Sustainable city – flexible or durable? Socio-economics aspects of urban patterns

The book fits into a multidisciplinary research approach. The articles are the result of research conducted by eminent international economists, authors representing academic centres in different countries. The articles address current phenomena observed in the global economy. The authors do not aspire to comprehensively explain all the very complex and multi-dimensional economic developments, but illustrate many of these phenomena in an original way. The multi-threaded and multi-dimensional nature of the discussion in particular articles deserves attention. These include theoretical and methodological articles as well as the results of empirical research presented by the authors. The book is addressed to those persons interested in issues of economics, finance, regional economy, and the management sciences. It can be valuable for economic practitioners, members of management and supervisory boards of companies, and financial analysts, and the articles may also be useful for academicians and students.This paper’s goal is to introduce an interdisciplinary assessment of urban patterns as a factor of socio-economic development, presenting selected examples of how different urban patterns (compactness, complexity, decentralisation and porosity) influence family economics, risk management for city dwellers and entrepreneurs, labour market and social inclusion or inequality. Urban patterns and socio-economic aspects of urban life are closely linked in a complex and manifold way. The main topic of the paper will be the assessment in what way durability or flexibility of a built environment influences urban sustainable development. It is not possible to identify one spatial pattern that in the best way meets the need to adapt to new challenges and threats. However, case studies can point to certain features of cities, especially their diversity, as being the most important for their proper functioning