Conflicts. Socialist Mass Housing

CONFLICTS.
SOCIALIST
MASS
HOUSING
Shrinking population in socialist mass housing areas in Eastern Europe
by adapting Japanese methods and Asian conditions.
Andrius Ropolas
Tokyo / Brussels
2014
Master Dissertation Project
Conficts. Socialist mass housing
Andrius Ropolas
Supervisors
Ohno Hidetoshi / Bruno Peeters

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculty of Architecture
International Master of Science in Architecture, Campus: Brussels
/
The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences
Ohno Lab

2014
Funded by the AUSMIP grant
ausmip.org
andrius.ropolas@gmail.com / andrius.ropolas.eu
4 A. Ropolas / Conficts. Socialist mass housing (2014)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank all people who helped during this
research. First of all professor Hidetoshi Ohno for his ad-
vises and tolerance when I was occupying his precious time.
Bruno Peeters for his calming tone and in depth responses
from Brussels. Friends from Bulgaria, Poland, Romania who
helped me understand better the common issues of social-
ist housing areas in Eastern Europe. Friends from Korea,
China and Japan who helped me to orientate myself through
Asian context. My sister who was my eyes in a local context.
And all others who helped by having shorther or longer
dicussions about the research.
A. Ropolas / Conficts. Socialist mass housing (2014)
5
7
ABSTRACT
Shrinking population is a rarely discussed issue in Eastern Europe. However the
statistics reveal that this region is one of the main hot spots for shrinkage. This
paper suggests that socialist mass housing areas in smaller Eastern European cit-
ies will be greatly affected by shrinkage. As a way to fnd strategies and defne a
mindset it is proposed to look at a specifc urban conditions in Asia as a result of
rapid urbanization, which was also the driving force behind socialist mass hous-
ing areas. The experience of working with shrinkage in Japan is greatly support-
ing the paper.
The complexity of shrinkage and specifc socialist heritage issues are discussed
through the spatial conficts of socialist mass housing areas. Main identifed
conficts are between private and public, city and countryside, past and present.
This approach on conficts tries to bypass huge amount of existing problems and
to tackle directly their reasons. The goal is to fnd an answer if we need to solve
these conficts and how it can be done.
The paper concludes with main points on how to rebalance existing spatial
conficts. The key points are - privatization of vast green spaces, creation of fber
structures and reconfguration of spatial characters of the areas. Paper suggests
that it is not necessary to solve spatial conficts, but instead - rebalance them.
This should start a chain reaction and problems would solve themselves.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4
ABSTRACT 7
INTRODUCTION 11
SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING LINK WITH
ASIAN MASS HOUSING 12
BACKGROUND OF SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING
AREAS AND ALTERNTIVES IN ASIA 19
URBANIZATION OF THE SOVIET UNION 20
The roots - Constructivism 20
Prefab mass housing units khrushchevki 24
Urban surfaces micro-districts 28
CONDITIONS IN ASIA 32
Tokyo - land readjustment 32
Hong Kong - green contrast 34
Seoul - gated communities 36
Shenzhen - green boundaries 38
SHRINKING EASTERN EUROPE
AND LEARNING FROM SHRINKING JAPAN 43
COMMON DENOMINATORS IN
EASTERN EUROPE 44
CONSEQUENCES OF SHRINKING
EASTERN EUROPE 50
LEARNING FROM SHRINKING JAPAN 52
Fibercity 52
CONFLICTS IN SHRINKING
EASTERN EUROPE 54
The complexity 54
1. Confict between private and public 56
2. Confict between past and present 58
3. Confict between city and countryside 60
POSITIVE ELEMENTS OF SOCIALIST
MASS HOUSING 62
9
SOLVING CONFLICTS IN
SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING AREAS 65
DO WE NEED TO SOLVE CONFLICTS IN
SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING AREAS? 66
BORDERS 67
EDITING FIBERS 68
Fibers 68
Private and public 70
City and countryside 72
Past and present 74
LIMITATIONS 76
CONCLUSIONS 79
IN SEARCH FOR
THE DIAGRAM OF EVERYTHING 80
POST-SOCIALIST FIBERCITY 81
RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS 82
BIBLIOGRAPHY 86
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 89
Figure 1. Shrinking cities. Based on Atlas of Shrinking Cities
11
INTRODUCTION
First part presents overall issues and goals of the research. It
introduces a global shrinkage issue, tendencies, the hotspots
and the relevance of socialist mass housing areas.
Industrialization did not only cause fast economic and urban growth,
it also enabled unprecedented process of shrinkage (Rieniets, 2011)
FOCUS OF THE RESEARCH
T
his research will try fnd common critical points for
socialist mass housing areas in Eastern Europe in the
time of shrinkage. They should give theoretical mindset for
practical actions which would be based on interpretation of
Asian conditions and solutions. The theoretical and practical
background of the Ohno Lab studies at The University of
Tokyo on Fibercity will be used as a possible starting point
for solutions.
The research is focusing primarily on conditions of second
biggest (or comparable size and importance) cities of the
Eastern European countries. Processes happening in capi-
tals might be very different, shrinkage might be much small-
er or even not meaningful and this research does not try to
cover these situations. Although the goal is to fnd common
solutions and research generic aspect of the socialist mass
housing areas. A specifc Dainava mass housing area from
Kaunas, Lithuania will be used to illustrate theoretical fnd-
ings. This area will be later used as a project design case to
test practical solutions. This specifc area was chosen as an
example which could represent processes in most of Eastern
Europe the best based on statistical reasons:
Shrinkage in Lithuania (-19,61%) next 50 years is very
close to an average of Eastern Europe (-21,36%) (United
Nations, 2012).
Second biggest city of Lithuania, Kaunas is losing its
population (-23% during 2001-2013 period) (Statistics
Lithuania, 2013).
Dainava mass housing area is one of the frst to be built
in Kaunas (frst constructions dating back to 1963) with
biggest number of elderly (Kauno planas, 2013) and
with highest number of apartments currently for sale
per resident compared with all mass housing areas in
the city (based on aruodas.lt public listings).
In the end, there is no goal to solve all problems of the
shrinking cities in Eastern Europe, but focus on very im-
portant generic parts of the cities and few very specifc key
issues.

