Keywords
rural planning
Lithuania
post-socialism
How to Cite
Abstract
The article analyses the changes to the system of the distribution of population in rural areas in Lithuania, one of the former Soviet states: it compares the transformation of settlements during the socialist era and the transformations of the rural settlement system after 1990. The aim of this paper is to analyse the results of the Soviet rural settlement planning policy and to evaluate post-Soviet rural development trajectories in Lithuania. Despite different political and economic systems, depopulation was the most important demographical trend in Lithuanian rural areas from the second half of the 20th century. The transformation of rural settlements after the collapse of the Soviet system has been quite chaotic and difficult to control. In the 21st century, both the shrinking periphery and the newly expand- ing settlements lack the infrastructure of public services.
Funding
This paper presents the results of the research project “Peripheral regions in Lithuania: Migration and local communities”. This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), Agreement No [S-MIP-21-57].
References
Albrecht M., Kortelainen J., 2020. Recoding of an industrial town: Bioeconomy hype as a cure from decline? European Planning Studies 29(1): 57-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2020.1804532
Bański J., 2019. Spatial differences in the transformation processes taking place in rural areas of East-Central Europe. In: Bański J. (ed.), Functional three decades of transformation in the East-Central European countryside: 3-19. Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21237-7_1
Baranauskienė V., 2021. Socioteritorinė atskirtis Lietuvos retai apgyventose teritorijose (Socio-territorial exclusion in sparsely populated areas of Lithuania). Doctoral thesis. Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology.
Baranauskienė V., Daugirdas V., 2017. Lietuvos probleminių regionų bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų tinklo kaita 2001-2016 m. – didėjančios teritorinės atskirties atspindys (Changes in the network of general education schools in problematic regions of Lithuania in 2001-2016 – increasing reflection of spatial exclusion). Geografijos metraštis 50: 57-74.
Berzins M., Zvidrins P., 2011. Depopulation in the Baltic States. Lithuanian Journal of Statistics 50(1): 39-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15388/LJS.2011.13931
Bihari Z.S., Kovács K., 2006. Slopes and slides: Spatial inequalities in employment opportunities in Hungary at the turn of the millennium. Europa XXI. Core and Peripheral Regions in Central and Eastern Europe 14: 77-94.
Biolek J., Andráško I., Malý J., Zrůstová P., 2017. Interrelated aspects of residential suburbanization and collective quality of life: A case study in Czech suburbs. Acta Geographica Slovenica 57(1): 65-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.909
Borén T., Gentile M., 2007. Metropolitan processes in post-communist communist states: An introduction. Geografiska Annaler 89(2): 95-110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2007.00242.x
Brade I., Herfert G., Wiest K., 2009. Recent trends and future prospects of socio-spatial differentiation in urban regions of Central and Eastern Europe: A lull before the storm? Cities 26(5): 233-244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2009.05.001
Burneika D., Ubarevičienė R., Valatka V., Baranauskaitė A., Pociūtė-Sereikienė G., Daugirdas V., Krupickaitė D., 2017. Lietuvos metropolinių region raida miestų sistemos transformacijos kontekste (The development of Lithuanian metropolitan regions in the context of urban system transformation). In: Burneika D. (ed.), Lietuvos metropoliniai regionai. Gyventojų erdvinė diferenciacija 21 a pradžioje (Metropolitan regions of Lithuania. Residential differentiation in the 21st century). Vilnius: Lithuanian Social Research Center: 25-38. ISBN 978-9955-531-59-53
Champion A.G., 2001. A changing demographic regime and evolving polycentric urban regions: Consequences for the size, composition and distribution of city populations. Urban Studies 38(4): 657-677. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980124955
Daniulaitis G., Stauskas V., 1980. Perspektyvinė Lietuvos TSR poilsio zonų sistema (Perspective system of recreation areas of the Lithuanian SSR), Lietuvos TSR architektūros klausimai 6 (3): 4-20.
Daugirdas V., Burneika D., Kriaučiūnas E., Ribokas G., Stanaitis S., Ubarevičienė, R., 2013. Lietuvos retai apgyventos teritorijos (Sparsely populated areas in Lithuania). Monograph. Lithuanian Social Research Centre, Vilnius. UDK 314(474.5).
