Cultural landscapes of post-socialist cities: representation of powers and needs

The cultural landscapes of Central European cities reflect over half a century of socialism and are marked by the Marxists' vision of a utopian landscape.

Architecture, urban planning and the visual arts were considered to be powerful means of expressing the 'people's power'.

However, since the velvet revolutions of 1989, this urban scenery has been radically transformed by new forces and trends, infused by the free market, democracy and liberalization.

This has led to 'landscape cleansing' and 'recycling', as these former communist nations used new architectural, functional and social forms to transform their urbanscapes, their meanings and uses.