GLOBAL SITUATION
According to United Nations world population will increase
by 43,93% in 2060 compared with 2010, almost from 7 bil-
lion to 10 billion (United Nations, 2012). This simple num-
ber tells that we will need to build more, use more resourc-
es. However it is not quite true. When looking at particular
regions in more detail, we can notice that growth is not
spread equally throughout the world and some regions will
experience shrinkage. This means that new problems might
occur by keeping existing infrastructure to be effcient and
managing living environment to be pleasant and attractive.
Japan is one of the countries where population will shrink
the most 19.51% comparing 2060 and 2010 data (United
Nations, 2012).
Media often focus on Japan while talking about shrink-
age, however there is a bigger region in a world which faces
shrinkage at similar speed that is Eastern Europe. Shrink-
age in Eastern Europe is not an issue of few countries, but
all region. This gives an idea that there must some common
points among all countries. A total population of this region
climbs over 328 million people (United Nations, 2012)
and with decrease of -21.63% during next 50 years (United
Nations, 2012) this would mean a loss of over 70 million
people. A number equal to a total population of Poland, Bal-
tic States, Czech Republic, Serbia and Bulgaria combined.
Looking historically this region was a part of Eastern Bloc
where development ant politics were strictly controlled and
most things were based on standardization. Over half of
population in Eastern Europe lives in a socialist mass hous-
ing areas (Stanilov, 2007, p. 181) built during Soviet regime.
Naturally, shrinkage will greatly affect these areas. Of
course, as growing number of total population in the world
does not reveal the full story and we must look closer to fnd
shrinkage, same applies to Eastern European cities.
Looking at the future it is easy to notice that capitals in the
region can maintain population by attracting people from
the regions, however it is more diffcult situation for smaller
cities. Particularly in the case of Lithuania we can notice
that population of capital Vilnius in years 2001-2013 lost
only 3% of population, however second biggest city Kaunas
lost 23% during same period, while national loss was 15%
13
Figure 2. A map of population change in Europe during 2010-2060 period.
Based on Eurostat data.

Pluses represent countries growing more than 10%
Lines represent countries between -10% decline and 10% growth
Minuses represent countries shrinking more than -10% percent
Black solid line marks countries which were a part of Eastern Bloc
(Statistics Lithuania, 2013). That is why exploring second
biggest cities, like Kaunas, can give better understanding
and more useful answers to shrinkage in Eastern Europe.
Similar situations can be found in all Eastern Europe
region, meaning that it should be possible to fnd common
answers to common issues.
SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING LINK WITH ASIAN
MASS HOUSING
S
ocialist mass housing ideas in Eastern Europe were
copied by Soviet government from Western European
examples (Listova, 2009), but they had completely differ-
ent impact and purpose. Mass housing developments (with
more than 2500 units) in Western Europe never were a big
trend and now they takes only 3-7 percent of the market,
as compared to Eastern Europe where this number jumps
to 40-50 percent and where over half of population live
(Stanilov, 2007, p. 181). In Western Europe these areas were
seen as areas for less successful part of population, where in
Eastern Europe they were built as a houses for masses. They
did not focus on particular part of society as everybody had
to be equal under communist ideology. Even today when
mass housing areas in Western Europe are seen as prob-
lematic places, as possible ghettos for immigrants while
picture in Eastern Europe is completely different. Due to
low number of immigrants, socialist areas house most of the
population in Eastern Europe without any particular social
order. However it is worth noting that it is slowly changing
and residents in those areas are becoming less wealthy and
misbalance starts to appear.
In Asia housing areas have completely different history
than in Eastern Europe. They also often have some specifc
development differences due to specifc contexts. However,
like in Eastern Europe, mass housing areas in Asia are seen
as a normal part of society where people live without any
specifc social status. In some places, like Hong Kong it is
diffcult to imagine a life not in an apartment building as
they are the only possibility for Hong Kong to sustain its
population. Rapidly growing population in Asia was and in
some parts still is the main factor for building vast apart-
ment housing areas. Same reasons were in Soviet Union
where urban population started growing immensely in the
beginning of 20 century. Although Soviet Union started
their housing experiments in early 20 century, the biggest
construction boom in Soviet Union came later to the middle
of the century. In Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong con-
struction boom started around the same time as in Soviet
Union. And, interestingly, the decline of rapid population
growth, as in Soviet Union, in South Korea and Japan came
at the same time too around 1990.
China, on the other hand, started growing a little bit later.
As China had close political and ideological ties to Soviet
Union, they applied some already tested methods from
Soviet Union to their planning system (Bruton et al., 2005,
p. 229). However it is important to notice that soon China
started adapting those methods and created new conditions.
This evolution can be found by exploring the urban history
of Shenzhen.
Another interesting relation is purely visual. The visual
similarity of the housing blocks in Seoul and post-socialist
countries is striking. Two completely different economic and
political systems around the same time produced visually
very similar solutions.
Similar thing can be noted while talking about repetitive-
ness of housing blocks in Hong Kong. The socialist mass
housing features like copy-pasted balconies, windows, build-
ings are brought to a level where it becomes a dominant fea-
ture of city landscape, cannot be unnoticed in Hong Kong.
Here, again in different political and economic system, the
continuous repetitiveness has similar visual importance in
both natural and urban landscapes.
It is worth understanding background of housing block de-
velopments in Asia more, as they can reveal some meanings
and solutions for socialist mass housing areas in Eastern
Europe. Undoubtedly, after further research it will be pos-
sible to see socialist mass housing areas in Eastern Europe
in different, wider perspective.
15
Figure 3. Construction of Capsule Tower. Kisho Kurokawa visited Soviet
Union to fnd out more about prefabricated construction.
Figure 4. A construction of a typical socialist apartment. Picture by Stan
Wayman, 1963.
Figure 5. Seoul Figure 6. Shenzhen Figure 7. Moscow
Population projections
geo\time 2010 2060 Change
Serbia 9.647.000 6.297.000 -34,73%
Ukraine 46.050.000 30.859.000 -32,99%
Belarus 9.491.000 6.832.000 -28,02%
Bulgaria 7.563.710 5.531.318 -26,87%
Latvia 2.248.374 1.671.729 -25,65%
Georgia 4.389.000 3.417.000 -22,15%
Eastern Europe 296.183.000 232.927.000 -21,36%
Russia 143.618.000 115.023.000 -19,91%
Lithuania 3.329.039 2.676.297 -19,61%
Japan 127.353.000 102.507.000 -19,51%
Romania 21.462.186 17.308.201 -19,35%
Germany 81.742.884 66.360.154 -18,82%
Poland 38.167.329 32.710.238 -14,30%
Estonia 1.340.141 1.172.707 -12,49%
Hungary 10.014.324 8.860.284 -11,52%
Europe 740.308.000 690.622.000 -6,71%
Malta 412.970 387.422 -6,19%
Slovakia 5.424.925 5.116.496 -5,69%
Portugal 10.637.713 10.265.958 -3,49%
Czech Republic 10.506.813 10.467.652 -0,37%
Greece 11.305.118 11.294.664 -0,09%
Slovenia 2.046.976 2.057.964 0,54%
Netherlands 16.574.989 17.070.150 2,99%
EU (27 countries) 501.044.066 516.939.958 3,17%
Austria 8.375.290 8.868.529 5,89%
Liechtenstein 35.894 38.328 6,78%
Finland 5.351.427 5.744.452 7,34%
Italy 60.340.328 64.989.319 7,70%
Denmark 5.534.738 6.079.838 9,85%
Spain 45.989.016 52.279.310 13,68%
France 64.714.074 73.724.251 13,92%
Switzerland 7.785.806 9.319.289 19,70%
Sweden 9.340.682 11.525.240 23,39%
Belgium 10.839.905 13.445.216 24,03%
United Kingdom 62.008.048 78.925.262 27,28%
Kazkhstan 15.921.000 20.541.000 29,02%
Turkey 72.138.000 95.331.000 32,15%
Norway 4.858.199 6.587.061 35,59%
Iceland 317.630 435.030 36,96%
Cyprus 803.147 1.134.460 41,25%
World 6.916.183.000 9.957.399.000 43,97%
Luxembourg 502.066 728.098 45,02%
Ireland 4.467.854 6.544.749 46,49%
Figure 8. United Nations and Eurostat data
17
Figure 9. Construction of a socialist mass housing area
19
BACKGROUND OF SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING
AREAS AND ALTERNTIVES IN ASIA
This chapter covers the background of socialist mass hous-
ing areas by exploring urban and architectural origins. At
the same time urbanization of Soviet Union is compared
with urbanization in Asia. Several specifc condition from
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shenzhen are explored as a
possible alternatives for socialist mass housing areas.
URBANIZATION OF THE SOVIET UNION
U
rbanization which took place in Soviet Union was the
most intense at that time in the world. During the
most rapid period from 1926 to 1939 the urban population
more than doubled reaching 55.9 million, while in U.S. for
urban population to double it took 30 years and in UK 70
years (Pokshishevskiy, 1980, p. 35). Impressive statistics con-
tinued as in 30 years period from 1955 to 1985 ffty million
new apartments were built (Goldhoorn and Sverdlov, 2009).
Also worth to mention that between 1956 and 1964, just
in 8 years, quarter population of Soviet Union (54 million
people) moved to new apartments (Bronovitskaya, 2009,
p. 24). In Russia alone the urban population from 1926 to
1989 grew by 56% (Becker et al., 2012, p. 6) and in all Soviet
Union urban population from 1917 to 1982 grew from 16%
to 64% affecting 146 million people (Yanitsky, 1986, p. 265).
All these numbers tell one simple thing - Soviet Union had
to take a new approach to urbanization and architecture to
cope with its changing society during the 20th century. This
meant experimentation, failure and arguable success.
THE ROOTS - CONSTRUCTIVISM
In early days of the Soviet Union, one of the most interest-
ing architectural movements at that time, constructivism
was born. Constructivists had a strong relations with artists,
but at the same time their architecture was oriented towards
Communist partys embraced social politics: Their inno-
vations were useful to a revolutionary regime in need of a
dynamic visual language to promote communism (Bradley
and Esche, 2007, p. 402).