Dawkins C.J., 2003. Regional development theory: Conceptual foundations, classic works, and recent developments. Journal of Planning Literature 18(2): 131-172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412203254706
Drėmaitė M., Janušauskaitė V., Kiznis N., Šiupšinskas M., 2023. Jūs gaunate butą. Gyvenamoji architektūra Lietuvoje 1940-1990 metais (You get the flat. Residential architecture in Lithuania in 1940-1990. Monograph). Lapas, Vilnius.
Ehrlich K., Kriszan A., Lang T., 2012. Urban development in Central and Eastern Europe – Between peripheralization and centralization? disP – The Planning Review 48(2): 77-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02513625.2012.721611
Farago L., 1999. Regional “winners” and “losers”. In: Hajdú Z. (ed.), Regional processes and spatial structures in Hungary in the 1990’s. Regionális Kutatások Központja, Pécs, Hungary: 316-327.
Friedmann J., 1966. Regional development policy: A case study of Venezuela. MIT Press, Cambridge.
Gentile M., Tammaru T., van Kempen R., 2012. Heteropolitanization: Social and spatial change in Central and East European cities. Cities 29(5): 291-350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2012.05.005
Hadjimichalis C., Hudson R., 2014. Contemporary crisis across Europe and the crisis of regional development theories. Regional Studies 48(1): 208-218. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2013.834044
Hall P., Hay D., 1980. Growth centres in the European Urban System. Heinemann Educational Books, London.
Harvey D., 2006. Limits of capital. Verso books: 478. ISBN 1844670953.
Izakovičová Z., Mederly P., Petrovič F., 2017. Long-term land use changes driven by urbanisation and their environmental effects (Example of Trnava City, Slovakia). Sustainability 9(9): 1553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091553
Izakovičová Z., Petrovič F., Pauditšová E., 2022. The impacts of urbanisation on landscape and environment: The case of Slovakia. Sustainability 14(1): 60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010060
Jepsen M.R., Kuemmerle T., Müller D., Erb K., Verburg P.H., Haber H., Peter Vesterager J., Andrič M., Antrop M., Austrheim G., Björn I., Bondeau A., Bürgi M., Bryson J., Caspar G., Cassar L.F., Conrad E., Chromý P., Daugirdas V., Van Eetvelde V., Reenberg A., 2015. Transition in European land-management regimes between 1800 and 2010. Land Use Policy 49: 53-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.07.003
Jurčenkaitė I., 2019. Nepilnų klasių išlaikymui savivaldybės pasiryžusios atseikėti ir po 100, ir po 200 tūkst. eurų (Municipalities are determined to pay both 100 and 200 thousand euros for the maintenance of incomplete classes). Online: https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/svietimas/nepilnu-klasiu-islaikymui-savivaldybes-pasiryzusios-atseiketi-ir-po-100-ir-po-200-tukst-euru-233-1189954 (accessed 10 January 2024).
Kriaučiūnas E., Burneika D., 2019. Functional transformations and socio-demographic differentiation of Lithuanian rural spaces. In: Bański J. (ed.), Three decades of transformation in the East-Central European countryside. Springer, Cham: 217-237. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21237-7_10
Kriaučiūnas E., Liutikas D., Burneika D., 2023. The impact of COVID-19 on tourism and accommodation sector in Lithuanian rural areas. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal 71(3): 618-633. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37741/t.71.3.12
Kriaučiūnas E., Pociūtė-Sereikienė G., Ribokas G., 2016. Gyventojų aptarnavimo įstaigų tinklo kaitos tendencijos Lietuvos kaimo gyvenvietėse (The tendencies of residents service institutions’ network alternation in Lithuanian rural settlements). Lietuvos socialinė raida. Lietuvos socialinė raida: teritorinis aspektas. (The social development of Lithuania. Spatial aspect) 5: 80-94. Lithuanian social research centre. ISSN 2029-963X
Kriaučiūnas E., Ubarevičienė R., Pociūtė-Sereikienė, G., 2014. Lietuvos kaimo apgyvenimo kaitos regioninės ypatybės 2001-2011 metais (Regional peculiarities of changes in rural settlement’s system in Lithuania during the period 2001-2011). Lietuvos socialinė raida. Lietuvos gyventojai XXI a. pradžioje: sociodemografiniai aspektai (Social development of Lithuania. Residents of Lithuania at the beginning of the 21st century: Sociodemographic aspects) 3: 78-91. Lithuanian social research centre.
