Featuring up-to-date and insightful analyses and comparative case studies from a plethora of countries, this timely book explores ‘ideal’ socialist cities and their transformation under new socio-economic and political conditions after the fall of communism.
With contributions from leading scholars in the field, this book prioritises objective scientific knowledge and presents expert rethinking of the historical experience of urban planning in the former socialist countries of Eurasia. It draws on carefully selected examples of iconic cities of socialist modernism, from the post-Soviet space, Central Europe, and the Balkans. The book explores the ongoing transformation of these cities: from uniformed urban environment to chaotic post-modernist planning, from industrialisation to touristification, from deideologisation to making new and still highly contested heritage.
Written in an accessible and engaging style, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in urban studies, human geography, sociology, social anthropology, spatial planning, and architectural practice.
Author(s): Valentin Mihaylov, Mikhail Ilchenko
Series: Routledge Contemporary Perspectives on Urban Growth, Innovation and Change
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 246
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Chapter 1: Introduction: Socialist Urban Utopias and Their Continuing Transformations
Changing Perspectives on Socialist Urbanism
Planned Socialist Cities: Re-Shaping the Research Agenda
Aims and Structure of This Book
References
Chapter 2: Rises and Falls of New Socialist Cities
Introduction
Which cities are new and socialist?
New socialist cities during the interwar period
Construction of socialist cities in the Eastern Bloc after 1945
Transformation
Socio-economic decline
Re-evaluating the human dimension of socialist cities
Identity-building and heritage-making
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 3: Uralmash: Re-Imagining Utopia, Re-Constructing Urban Space
Introduction
The dual existence of sotsgorods: major theoretical challenges
The haphazard construction of a ‘planned city’: Uralmash sotsgorod in the 1930s
From ideal ‘socialist city’ to ‘residential neighbourhood’: the transformation of Uralmash in the post-war and late-Soviet years
Uralmash after 1991: an ‘invisible’ space in search of new symbols
Utopia revived: the symbolic re-discovery of Uralmash
Vanishing space: current challenges for Uralmash’s urban development
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Zaporizhzhia: The Socialist City as a Cultural Model
Introduction
International Context
The Birth of Great Zaporizhzhia
Under the Conditions of the Urban Revolution
Throwback to the ‘Industry-Specific’ (Departmental) City
The Era of Diversification of Social Experience
In the Struggle for Urban Space
Conclusion
References
Archival Sources
Reference and Statistical Publications
Chapter 5: Tychy: From a Dormitory Town to a Large Industrial Centre
Introduction
A new socialist town in a polycentric region
Industrialisation, colonisation, spaces of conflict
Social and economic transformation
Symbolic transformation
The socialist city as a place to live, work, and for leisure – 70 years on
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 6: Eisenhüttenstadt: Urban Heritage in Transformation
Introduction
Urban heritage and post-socialism
The becoming of Eisenhüttenstadt in socialism
EKO Wohnstadt: expressing the goals of socialism
The housing complexes I, II, III, and IV: building on tradition and allowing progress
Housing complexes V–VII: accounting for rapid economic and demographic growth
The transformation of Eisenhüttenstadt under capitalism
Systemic break and decades of losses with few gains
Continuous uncertainty and obvious ambivalences
The heritage of Eisenhüttenstadt
The urban heritage of socialism and capitalism
The entanglement of socialist and capitalist heritage
The city centre of Eisenhüttenstadt
Monuments of Eisenhüttenstadt
The integrated town
Three observations for discussion
References
Chapter 7: Ostrava-Poruba: A ‘Pure’ Socialist City in Change and Permanence
Introduction
Research methodology and conceptual background
Construction of the ‘pure city’ New Ostrava
Project of a socialist city
Ideological background and social reality
Post-socialist changes in the physical, social, and symbolic space
The physical space
The symbolic space
Paths
Edges and districts
Nodes
Other significant elements
Social and demographic changes
Demographic decline and population ageing
Diversification of professions on the labour market
Changes in the educational structure
Housing changes
The future of Ostrava-Poruba in the light of local policy
Conclusion
Note
References
Chapter 8: Dunaújváros: Transforming and Re-Branding the Largest New Town of Hungary’s State-Socialist Era
Introduction
From the Foundation of the New Town to the Fall of Socialist System (1949–1989)
Urban Composition
Spaces of Power: the Main Street and Main Square
Residential Neighbourhood Units
Art in the New Town
Post-Socialist Transformation
Urban Structure
Public Spaces and Public Buildings
Housing Areas
Public Art
Discussion and Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: New Belgrade: From a Socialist Ideal to a Fragmented Space of Fashionable Architecture
Introduction
Inception and the modernist period
The interwar
Beyond a functional city: modern form and socialist content
Crossing a functional space
Walking through a functional city
Space of transition and informality
Space of fragmentation: economics, consumerism, and scenography
Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: Dimitrovgrad: A Bulgarian Construction of the 20th Century
Introduction
Conceptual remarks
Establishing a Bulgarian urban utopia: between national specificities and socialist internationalism
Traces of prominent public figures on the town’s history and its contemporary image
Penyo Penev and the poetic image of Dimitrovgrad
Georgi Dimitrov: from ‘Hero of Leipzig’ to ‘National Traitor’
Changing economic structures and their symbolic significance
Re-evaluation of socialist urban heritage
Post-socialist, mini-utopianism: Dimitrovgrad as a tourism centre
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 11: Velenje: A Local Community’s Quest for Its Town Heritage and Identity
Introduction
Approach and Methodology
From a Market Town to Modern Centre with a Twist
New Velenje: A Mining Settlement and an Emerging Tourist Town (1945–1955)
The New Centre: A Modern Plan with a Compromise (1956–1963)
The ‘builders of new Velenje’ Building a Mining Town with a Rich Future
From Miners to Tito’s Town (1970s–1980s)
Critical Voices: Re-Discovering the Old Velenje and the Rise of the Ecological Movement
Velenje is Becoming an Old Town or Re-Discovering its Authenticity
From City Municipality to EU Integration: lieu de mémoire in the Making
A New Challenge on the Horizon
Conclusion
References
Chapter 12: Conclusion: Post-Utopian Spaces in Search of Alternative Urban Policies
Integrating planned socialist cities into the post-utopian reality
Experiencing two social and urban revolutions
Transforming physical space through neoliberal practices
Diversifying socio-economic life through marketisation and ‘touristification’
Dealing with dissonant heritage
Contributing to the debate on new cities and (post)utopian urbanism
Outlining the contours for further research
References
Index