Discussions started to fnd the most appropriate urban form
for the communist society, but common opinion was dif-
fcult to reach. The opinions dived in two camps urbanist
and de-urbanist schools (Bater, 1980, p. 22). Most of their
proposals were utopian and speculating on infnite budgets,
but their ideas later laid foundations for a socialist cities.
Urbanists were infuenced by Garden city concept (How-
ard, 1902) and Le Corbusiers theories, although the link is
not completely direct (Bater, 1980, p. 23). On the other side,
de-urbanists were very radical and wanted an essentially
townless socialist society in which age-old contradiction
between town and country would be abolished once and
for all. (Bater, 1980, p. 23). Their idea was to spread people
around the country based on linear urban forms and com-
pletely forget the concept of the city.
Radical urban concepts were not realized, but some radical
experiments on architectural scale did see the light. Among
them - projects where constructivists tested their ideas on
a new life style of a proletariats. The best known example
of a new ideology is a Narkomfn building. Here architects
of the project Moisei Ginzburg and Ignaty Milinis tried
not only to promote new type of architecture celebrating
new technology of reinforced concrete, but also to address
an urban challenge create a social environment in the
city (Ghazali, 2007). This was an important issue having in
mind new political direction and increasing industrialization
which was followed by urbanization. Main concept of the
building was a total separation of individual sleeping cells
from a common spaces. It was probably the most interesting
example at that time which used standardization as a tool to
create new urban condition. According to a new ideologies,
residents had only small, 6 square meters for two people,
individual cells for sleeping and all other activities had to
21
Figure 10. Ivan Leonidov Magnitogorsk Proposal (1930)
Figure 11. Ivan Leonidov Magnitogorsk Proposal (1930)
be common, shared with all other residents (Prevost and
Dushkina, 1999, p. 9). Women were freed from cooking as
everybody were eating at a canteen, children could spent
their time in kindergartens. Big corridor had to replicate a
village road and the confguration of a program had to en-
able social experience. Overall, it was an attempt to remodel
the concept of the traditional family and propose a com-
munistic lifestyle, where society is your family. Narkomfn
model shows frst attempts of government to control society
using architecture, a belief of architects that architecture can
shape new model of people which later was proved to be an
utopia (Smirnov, 2011).
Around the same time when Narkomfn project was com-
pleted (1932), other architects and engineers were working
on exploring possibilities of standardization by using prefab
blocks and prefab dwelling cells. However after change in
politics of the Soviet Union, when Stalin came in power in
1930s, constructivism was undesirable. Changed concept
of society also changed the ideology of architecture - from
avant-garde it turned to imperialistic Stalinist expression
with interpretations of antique motives. Although archi-
tectural expression was suppressed, the investigations on
standardization continued: At the Institute of Architecture
in Moscow, Burov continued to investigate large-panel
construction and eventually laid the technological ground-
work for the architecture of the post-war-era (Urban,
2013, p. 12). After the ruling of Stalin, the approach to
society and naturally to architecture changed. New leader
Nikita Khrushchev heavily focused on modernization and
urbanization of Soviet Union. Instead of nave, decorative
Stalinist expression, on 1954 December 7, he gave a speech
and promoted a new standardized mass housing program
(Khrushchev, 2009) which roots can be seen in some early
constructivist experiments.
23
Figure 12. Nikolai Milyutins plan for a Linear City.
Residential area (), industrial zones (). Railway running along.
Figure 13. Narkomfn building - one of the most famous examples of constructivist architecture, 1932
PREFAB MASS HOUSING UNITS KHRUSHCHEVKI
It is them [architects] who understand architecture as a
decorative art rather than means of satisfying material needs
of soviet people. It is them who waste the funds of soviet
people on beauty which nobody needs, instead of building
simpler, but more (Listova, 2009) it is this speech where
in 1954 Nikita Khrushchev drew a new direction for archi-
tecture and urbanization in Soviet Union. After it, architects
became less important and architecture had one simple goal
to be cheap.
In 1939 the average space per person in Soviet Union was 5
square meters. When Krushchev came in power in 1953, the
standard apartment size by frst mass prefab house model
K-7 was based on the concept of the minimum (which was
also the maximum) 9 square meters per person. (Strelka In-
stitute of Media, Architecture and Design, 2012a). It meant
that one room apartment with all facilities was around 30
square meters, two rooms 44 m2, three rooms - 61 m2
(Resog, 2014). For a lot of people these apartments were
frst personal property in their life and often frst urban
experience, as a lot of people came directly from villages.
The speed and low quality of construction was an outcome
of a tight economic pressures and political program. There
are records of 5 story houses built in 5 days, but quality of
them is unknown (Listova, 2009). First mass fve story hous-
ing K-7 could be built in 45 days 15 days mounting prefab
pieces and 1 month for interior fnishing (Listova, 2009).
Due to extremely low quality of K-7 model, where engineers
proposed 4 centimeter thickness of inner walls and only 8
centimeters for walls between apartments, the structure was
later updated to suit the needs of people better. Bigger and
more comfortable apartments had to accommodate people
better. To ensure that, the frst residents of new prototype
housing had visits from specialists of housing typology who
checked the apartments to see how the residents inhabited
the space. Although apartments improved, they still did
not suit the needs of the people well, because the habits of
people were not so easily predictable.
Today most of these buildings are in poor condition. First
houses (type K-7) now are being widely demolished in Mos-
cow (Complex of urban policy and construction in Moscow,
2014) , but improved house models (like I-464A) have a
theoretical 100-125 years lifespan (Ruseckas et al., 2009, p.
26) and make up a very important part of a residential mar-
ket in Eastern Europe.
It is them [architects] who under-
stand architecture as a decorative art
rather than means of satisfying mate-
rial needs of soviet people. It is them
who waste the funds of soviet people
on beauty which nobody needs, in-
stead of building simpler, but more
- Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union, 1954 (Listova, 2009)
25
Figure 14. Construction of socialist mass housing area
Figure 15. Nikita Khrushchev
Figure 16. Prefab panel
Figure 17. 1-464A14-LT type used in Lithuania
Figure 18. 1-464-LI-15 type used in Lithuania
27
Figure 19. Fragment of the 1-464-LI-15 type used in Lithuania
URBAN SURFACES MICRO-DISTRICTS
Repetitive, downgraded architecture created very monotonic
urban environment micro-districts. This problem was
understood by the architects and builders as Valentin Galec-
kiy, organizer of the frst house building factory, has stated
that they saw the ugliness, but it was just the most effcient
and cheap method (Listova, 2009). Society also reacted to
these developments and repetitiveness was often mocked in
cinema and music (Rappaport, 1962; Ryazanov, 1975; Seryj,
1971). The most famous example in a movie Ironiya sudby,
ili s legkim parom! shows a man who managed to fnd
exactly the same as his apartment with the same door lock
in exactly the same street, but in the different city.
Micro-districts did not have urban elements developed
through centuries street perspectives, houses, squares,
intersections, boulevards. A border conditions where ex-
change happen (Sennett, 2011, p. 324) did not fnd place in
micro-districts. As typical example of modernist planning,
micro-districts were planned thinking of them as surfaces.
Therefore, each of the zones must be separated so that they
do not interfere with adjacent zones. (Ohno, 2004, p. 28).
Empty surfaces - landscapes were flled with grey concrete
blocks around Moscow and later all Eastern Bloc (Snopek,
2011, p. 33). Although in some cases local architects tried
to create more vibrant environment by constructing micro-
districts in a more scenic landscape (Lazdynai district in
Vilnius, Lithuania), they still lacked diversity.
On the other hand, strict scientifc planning arranged
public functions around the housing blocks in a convenient
distances. Schools, shops and pharmacies were maximum
10 minute distance from the apartments (Bronovitskaya,
2009, p. 24). Stadiums, hospitals, libraries and other facilities
were within a close distance, often in the centers of micro-
districts. Greenery during the time grew and also became
richer and inviting. These benefts of modernistic planning
are appreciated even today as new generation of residents
who grew up there have more natural feeling to this type of
planning (Bronovitskaya, 2009, p. 25).

