Urban fragmentation and reconfiguration: a multi-scale analysis of post-socialist Oradea

Cities are complex spatial organisms shaped by long-term historical, political, socio-economic, or geographic factors. Urban form reflects successive phases of development that correspond to broader historical and ideological contexts. Over time, a wide range of approaches has been developed to analyse urban form and urban context, including historical approaches, analytical approaches, and recent historic urban landscape frameworks. However, the debate about post-socialist cities remains a long-term debate regarding the term per se or its urban form.

This paper presents a multi-scalar framework as a complementary tool to yield nuanced insights. The conceptual framework was developed, but needs further case-study testing. The city of Oradea, Romania, will serve as a pilot case, with particular emphasis on the socialist period. The conceptual framework consists of three stages: historical-descriptive, analytical, and interpretative. Tracing the theoretical fields and key authors, the framework aims to be inclusive and suitable for multi-scalar analyses.

Applied to Oradea, Romania, the analysis begins at the macro-scale with a historio-geographical methodology, using contrasting theories (Conzen and Kostof) in order to trace evolutionary stages. The identification of the current fragments of the city is a fundamental part of understanding the fringe belts. At the meso-scale, neighbourhoods and urban fragments are examined by introducing space-syntax methodology. Further research should be conducted at the micro-scale to understand the details of the city.

The first step aims to understand the city as a whole and its historical context. The meso-scale analysis reveals the relationships among different parts of the city; and, as for the post-socialist city, it reveals the relations among raions and micro-raions within the city and their morphological, spatial, and visual relationships. Therefore, we argue that the framework offers a practical tool for urban planners seeking to understand the spatial logic of urban change and development.