63
SETTLEMENT NETWORK, SETTLEMENTS AND HOUSING POLICY
are usually built in the outskirts of big and
middle-size towns in environment-friendly
areas. Due to its isolatedness this housing
environment has not yet affected the ur-
ban structure in a tangible way.
In the post-war period much work was
done to renovate the city centers. All towns
had several general town-planning and
detailed construction plans, and many na-
tional and international competitions were
held. However, only a small part of the
projects was implemented.
The city center renovation work could
provisionally be divided into three periods.
During the sixties city center projects and
their implementations were characterized
by destroying the existing street-district
structure and establishing new structures
(Dobrich, Montana and others). The next
decade was characterized by projects and
implementations that preserved individual
buildings of architectural and cultural-his-
torical value, while providing for sizeable
new construction (Yambol, Lovech, etc.).
The eighties saw a time of careful consid-
eration of the architectural and town-plan-
ning heritage and a striving to preserve it.
The projects of this period, as well as their
implementation, preserved and restored the
existing street-district structures downtown.
A case in point are the towns of Vidin,
Pazardjik, Blagoevgrad, Lom, and Varna.
Many pedestrian zones were built down-
town, coupled with renovation of old
streets, squares and city districts. In a short
time Bulgaria ranked among the top coun-
tries in Eastern Europe in this respect. Yet
this construction quite often was just a
showcase. It was not accompanied by the
necessary reconstruction of the remaining
part of the city. Many problems of central
city zones remained unresolved - lack of
sufficient traffic and parking areas, need
of an urgent reconstruction of many pri-
vate and public buildings, need of updat-
ing the technical facilities, deteriorated en-
vironmental conditions.
The most tangible change that set in
towns following 1989, was the bustle in the
central shopping streets. Within a very
short time the shops and restaurants got
reconstructed. Big shops were built with
large showcases laden with goods and glar-
ing lights. The streets and squares got rife
with stalls and vendors, as well as with
beggars. The unquestionable architectural
successes coexist with the kitsch and imi-
tation of West European and American
models. The Bulgarian language disap-
peared from trade logos. Pornography has
made itself at home at kiosks.
In the post-war years major changes
have also occurred in the implementation
of the recreation functions of the urban
environment. City dwellers have tried to
make up for the lack of a courtyard of their
own and contact with nature by purchas-
ing a second house or a terrain in the city
outskirts.
This striving,
caused by the dis-
turbed conditions and quality of urban life,
has grown out of control and given rise to
malformations in the settlement structure.
As a result, by 1989 in 5485 Bulgarian lo-
calities there were 555,235 decares in villa
zones and arable and recreational land with
128,041 houses.
These areas have proved
to be a source of grave tension in the resti-
tution of arable land after 1991. Although
they are not included in construction ar-
eas, they belong to the urban territory and
are a potential reserve for future urban de-
velopment and low-storey housing con-
struction. Their inclusion in the town-plan-
ning projects and determining their pur-
pose and construction regime are impera-
tive. This will ensure their expedient future
utilization and development without dis-
turbing the sustainability of the urban struc-
ture and the environment.
In the period of industrial develop-
ment the mass tourism has strongly influ-
enced the settlement network and the struc-
ture of many inhabited localities. Bulgaria
boasts over 200 resort complexes with
221,000 beds in temporary housings. Some
of the resorts are small and can house less
than 1000 tourists. Others, like Slunchev
Bryag, Zlatni Pyassatsi and Albena can ac-
commodate 30,000, thus coming closer to
Preservation and
renovation of city
centers is necessary
The villa zones create
problems
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT ! BULGARIA 1996
64
the rank of middle-size towns. Nearly 500
towns and villages with a permanent popu-
lation of their own offer accommodation
to 357,000 tourists. Many of these settle-
ments, mainly small towns, have their own
resort areas that shape an essentially new
settlement structure. But the large number
of tourist lodgings often makes life diffi-
cult for local population and tourists alike,
as well as jeopardize the sustainability of
the settlement environment and the nor-
mal life in high season.
The inadequate development level of
the technical infrastructure and the related
difficulties in electric power and resource
supply create major problems for the settle-
ments and their environment. Most Bul-
garian towns suffer an acute shortage of
drinking water. At the same time, owing to
the inadequate and obsolete water-mains,
water wastes account for half the total
amount of drinking water passing through
them. The low technological effectiveness
in industry and
everyday life make settle-
ments a vast consumer of electric power.
No power-effective technologies, materi-
als and approaches are used in town-plan-
ning, housing construction, industry and
daily life. The construction of waste water
purifying installations in towns and villages
is slow. Town-planning in many settlements
has been neglected. The engineering equip-
ment of their territory lags behind, and
transport services are inadequate.
By the end of 1994 84.6 per cent of
Bulgarias towns and villages have water
supply. Settlements without a water-supply
system include small villages located in
hard-to-access mountain regions. They
have natural water sources and water-sup-
ply is economically unjustified at this stage.
Water consumption is the largest in Sofia
region - 309 l per person, and the smallest
in Plovdiv region - 116 l per person. Se-
vere droughts have led to the 1994 water
regime in 38.6 per cent of towns and 36.8
per cent of villages.
Towns with a sewage system account
for 70.2 per cent, and villages - for 2.1 per
cent. The lag behind in the construction of
sewage networks is obvious, especially in
the villages. Electricity is supplied to 5273
settlements, i.e. 98.8 per cent of their total
number. This figure shows that the prob-
lem has been solved in principle. Bulgaria
lags behind in providing central heating to
dwellings. Sofia has 78.1 per cent of its
housing centrally heated, while for the other
cities this figure is much smaller. The rest
of towns and villages have no central heat-
ing. Green areas in the countrys towns and
villages total 337,000 decares, i.e. 33 sq m
per urban dweller, and 36 sq m per villager,
which is a very good indicator.
5.3. Houses and housing policy
In the years prior to 1989 houses were
built along three parallel lines: state, coop-
erative and private for the construction of
family houses. The state housing construc-
tion enjoyed privileges in ensuring the
building sites, projects, building materials
and manpower. The cooperative and pri-
vate housing construction were done mainly
in central urban regions on individual plots
of land, and on a large scale in the villages.
An apartment house could have no more
than eight apartments. Housing contraction
was forbidden. The people had to organize
themselves the cooperative and individual
construction. The state helped them finan-
cially, by granting them long-term low-in-
terest loans and providing them with rela-
tively low-priced construction materials.
This was how 2,999,300 houses, i.e. 74.3
Tourism as a factor for settlement development
economic development, the
market processes can be regu-
lated by the state so as to boost
the development of certain
settlements, while protecting
others against disturbing the
environmental balance and
sustainability.
Box 5.5.
Despite the favourable natural
and recreation conditions in
Bulgaria, tourism is still under-
developed and not used to the
full for enlivening and stabiliz-
ing the small inhabited places.
If it becomes a priority sector
of Bulgarias future social and
The quality of housing
environment depends
on the infrastructure