This adaptation means that socialist mass housing areas
eventually from forced lifestyle are turning to a lifestyle
which people choose because of specifc qualities, even if it
might seem uncomfortable for most of the people. Simi-
larly as people choose to live in boats in Amsterdam or in
fooded Venice.
We did not have rich architectural
elements, but just plain poor panels.
It was possible to do only them, not
because we were such idiots, but be-
cause it was possible to produce only
those type of panels in factories which
we already had, with their standard
equipment.
- Elena Kapustian, architect, advisor of Russian academy of
architecture and building science (Listova, 2009)
Figure 20. Elena Kapustian giving interview to a TV
programme Sovetskaja Imperia. Krushchevki.
29
Scientifcally calculated arrangements of functions in city and mass housing area. Gutnov and Baburob, 1971
Figure 21. Top - NUS in an agricultural zone.
Figure 22. Bottom - Plan of a NUS.
29.37 hectares
60.8% takes green spaces
over 600 trees
Coverage within 3 minutes from bus stop
5 foors, 9 foors, 12 foors
Informal path system
Commercial and public functions
Road structure
31
Figure 23. Opposite page - analysis of Dainava
micro-district.

Figure 24. Orthogonal drawing of Dainava micro-
district in Kaunas, Lithuania based on existing
situation. Dainava is one of the frst socialist mass
housing areas to be built in Kaunas with construc-
tions starting in 1963.
CONDITIONS IN ASIA
A
ccording to Asian Development Bank (2008) in next 20
years 1.1 billion people will move to the cities in Asia.
It is a unique shift in human history which is followed by
intense construction of cities. In 2011 there were 23 megaci-
ties (cities with population over 10 million) with 13 of them
being in Asia, by the 2025 world is expected to have 37
megacities and 22 in Asia (United Nations, 2011, p. 5). The
most standing out city in this sense is Tokyo which from
1950s is and will continue to be in the nearest future, the
biggest megacity. However Tokyo is not developing now at
extremes pace as it was until 1990s. Same can be said about
Seoul, which is now balancing on the limit of becoming a
megacity. Here population grew rapidly just after Korean
war in 1953 and slowed down around 1990 (Oh et al., 2009,
p. 16). However when Tokyo and Seoul slowed down Shen-
zhen started demonstrating incredibly rapid development
by growing population by 2 million every 5 years, which in
2020 should be over 14 million (United Nations, 2011, p.
222). But not only rapid growth and size is interesting while
talking about urbanization, density is also one of the key
factors. In this sense Hong Kong demonstrates examples of
extreme density with its Kwun Tong area reaching 56 200
people per square kilometer (Hong Kong Census and Statis-
tics Department, 2013a). This makes Hong Kong one of the
densest areas in the world ( Jenks and Burgess, 2003, p. 245).
This vast urbanization produced special conditions and
regulation forms which infuenced mass housing develop-
ment in those cities. In next sections several cases based on
impressions from study trips will be explored. It is impor-
tant to understand what is the background and meaning
of each context and what allowed or forced specifc urban
forms to take shape.
TOKYO - LAND READJUSTMENT
Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 was a disaster for Tokyo,
but at the same time it was a chance for rapid modernization
frst subway line opened in 1927 and Haneda airport in
1931. However history repeated itself and during WWII To-
kyo was heavily damaged once more. Reconstruction took
again. In both times land readjustment method was used for
urban reconstruction (Sorensen, 2000a, p. 52). Today land
readjustment is called The Mother of City Planning (So-
rensen, 2000b, p. 217), because 30% of urban areas in Japan
are arranged using this method. It was and still is a very
attractive concept because it can be self-fnancing model
of regeneration combining at the same time a lot of differ-
ent land owners. This model has a wide range of applicable
situations including public housing projects, railway, transit,
new town developments and etc. (Sorensen, 2000a, p. 53).
The really basic idea of land readjustment is that landown-
ers agree that location of their land would be adjusted and
property resized normally it becomes 2/3 of the previous
size. However due to new infrastructure development and
creation of public spaces, the land price rise and the land
owners in the end make proft. At the same time additional
land taken from landowners can be sold to developers,
thereby fnancing the land readjustment process.

