Urban Planning During Socialism: Views from the Periphery

Urban Planning During Socialism delves into the evolution of cities during the period of state socialism of the 20th century, summarizing the urban and architectural studies that trace their transformations.

The book focuses primarily on the periphery of the socialist world, both spatially and in terms of scholarly thinking. The case study cities presented in this book draw on cultural and material studies to demonstrate diverse and novel concepts of ‘periphery’ through transformations of socialist cityscapes rather than homogenous views on cities during the period of state socialism of the 20th century. In doing so the book explores the transversalities of political, economic, and social phenomena; the places for everyday life in socialist cities; the role of professional communities on production and reproduction of space and ecological thinking.

This book is aimed at scholarly readership, in particular scholars in architecture, urban planning, and human geography, as well as undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students in these disciplines studying the urban transformation of cities after World War II in socialist countries. It will also be of interest for planning officials, architects, policymakers and activists in former socialist countries.

Jasna Mariotti is Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. Her research focuses on the relationship between urban history, planning and architecture in the 20th and 21st centuries, linking two main themes. The first one focuses on architecture and urban planning under the influence of political organizations and mechanisms of production of space in socialist and post-socialist countries. The second one relates to the architecture of mass housing in particular to the spontaneous and planned practices of transformation of housing estates and changing notions of habitation. Her current research is funded by the EPSRC and The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. Previously she was architect and urban designer in WEST 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture in Rotterdam.

Kadri Leetmaa holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Tartu, Estonia. Currently she works as the Head of the Department of Geography and the Associate Professor of human geography at the Centre for Migration and Urban Studies at the University of Tartu. She is the member of the Scientific Board of the Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig, Germany. Her research topics include urban geography under and after socialism, inequalities in urban and rural space, urban planning and housing policies affecting inequalities, migration, residential preferences, neighborhood change, inter-ethnic contacts in society and space.