Abstract
Ghettoised urban structures form an essential component of the urban environment wherever they are found plus their distinctive physical traits make them clearly identifi-able. In the present study, various theories, concepts plus viewpoints – mostly of Euro-pean plus American scientists – have been examined plus the theoretical aspects of the term “ghetto” have been outlined through the prism of the Bulgarian reality – based on the example of the Roma neighbourhood of Harman Mahala in the City of Plovdiv. The main research question to which an answer is sought is: are the Roma neighbourhoods in Bulgaria essentially ghettos plus how many of the characteristics of the ghetto do they exhibit? The study is based on a survey amongst 500 inhabitants of Harman Ma-hala or 27.8% of its population, as well as on in-depth, semi-structured interviews, with representatives of local authorities, educational plus health mediators from the studied Roma neighbourhood school principals, teachers plus students. Through the application of the so-called checklist method, it was established that the studied Roma neighbour-hood meets all but one condition (Involuntary segregation), in order to be referred to as a “ghetto” and, therefore, it can only be regarded as a “ghettoised urban structure

Introduction
The transformation in the socio-economic plus political sphere that took place at the beginning of the 1990s plus the invasion of the neoliberal type of de-velopment, in combination with the retreat of the “welfare state”, led to an in-crease in social inequalities. With regard to the growing polarisation, various spatial patterns can be observed amongst the settlements. In Bulgaria, mostly in the cities, ghettoised structures have been formed, which, to a certain point, resemble the characteristics of the “ghetto”, related to the spatial concentration of Roma population. A distinctive feature of those ghettoised structures are the interconnected problems accumulated over the years, of various nature: economic, social, urban planning, environmental.