As land readjustment can help to develop wide range of
different situations - it also has some negative effects, like
encouraging sprawl (Sorensen, 2000b, p. 218). Rapidly
growing urban population in Tokyo led that in 1975 all
23 wards were almost fully urbanized (Zhao, 2006, p. 29).
Naturally this led to further urbanization of urban fringe.
Here land readjustment is extremely helpful for developers
to rearrange a usually very fragmented property limits to
a different patterns and free up plots for big developments
(Sorensen, 2000a, p. 55). That is why residential develop-
ments around Tokyo have a strictly planned order - they are
basically developed in a tabula rasa situation. The strict zon-
ing prevents diversity in the plots and functions are clearly
separated. This can be seen by looking at a development
of Kashiwa-no-ha station area. Developers can create any
desirable situation they want, so the new high-rise apartment
blocks are standing next to the express train station, big
shopping center and a park.
33
In Tokyo possible problems with the contemporary needs
and an existing situation are solved by applying land read-
justment method. Although it is not always perfect it can be
used as a tool to arrange existing very complicated areas for
the future.
Figure 25. Before land readjustment
Figure 26. After land readjustment
Complexity of properties and big number of individual own-
ers are often the problems to start any change in socialist
mass housing areas. In Tokyo, land readjustment enabled
very complex urban fabric to change and meet contempo-
rary needs in very fexible way. However in a socialist mass
housing areas this complexity is not in the land, which is
owned by the government, but in the ownership of apart-
ments. Thus land readjustment method could be remodeled
as an apartment readjustment method where owners would
be encouraged to swap or sell their apartments by getting
benefts.
HONG KONG - GREEN CONTRAST
According to Miles Glendinning (2012) Hong Kong is a hot
spot for mass housing. After World War II population in
Hong Kong started booming. Both natural increase and im-
migration due to civil war in China contributed to popula-
tion increase from 600 000 in 1945 to 2.5 million in 1957
( Jenks and Burgess, 2003, p. 246).
Today most of the cities are looking after a compact city
model, but in the past trends were different and sprawl was
often the answer to the growing population in Europe and
USA. Hong Kong also tried to distribute growing popula-
tion by creating new towns. However in 1970s the down-
sides of dispersed population became visible as the hilly
terrain was separating new towns from center and lack of
local economy could not make new towns economically self-
suffcient ( Jenks and Burgess, 2003, p. 248). Urban planners
had to rethink the strategy.
The government focused on providing public housing at
low prices to keep up with economic demands. They could
do it easily because they owned the land (Henderson, 1991,
p. 172). However everything was not that simple, because
Hong Kong by using capitalist model, was focusing on rev-
enue and in 1970s they were making one third of all revenue
from land leases - a biggest portion in the world (Hender-
son, 1991, p. 172). This meant that they had a confict on
one side trying to provide cheap public housing by using the
land and on the other side - trying to make proft by renting
out the same land to the developers. Naturally this led to
minimizing the land area for public housing. To compen-
sate loss, buildings had to go high. Henderson (1991, p. 173)
sums up to what situation this policy led: They are obliged
to live in blocks of 35 to 50 stories, made up of apartments
that are little more than glorifed closets (with a predomi-
nant foor-space allocation of 3.3 square metres per person),
formed into estates and new towns with staggeringly high
population densities.
The design of frst public housing projects did not pay a lot
of attention to a free ground space, greenery or other typi-
cal elements of western housing blocks. Instead, the estates
were developed by focusing only on building volumes. This
can be seen by observing some of the frst developments
like Shek Kip Mei Estate (1953), Model Housing Estate
(1954) and others. Of course having in mind all diffculties
with land area, terrain and revenue policy it is hard to expect
anything different.
Today urban area in Hong Kong takes up less than 25% of
all land, around 40% of it is preserved for recreation and
conservation (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Depart-
ment, 2013b). Although the urban area has increased, so
did the population which now is 7.15 million (Hong Kong
Census and Statistics Department, 2013a). New residential
projects, like Kin Ming Estate (Figure 27. and Figure 28. ),
continues to follow the guidelines set by the frst develop-
ments and focuses primarily on the density, forcing residents
to have their recreational activities in surrounding parks.
Hong Kong by having tight pressures for the land and
specifc terrain has produced a well working situation where
greenery is not mixing with mass housing blocks. It is a
contrast to the socialist mass housing developments where
it was very important to provide vast green spaces around
the buildings. However in both cases greens space makes a
big and important part urban fabric and the main difference
is purely a relation of a green spaces with a buildings. Hong
Kong always being an epicenter of business and exchange
gives an idea that today the speed, relation with a city and
urban life is more important for people than daily wander-
ings through green space.

The presence of green space in daily life is still very impor-
tant, but it can be just visual. As socialist mass housing is
now playing by the market economy rules and the lifestyle of
people changed accordingly, the organization of green space
could adapt by interpreting Hong Kong experience. This
means that the amount of green space could be reduced it
is not important anymore for buildings and green to mix, as
long as the visual relation is maintained.
35
Hong Kong because of limited land, complex topography
and high demand created an interesting situation where
green and urban spaces work well by being separated. There
is very clear division between what is green and what is
urban.
Figure 27. Kin Ming Estate, picture by Baycrest - Wikipedia user
Figure 28. Kin Ming Estate
SEOUL - GATED COMMUNITIES
Population of Seoul started to increase rapidly after the end
of the Korean War in 1953, but the modernization and con-
trol of urban space began later. After the war a lot of people
had to be relocated, so in 1950s government started to clear
the slums to make space in the city. It continued in 1960s
too: Most areas near railroads, streets, sewage disposal
facilities and crowded downtown areas were cleared (Shin,
1995, p. 55). In 1962 First and Second National Economic
Development Plans were introduced and rapid economic
growth started (Oh et al., 2009, p. 10). Same year Mapo
Apartments - frst apartment block was built. Although
there are not many scholar sources analyzing this pioneer of
housing block areas in Seoul, the pictures (Figure 31. ) from
that time reveal that Mapo apartments were already built on
an existing urban fabric, moreover, they were built in a place
of a former prison (Matt, 2006). This case demonstrates that
in Seoul housing development started by a redevelopment of
an existing urban situation which was initiated by a govern-
ment policy.

