Civic Center

Urban Metamorphosis of the post-socialist city

Master's Thesis M.A. Landscape Architecture, Vera Margasova

Topic

The public space of the city centers, especially in capitals,has been always the representation of the country‘simage both internally and externally. The central urbanlandscapes usually reflect the current political andideological changes. This is particularly relevant tosocialist public spaces.The socialist ideology materialized the idea of state powerover the individual in enormous size public spaces andarchitecture. The spatial language transferred the idea ofcontrol, sameness, and state dominance.Now its legacy has remained and waits for itsreinterpretation and adaptation to the new realities ofa modern city.The central quarter of Bucharest, Civic Center, which wasbuilt during the rule of the socialist dictator,Nicolae Ceausescu is a good example of an openquestion about the legacy of post-socialist remnants intransition time.The thesis seeks to find an answer to what role plays theidentity of the shaping of the city in the past andnowadays and what qualities should public space haveto meet the modern requirements of a comfortable urbanenvironment. The focus discourse is national and localidentity. During socialist times, the local identity wasover-dominated by the national identity.The main argument of the thesis is that bringing back thevalue of a local identity like a neighborhood or street scaleto a level of the national identity will create a sense ofbelonging and a positive image of the place and, as aresult, make the city a more livable place.The gradual, metamorphose-like change in Civic Center‘sidentity could lead to a more sustainable, livable, anda welcoming place for locals and city guests.The core idea is that small steps and interventions inthe city tissue with continuous testing of the approachescould affect positively a long-term transformation.The research adds knowledge to the topic of the culturalaspect of urban transformations of post-socialistic citiesand the terms national and local identity applied tothe case studies. The further steps in research couldbe broadened by the implementing participatory inputof locals to reflect deeper on a topic of identity and itsgradual shift.

Supervision

Prof. Regine Keller

A copy of the master thesis is available by appointment at the chair as well as at the Weihenstephan branch library.