Lang T., 2011. Regional development issues in Central and Eastern Europe: Shifting research agendas from a focus on peripheries to peripheralisation? In: Eröss A., Karacsonyi D. (eds), Geography in visegrad and neighbour countries. HAS Geographical Research Institute, Budapest: 57-64.
Lang T., Burneika D., Noorkõiv R., Plüschke-Altof B., Pociūtė-Sereikienė G., Sechi G., 2022. Socio-spatial polarisation and policy response: Perspectives for regional development in the Baltic States. European Urban and Regional Studies 29(1): 21-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09697764211023553
Lang T., Haunstein S., 2017. Wachsende regionale Polarisierung in Europa (Increasing regional polarisation in Europe). In: Nationalatlas aktuell 11(8). Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde (IfL), Leipzig.
Lang T., Henn S., Sgibnev W., Ehrlich K., 2015. Understanding geographies of polarization and peripheralization: Perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Palgrave Macmillan UK, Basingstoke. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137415080
Lietuvos gyventojai, 1923 m. rugsėjo 17 d. surašymo duomenys, 1923 (Residents of Lithuania, 1923 September 17 census data). Kaunas.
Lietuvos TSR kaimo gyvenamosios vietovės. 1979 metų Visasąjunginio gyventojų surašymo duomenys (Rural settlements of the Lithuanian SSR. 1979 census data), 1982. Vilnius: Lithuanian SSR Central Statistical Office.
Lietuvos TSR kaimo gyvenamosios vietovės 1959 ir 1970 metais (Rural settlements of the Lithuanian SSR in 1959 and 1970), 1974. Visasąjunginių gyventojų surašymų duomenys (Census data). Vilnius: Central Statistical Office under the Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR.
LTSR poilsio zonų perspektyvinio išvystymo schema (Scheme of perspective development of LSSR recreation areas), 1968. Vilnius: Central Office for Technical Information and Propaganda.
Maldžiūnas V., 1970. Teritorinių mikrorajonų centrų tinklas Lietuvos TSR (The territorial network of micro-regions centres’ in Soviet Lithuania). PhD thesis, Kaunas Polytechnic Institute.
Malý J., Dvořák P., Šuška P., 2020. Multiple transformations of post-socialist cities: Multiple outcomes? Cities 107: 102901. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102901
Marcińczak S., Tammaru T., Novák J., Gentile M., Kovács Z., Temelová J., Valatka V., Kährik A., Szabó B., 2014. Patterns of socioeconomic segregation in the capital cities of fast-track reforming postsocialist countries. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 105(1): 183-202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2014.968977
1989 metų visuotinio gyventojų ir būstų surašymo duomenys (Data from the 1989 general population and housing census), 1991. Vilnius: I t., Statistical Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
Mulíček O., Osman R., 2018. Rhythm of urban retail landscapes: Shopping hours and the urban chronotopes. Moravian Geographical Reports 26(1): 2-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgr-2018-0001
Myrdal G., 1957. Economic theory and underdeveloped regions. Duckworth: London.
Perroux F., 1955. Note sur la notion de pole de croissance (Note on the concept of ‘growth poles’). Harlow Économie appliqué 8: 307-320. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecoap.1955.2522
Petrovič F., Petrikovičová L., 2021. Landscape transformation of small rural settlements with dispersed type of settlement in Slovakia. European Countryside 13(2): 455-478. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2021-0027
Pociūtė-Sereikienė G., 2019. Peripheral regions in Lithuania: The results of uneven development. Regional Studies, Regional Science 6(1): 70-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2019.1571437
Pociūtė-Sereikienė G., 2021. Urban shrinkage in the periphery of a post-communist country: The story of Šiauliai. Journal of Baltic Studies 52(1): 103-125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2020.1831561
Rodríguez-Pose A., 2018. The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it). Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 11(1): 189-209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx024
Rupas V., Vaitekūnas S., 1980. Lietuvos kaimo gyventojai ir gyvenvietės (Lithuanian rural population and settlements). Mintis, Vilnius.