Other pictures reveal extreme contrast with surrounding
area clean modernistic courtyard and dense, low-rise maze
of old streets outside the complex the area of squatters
which eventually was removed. The contrast is emphasized
even more by a wall, which separates two situations, telling
that the frst residential development is Seoul was a gated
community. Interestingly, this relates to the development
before which was a prison. Just instead of protecting
outside from the inside, the sterile situation inside was pro-
tected from the squatting outside.
Naturally, the redevelopment continued and in 1991, after
29 years, this complex was demolished. Today in this area
we can fnd another residential development which con-
tinues the tradition of gated communities. Similar to its
predecessor, new development separates itself from dense
urban fabric with diverse activities and encloses in a clean,
sterile environment.
Although gated communities are heavily criticized, in Seoul
they work quite well and are appreciated by the society. They
can be seen in the frst mass residential developments and
are continued to be built today. Most of the new residential
areas in Seoul today are gated. The biggest concentration
of gated developments in the city center are in Sinbanpo-ro
area which is next to the famous Gangnam entertainment
district. It is interesting relation where calm and at frst sight
boring gated residential area is next to a lively and open part
of the city. Same as frst Mapo Apartments development
which created an island of open space in a dense squatted
neighborhood.
Probably it is this vivid contrast which makes gated com-
munities in Seoul work. Socialist mass housing areas could
beneft from gated areas not by trying to promote safety
or prestige, but by trying to create a contrast to an existing
context. It can be a tool to bring new spaces to the city.
37
In Seoul issues with private and public property are solved
by creating gated communities. Often criticized concept of
gated communities here works quite well and is well ac-
cepted by society.
Figure 29. Secured entrance to the area Figure 31. Mapo apartments in 1963
Figure 30. Fenced streetscape
SHENZHEN - GREEN BOUNDARIES
Shenzhen is noticeable for its green areas and vast scale
which is a contrast to dense and compact neighboring Hong
Kong. This can be compared to the spaces which are found
in soviet planned areas. And indeed in the beginning of
Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) the city planning
was still based on the Soviet Union planning model cen-
trally controlled 5 year plans (Bruton et al., 2005, p. 229). In
1986 this model started to change and ft better immense
growth (Bruton et al., 2005, p. 231). Interestingly, the frst
developed, Luohu area was following more Hong Kong
model of space and had relatively narrow 2-4 lane streets
and walkable distances (Zacharias and Tang, 2010, p. 223).
However with further growth more cars came to the city
and city planners decided to focus further developments on
cars by using green corridors (Zacharias and Tang, 2010, p.
223). In modernistic fashion, roads are now surrounded by
green buffer zones.
The similarity of the new city center Futian with Le Cor-
busiers plan for Paris cannot be unnoticed, as Zacharias and
Tang (2010) notice: The cite radieuse model is unmistak-
able, although its reasons are not entirely what Le Corbusier
had in mind. New city center was planned on an agri-
cultural land (Wang et al., 2009, p. 959) and this situation
enabled any decision possible. New housing districts were
planned in Shenzhen using similar ideas, but illegal hous-
ing was appearing on the edge of the city at the same time.
This was due to very fast growth, when at the same moment
city needed cheap housing for people from rural areas and
new housing for richer urban residents (Wang et al., 2009, p.
959).
Although most of the frst developments were often based
on the same layout, later developments tried to introduce
more variety to the urban fabric. But the base of the road
and city structure was laid on soviet planning principles
mixed with infuence of Le Corbusier and the result is a lack
of spatial diversity. Housing blocks often are clearly divided
and separated from each other by immense amount of
greenery. Often greenery and road axes are making distanc-
es unwalkable.

Promotion of vast green spaces between the buildings and
the roads in Shenzhen brings an opposite than desired effect
and creates spatial problems. Greenery is good, but in this
case we can see that ammount is also important. This idea
of overdose of qualities can be seen in socialist mass hous-
ing areas too. Too many green public spaces create unneces-
sary distances and unusable voids. Shenzhen can serve as an
example to demonstrate that excessive green space can bring
negative effects.
39
In Shenzhen too many green spaces
create a very monotonic streetscape
and unwalkable distances.
Figure 32. Green boundaries
Figure 33. Unwalkable distances
HONG KONG
green contrast

