THE ANALYSIS OF THE ROMANY COMMUNITY ON H OUSING ESTATE LUNIK-IX IN KOSICE

Housing standards are interwoven with human life style all over the wo rld. In this study a research project was carried out on a Gypsy/Roman y housing estate called Lunik IX in Kosice - a town in Eastern Slovaki a which has the largest absolute and relative number of Gypsies in all Central Europe (about 20 thousand Gypsies from 230 thousand of all in habitants). Although the Gypsies in Slovakia have been settled for cen turies and the urban Gypsy enclaves have existed during the whole post -war period, the satellite housing estate Lunik IX (where Gypsies pred ominate) represents an example par excellence of the permanent failure to solve the housing problem for Gypsies. It applies particularly to those of them which find it difficult to adapt to the social norms of the non-Gypsy population. Parallels of Gypsy housing to ''social housi ng'' can be drawn. This study is part of a broader research project th at includes aspects of the internal dynamics of the Gypsy housing esta te community and the related legal issues. It was completed in the bel ief that besides the global mapping of the terrain (censuses, governme nt and local authority reports, statistics etc.) a case study may be m ore helpful in an understanding of Romany/Gypsy issues, as it takes in to account all the particularities given. The housing estate Lunik IX is a type of accommodation for Gypsy families in the urban satellite h ousing estate. It means that their living standard in dwelling units i s considerably better compared with the housing of most Gypsy families in Slovakia. The dwelling units have all facilities and there is a lo wer density of persons (measured by the persons per m2 and by persons per one room). A smaller number of the three-generational family live here. On the other hand, while in the whole of Slovakia approximately a half of Gypsy families live in total or partial dispersion amongst t he non-Gypsy population, Lunik IX represents the total concentration o f Gypsies (about two thousand persons altogether). The original social ties of Gypsy families including the group control have been broken b y moving into the housing estate. This also involves the isolation of the Romany/Gypsy community from the rest of the population and brings general social regression. In spite of the better housing conditions t he figures and structure of Romany families living on Lunik IX are ver y similar to those of Romany families living in the other areas of Slo vakia. The average number of family members, the average number of chi ldren under 15 and persons in the productive age is the same. The Roma ny tenants on Lunik IX do no differ from the rest of Romany population in educational standards. There is a connection between the previous level of housing and some current characteristics of the Romany tenant s. Tenants who were previously living in the Romany concentration in d esolate conditions differ from the other tenants significantly. There are more members of the household and more children in the dwelling un its of those tenants. There are also in arrears for the rent for month s and years and they break the renting rules and agreements frequently . More often they occupy the dwelling units illegally. The characteris tics like the period of living in the flat, the tenants age, the reaso n for moving in, the average family income (per person in the househol d) has no connection with the other characteristics of the Romany tena nts. There are three indices of the Romany tenants that proved to be i mportant. These are: a) good or bad repair of the dwelling units, b) o wing rent, c) illegal occupation of the dwelling unit. a) The tenants who do not keep the dwelling units in good condition at the same time do not pay the rent, significantly more often they are using the flat illegally, their flat is not furnished adequately, if at all. They hav e no educational qualifications and there are a higher number of membe rs in the household. b) The tenants who do not pay rent have limited f urniture, their flat is in a bad condition, they have no educational q ualifications and a higher number of members in their households. c) T he illegal occupiers of the flats came from the municipalities outside the town Kosice. Their flats are in bad condition and are unfurnished . It is evident that there is an interconnection between the above men tioned negative characteristics. They are clustering together in the s ame families at the same time and produce the syndrome which can be ca lled ''maladaptation syndrome''. These families fail to adapt themselv es to the life conditions of an urban housing estate. The occurrence o f these families is not so high in Slovakia, nor was in this study. Ho wever, they are highly visible making up the image of the housing esta te and creating the conflict climate that consequently unfavorably inf luences the life of all dwellers on the housing estate. The results of this study imply the prospective approach to elaboration of diagnosti c instrument by which it would be possible to assess the adaptation de gree of the family for certain type of housing. Because of the high ra te and the special characteristics of Gypsies in Slovakia they are exp osed to the danger of becoming homeless more than the other population s. There is a need for the concept of ''social housing'' to be elabora ted and implemented. Besides the sociological knowledge this also need s to include legislative issues, architectural solutions for the socia l housing units and the social policy procedures to deal with the vari ety of the families.