Transition to democracy and the fragmentation of a city: Four cases of Central European capitals

The paper presents the structure of city governments in Warsaw, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava after the municipal reform of 1990. All four capital cities have some features that set them aside from other cities in their respective countries bur make them quite similar to each other: a far-reaching territorial fragmentation of the city into districts, overlapping jurisdictions between the city and district governments and a rather limited role for the executive vis a vis the council. Various explanations for those similarities between the four capitals are discussed and some aspects of city-district relations are examined, such as the budget-making processes, competitive claims to the city assets (mainly land and buildings) and the lines of divisions within the respective councils. The latest changes in Warsaw city government (March 1994) are also outlined. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.