unbuilt area in a test site
Hung Hom
76%
SEOUL
gated communities

Sinbanpo
82%
SHENZHEN
green boundaries

Lianhuacun
85%
TOKYO
land readjustment

Kashiwanoha
80%
10 min
41
KAUNAS

Dainava
89%
Figure 34. Opposite page - A comparison of mass
housing areas in different Asian cities by built/
unbuilt ratio in an area covered by 10 minutes
walk (400 meters radius).
Figure 35. On the right - same size area in one of
the densest, Dainava socialist mass housing, areas
in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Figure 36. On the left - aerial view of Dainava.
Figure 37. Photo by Alexander Gronsky from series Pastoral 2008-2012
43
SHRINKING EASTERN EUROPE AND
LEARNING FROM SHRINKING JAPAN
Here socialist mass housing phenomena is explored as a
common property of Eastern European countries. The con-
sequences, issues and potentials are covered while concept
of Fibercity is presented as a tool for actions. At the same
the main confict points in socialist mass housing areas are
identifed.
COMMON DENOMINATORS IN EASTERN EUROPE
I
s it possible to fnd common denominators for all post-
socialist countries? These countries are very different
with their climate, culture, religion and history, but one
implied political ideology for the same period, with same
beginning and end, produced common elements. Ivan
Szeknyi (2008) argues that urban forms in socialist societies
did not differ that much. Usually centers of the cities were
deteriorating and the new developments around the city
were booming by building massive housing developments
(Szelenyi, 2008, p. 304). As the main reasons for this pro-
cess he mentions nationalized urban housing market. Private
housing was permitted only in the villages for a long time
and city development was entirely under control of the state.
However, as Szelenyi (2008, p. 304) describes, the state was
interested in a fast and cheap developments. City centers
were not attractive for fast and cheap developments due to
already existing urban fabric. Renovating and upgrading
old buildings was not effcient and fast enough. All focus of
socialist government was primarily on a new mass housing
areas on the edge on the cities in a tabula rasa condition.
Infrastructural and architectural aspects of urban develop-
ment were typically oriented almost exclusively to the local
industrial combine and its attendant (large scale) housing
estates (Beyer and Brade, 2006). These developments were
often generic with small adaptations to a local climate. By
having similar urban forms governed by similar rules, these
cities after 1990s inherited similar problems.
After 1990s Eastern Europe went to the state which Janos
Kornai described this state as crisis of post-communist
transformation (Szelenyi, 2008, p. 309). In 1995 Szelenyi
predicted that growing economies will lead people in East-
ern Europe from mass housing areas to the city centers and
mostly to the suburban areas (Szelenyi, 2008, p. 315). Which
we can now confrm is true. Most of the post-socialist cities
are experiencing suburban growth which is very connected
with a socialist past (Nuissl and Rink, 2005). It is a paradox
in time of shrinkage that cities are expanding regardless
shrinking population. It is agreed that higher income people
move to suburban and central areas, which means that
mass housing areas are slowly becoming inhabited by lower
income population (Stanilov, 2007, p. 183). Having in mind
shrinking population perspectives which project over 20%
of shrinkage in Eastern Europe (United Nations, 2012), we
Construction Change Capitalization
45
Plodviv, Bulgaria; City population: 339 077
Kaunas, Lithuania; City population: 311 148
Krakow, Poland; City population: 758 334
Cluj-Napoca, Romania; City population: 324 576
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; City population: 1 250 619
Lviv, Ukraine; City population: 729 842
Figure 38. A comparison
between different cities in
Eastern Europe. City cen-
ters, socialist mass housing
areas and suburbs.
Figure 39. Opposite page
- 3 common steps for a
socialist mass housing
areas.
Picture: 214 . , Plodviv, Bulgaria; City population: 339 077
Picture: 6 Birelio 23-iosios g., Kaunas, Lithuania; City population: 311 148
Picture: Franciszka Knianina, Krakow, Poland; City population: 758 334
47
Picture: Kulparkivska St, 135, Lviv, Ukraine; City population: 729 842
Picture: Aleea Ciuca 7, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; City population: 324 576
Picture: 4 . , Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; City population: 1 250 619
Figure 40. A glimpse
inside socialist mass hous-
ing areas today in different
countries. There is almost
no difference between these
areas. They hardly refect
climate or cultural back-
ground of the countries.
needs is one of the main problems today in socialist mass
housing areas. However it is worth to mention that some
of features of socialist mass housing areas, like pedestrian
access, reduction of cars, high density, are seen as an objec-
tives of contemporary developments today (Scott, 2009, p.
62).
The activities were planned in the center of the block
furthest from the edge the highways. However today we
can notice an opposite situation where main roads are most
attractive locations for commercial functions turning the
most active part of the areas from the center to the edge
(Figure 42. ). This shift creates a lot of spatial confict.
can imagine that this rising misbalance of income can be a
serious issue. However, shrinking population does not mean
more vacant housing in Eastern Europe yet. The living
space per person in this part of Europe is still low compared
to a Western Europe. For example in Russia average size per
person is 19.6 square meters as in Denmark it jumps to 51
or Norway 74 (Beyer and Brade, 2006). But with drastically
dropping population rates number of vacant houses and
apartments will increase.
Similarities can be found not only in history, urban patterns
and social problems, but also in architectural and spatial
realities of today. It is easy to see similarities by comparing
visually socialist mass housing areas in different countries
(Figure 40 on page 47). This comparison reveal little dif-
ference in architecture and space.
However the easiest way to fnd common denominators in
socialist mass housing areas is to look at their guide book.
In 1960s a group of architects and planners from The
University of Moscow led by Alexei Gutnov published a
book called The Ideal Communist City (English version
which is referred here came out later, Gutnov and Baburov,
1971). It was a summary and justifcation of developments
which were already being built. Here authors justifed and
explained in a scientifc way the ideal urban confguration
which can be seen in a diagram of New Urban Settlement
(Figure 41. ). This book predicted that 75% of global popu-
lation by the year 2000 will live in a cities and because of
that, we urgently had to rethink the way our cities are built,
the way we live. Based on the communist model of soci-
ety, predictions of the future and problems of that time in
the cities, it was justifed the need to build repetitive high-
rise blocks with community centers in the middle, next to
highways with easy access to public transport. The lack of
private space is seen as necessary element to socialize in gen-
erous green public space. Connectivity with a city center is
not emphasized as the main goal is to bring people to work
in industrial complex and back.
What can be noted from that book, that everything is trying
to have an order: leisure, work, industry, education. And as
we see from the wrong prediction in the book about global
population growth, not everything what is predicted and
planned becomes true. Inability to adapt to unpredictable
49
Figure 41.
THE IDEAL COMMUNIST CITY
New Urban Settlement diagram (Gutnov, 1971)
1. Residential units
2. School and sports area
3. Rapid transport above pedestrian level
4. Highway
5. Community center
Concentration towards center
Activities on the edge
Figure 42.
THE NOT IDEAL POST-COMMU-
NIST CITY
An adaptation of NUS to a contemporary situation
(drawing by author)
1. Residential units
2. School and sports area
3. Main street
4. Shopping center, gas station, kiosks
5. Parking in public space
6. Green perimeter
1
2
3
6
4
4
4
4
4
5
CONSEQUENCES OF SHRINKING EASTERN EUROPE
almost half of all medium-sized cities in Europe

