The spontaneous rules of spontaneous development

Aleksandar D Slaev, Stefano Cozzolino, Boriana Nozharova and Jetchka Ilieva

Environment and Planning B, 2022, vol. 49, issue 9, 2392-2408

Abstract: This study contributes to the long but still heated debate on spontaneity in urban development. While the critics of spontaneity consider it synonymous with chaos, its proponents emphasise the benefits of spontaneous order. In this paper, we assume that spontaneous development may have both positive and negative aspects and we seek to identify what determines whether and to what extent spontaneity will produce a beneficial social/spatial order. The prevalence of advantages or disadvantages may be due to specific historical, geographical and social causes, but we emphasise one critically important factor: the presence of spontaneous social rules . To contribute to this debate, we acknowledge the institutional nature of spontaneous rules and underscore the need for rules to develop over time. We examine three spontaneous developments in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest city. As these settlements are typical for spontaneous forms in Southeast Europe, we draw conclusions relevant primarily to this region, but also in wider contexts. We find that spontaneous rules’ development is what determines whether order emerges and to what degree its benefits are realised. The suitability of spontaneous rules depends on local cultures, habits and values rooted in society.

Keywords: Spontaneous development; spontaneous order; informal settlements; southeast europe; spontaneous rules; roma housing; historical settlements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirb:v:49:y:2022:i:9:p:2392-2408

DOI: 10.1177/23998083221090963

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