Ščerbinskaitė S., 2022. Rural community organizations in Lithuania: Participation, leadership and local vitality (the case of remote rural settlements). (PhD thesis) Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology.
Šešelgis K., 1975. Rajoninio planavimo ir urbanistikos pagrindai (Background of regional planning and urbanism). Mintis, Vilnius.
Šešelgis K., 1996. Teritorijų planavimo raida Lietuvoje (Development of spatial planning in Lithuania). Urbanistika ir Architektūra 21(1): 4-19.
Šešelgis K., Kleinas M., Zubovas V., 1951. Kolūkių gyvenviečių planavimas.(Planning of kolkhoz settlements). Vilnius.
Skebas V., Spečiūnas V., 2006. Kolektyvizacija (Collectivization). Lithuanian Encyclopaedia. Online: https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/kolektyvizacija (accessed 1 March 2024).
Smith A., Timár J., 2010. Uneven transformations: Space, economy and society 20 years after the collapse of state socialism. European Urban and Regional Studies 17(2): 115-125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0969776409358245
Stanaitis S., 2010. Lithuanian human resources: Social territorial transformations. Vilnius.
State Data Agency (Statistics Lithuania) (2024a). Indicators data base. Online: https://osp.stat.gov.lt/statistiniu-rodikliu-analize#/ (accessed 5 March 2024).
State Data Agency (Statistics Lithuania) (2024b). Indicators data base. Online: https://osp.stat.gov.lt/gyventoju-ir-bustu-surasymai1 (accessed 5 March 2024).
Sýkora L., 2009. Post-socialist cities. In: Kitchin R., Thrift N. (eds), International encyclopedia of human geography 8. Elsevier, Oxford: 387-395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044910-4.01072-5
Timár J., Kovács Z., 2009. Hinterland development. In: Kitchin R., Thrift N. (eds), International encyclopaedia of human geography 5. Elsevier, Oxford: 128-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044910-4.00843-9
Trąbka A., Klimavičiūtė L., Czeranowska O., Jonavičienė D., Grabowska I., Wermińska-Wiśnicka I., 2022. Your heart is where your roots are? Place attachment and belonging among Polish and Lithuanian returnees. CMS 10: 29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00301-4
Truska L., 1995. Lietuva 1938-1953 metais (Lithuania in 1938-1953). Kaunas. ISBN 5-430-01907-0.
Ubarevičienė R., 2018. City systems in the Baltic states: The Soviet legacy and current paths of change. Europa Regional 25(2): 15-29.
Ubarevičienė R., Burneika D., 2020. Fast and uncoordinated suburbanization of Vilnius in the context of depopulation in Lithuania. Environmental & Socio-Economic Studies 8(4): 44-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2020-0022
Ubarevičienė R., Burneika D., van Ham M., 2015. Ethno-political effects of suburbanization in the Vilnius urban region. An analysis of voting behaviour. Journal of Baltic Studies, 46(2), 217-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2015.1027935
Vaishar A., Šťastná M., 2021. Rural development in sparsely populated areas. Vranov Na Dyjí Micro-Region in Moravia. European countryside 13(2): 436-454. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2021-0026
Vaitekūnas S., 1989. Gyvenviečių geografija (Geography of settlements). Vilnius University, Vilnius.
Vanagas J., Krisjane Z., Noorkoiv R., Staniunas E., 2002. Planning urban systems in Soviet times and in the era of transition: The case of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Geographia Polonica 75(2): 75-100.
Žemės kadastras (Land cadastre), 1989. Vilnius.
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Edis Kriaučiūnas, Donatas Burneika, Rūta Ubarevičienė, Viktorija Baranauskienė
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.