Socio-economic and ethnic trajectories of housing estates in Tallinn, Estonia

Abstract

Housing estates consisting of Soviet-era large-scale multi-family housing hold a dominant position in the housing market of Tallinn; slightly less than two-thirds of residents resided there in 2011. These housing segments were attractive to mixed socio-economic status groups when initially built due to their high rent subsidies and prevalence of modern conveniences in apartments. The historical developments of housing estates intertwined with ethnicity, specifically the extensive in-migration flows during the Soviet era. In this chapter, we investigate how the socio-economic and ethnic position of housing estates changed over the course of the period of political and economic reforms (1989–2000) and the subsequent decade (2000–2011). The focus is interlinkages between social and ethnic patterns. Findings suggest a steady, downward trajectory in the social composition of these housing estates, excluding some centrally located neighbourhoods. The historical circumstances related to construction dynamics, flows of foreign immigration and allocation patterns explain residential dynamics. Ethnically minority-rich neighbourhoods are more likely to experience a downward social trajectory than housing estates with fewer ethnic minorities regardless of location.