sweden Available online 23 July 2008 Abstract This paper examines how different social, economic, historical and physical conditions coincide in the formation of space and processes of decline in the period of transformation in Poland. The focus lies on a specific residential area in the centre of the Polish city of Gdansk and the question why no improvements have been done in this particular area to stop its suc- cessive decline. It is among other things argued that clear urban policy together with improved urban planning and clear legislation on ownership are needed in order to improve conditions in this and other deprived areas of the city. Ó 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Regents of the University of California. Keywords: Post-communist cities; Decline; Revitalization; Urban planning; Urban policy; Civil society Introduction Many of the urban regions in Central and Eastern Europe have gone through considerable changes since the 1990s. The new economic order has opened up for private investments as well as for a concentration of capital in the cities of Central and East European countries. Post-communist cities have become mirrors of the changes going on or using Lefebvre’s vocabulary spatial projections of societies Communist and Post-Communist Studies 41 (2008) 359e374 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com www.elsevier.com/locate/postcomstud 0967-067X/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Regents of the University of California. doi:10.1016/j.postcomstud.2008.06.002