are experiencing population and economic decline
(Schlappa and Neill, 2013, p. 10). Tendencies of shrinking
population in Eastern Europe can just add more impor-
tance and dynamism to the existing conficts and at the
same time, shrinkage can be seen as a tool to change these
areas to better. The consequences of this process are very
well described by Hidetoshi Ohno in a theory of Fibercity
(Ohno and Ohno Laboratory, 2006). Although there focus
is on Japanese context, almost everything can be applied to
Eastern Europe too, as the projections show similar tenden-
cies. Main mentioned moments of shrinkage are: disap-
pearing rural villages, increasing number of vacant homes,
unmaintained infrastructure, growing attraction of a city
center, political and social focus on elderly (as their numbers
will increase, they will become main voters), less attention to
youth, pensions will shrink as society will get older and as a
consequence the economy will face great challenges (Ohno
and Ohno Laboratory, 2006, p. 3).
All these processes are true for both Japanese and Eastern
European contexts, however one moment considering im-
migration might be different. As Japan sees a possibility of
growing immigration rates as one way to maintain work-
force, in Eastern Europe this can be a diffcult challenge.
Europe has a great history on migration and it is historically
very natural process, however the most attractive countries
for immigrants are in Western Europe where economy
is strongest. So if Eastern Europe does not keep up their
economies with Western Europe soon, it is hard to imagine
big fows of immigration which could balance the shrinking
population. In socialist mass housing areas this possibility
would mean that due to relatively small amount of foreign-
ers, these areas are unlikely to become ghettos for immi-
grants.
Another moment which is important to clarify while talk-
ing about socialist mass housing areas is a possibly growing
attraction of the city centers while population is shrink-
ing. It is hard to tell a precise trend for all Eastern Europe.
People will not abandon quickly just recently built suburban
houses, nor city centers can become a massive attraction
points soon, as the heritage restrictions often limit develop-
ments and make them more expensive. But global tenden-
cies, following compact city model, shows that in a long
term city centers should become the most attractive areas.
Looking at examples from Denmark and Netherlands,
it is easy to imagine a combination of new developments
and heritage areas working together in Easter Europe too.
Even though, in some countries like Poland, socialist mass
housing areas are still very popular, they are now becoming
second or third generation houses. Minimum moderniza-
tion, which is done now, like insulating, upgrading heating
system and repainting, has only temporary effect. Without
a more radical renovation the quality of these apartments
will not be able to compete with recent developments in
the city centers. Over half of population in Eastern Europe
live in mass housing areas (Stanilov, 2007, p. 181), meaning
that perspectives of shift towards the city center will greatly
affect socialist housing areas even if they are still popular in
some countries today.
Shrinking population will introduce more change in social-
ist housing neighborhoods. These areas already have seen
some change by adding functions shopping centers, res-
taurants, offce buildings, but did not experience change by
reduction. In this case it is reduction of people. Although it
might seem that new added functions are directly depended
on population of neighborhoods, it is not quite true. New
commercial functions are probably just partly depended,
because, they are focusing mostly on streets - car users. So if
population will reduce in the neighborhoods, it should not
have a massive effect on the new commercial activities on
the perimter of the areas.
Growing number of elderly will need more green, recre-
ational spaces and elderly facilities. As described in report
by Urbact (Schlappa and Neill, 2013, p. 38), it is important
to keep active lifestyle, delay dependency for elderly and
environment should encourage this. However, existing
generic feeling and still present mono-functional design of
the neighborhoods does not create an attractive aging envi-
ronment. Existing confict for a public space, where public
space is invaded slowly by chaotic car parking and commer-
cial activities, can be more present if residents will not have
more control over it. In shrinking society landscape will
gain more importance (Schlappa and Neill, 2013, p. 31), so
the debates for control over it will naturally rise.
51
Even if renovated, neighborhoods are still seen as a socialist
housing areas. In the future, it can be argued, that because
of their difference, specifc character, they have possibil-
ity to become new hip areas and be gentrifed. Moreover,
knowing that industrial areas are now often converted for a
residential purpose, this might seem possible. However in-
dustrial areas often have unique spaces and are becoming in-
creasingly rare in the cities. It is very different with socialist
housing areas, as they are generic and very common in most
of the cities in Eastern Europe. This means that these areas
are unlikely to be seen with a positive attitude in the future.
Proposals talking about the historical value, like Belyaevo
Forever (Snopek, 2011) project proposing to include Bely-
aevo socialist housing area in Moscow to UNESCO, can be
seen more as provocative discussions than real possibilities.
Deteriorative view on socialist housing areas can lead to
psychologically less comfortable environment.
To be able to react and use described negative impacts
of shrinkage as an opportunity to reshape socialist mass
housing areas for better, we need tools. There already have
been different possibilities proposing what has to be done,
but they are often too general and avoid direct answers by
providing huge palette of possible actions (Schlappa and
Neill, 2013; Hollander et al., 2009; Laursen, 2008). At the
same time they agree that urban shrinkage demands new
approaches to urban planning, design and management
(Schlappa and Neill, 2013, p. 43). This means that it is not
enough just to fnd some examples which some shrinking
cities successfully applied. We need a completely new ap-
proach towards a contemporary city, a new mindset.
LEARNING FROM SHRINKING JAPAN
A
fter decades of growth Japan now faces an opposite
tendency rapidly shrinking and aging population.
Japan has similar population tendencies as Eastern Europe.
Estimated population shrinkage in Japan from 2010 to
2060 is -19.51%, while Eastern Europe it is a little bit bigger
-21.63% (United Nations, 2012). However differently than
in Eastern Europe, country is adapting and preparing for
future challenges. A big focus is on aging society, which is
a consequence of shrinking population, public spaces are
often well designed for visually impaired, and government
is trying to adapt economy for future realities. Urban scale
also has model focused on shrinking population. After
decades of different proposals for expanding Tokyo to the
Tokyo bay, at the times facing shrinkage there is a proposal
to manage shrinkage and use it to improve the living condi-
tions Fibercity.
FIBERCITY
Fibercity is a contemporary city vision developed by Hi-
detoshi Ohno at The University of Tokyo (Ohno and Ohno
Laboratory, 2006; Ohno et al., 2012; Ohno, 2004). Although
it focuses on Japan and especially Tokyo, the methods
can be translated to different context and scale too. It was
already shown in a research on Nagaoka city in Japan (Ohno
and Wada, 2012; Ohno et al., 2012). Although Tokyo and
Nagaoka cannot even be compared in size (Tokyo metropol-
itan area has over 35 million population and Nagaoka just
reaches 280 thousand), Fibercity vision showed that it could
be adapted to both contexts.
Not only ability to adapt to different scales is interesting
in Fibercity. This concept fully understands the modern-
istic planning nature and clearly explains the transition
and difference from traditional modernistic planning to a
shrinking city vision of Fibercity. It is very important aspect,
because nature of socialist housing areas in Eastern Europe
is extremely modernistic, thus a model working with them
should have a relation and understanding of their strong
modernistic nature.
Fibercity confronts traditional 20th century city model
Atomic city model and proposes to look at a city not as
a machine, but as a fabric (Ohno, 2004, p. 38). Fibercity
concept goes beyond restrictions of a geometrical city forms
and accepts the unpredictable shapes and fows as the driv-
ing force. Exchange, democracy of mobility, reliable urban
system with various possibilities are the main values. It can
be said that it encompass in one place theories of Richard
Sennett on borders and boundaries (Sennett, 2011) and
Christopher Alexander ideas laid in City is not a tree (Al-
exander, 1966).
As a way of acting Fibercity proposes editing existing rather
than radical modernistic creation from tabula rasa approach.
As Fibercity sees a city as a fabric rather than machine, it
proposes to edit it by using fbers linear elements. This is
a new concept which goes away from modernistic zoning
of surfaces to a more free, democratic and adaptable linear
structure.
Focus on linear elements does not deny modernistic history,
it proposes how to infuence it without again creating tabula
rasa. Importance of linear elements is coming from the
needs of XXI century exchange and freedom of mobility
(Ohno, 2004, p. 28, 31).
Diverse range of applications and fexibility is another
important feature of Fibercity strategy. As in a fabric, fber
does not have to be always the same and can be used in
many different ways to achieve complexity. In concrete
terms various strategies may be conceived, such as insert-
ing a new border into an existing domain, substituting an
isolating boundary with one that encourages exchange, or
relaxing the opposition between domains by blurring their
boundaries (Ohno, 2004, p. 37). This method does not
demand huge investment, which can be an issue in a city
with shrinking population and economy. It is very important
to have this in mind while working with socialist housing
neighborhoods where economical questions are always very
sensitive matter as there is a tendency for lower income
residents to live.
The main challenge using this model for a socialist mass
housing areas is to recognize exiting linear elements and to
fnd where new should be created.
53
Figure 43. An illustration of the Fibercity from
Tokyo Fibercity 2050, Ohno, 2006.
CONFLICTS IN SHRINKING EASTERN EUROPE
THE COMPLEXITY
mass housing was above all a movement that was domi-
nated by confict, by emergency. (Glendinning, 2012).
We cannot start talking about soviet mass housing areas
without recognizing the full complexity of the issue. Ac-
cording to Miles Glendinning (2012) mass housing emerged
from conficts of struggle for salvation, threat, market
demands and some other practical issues. In post-socialist
countries this confict is even more visible and the descrip-
tion can be expanded with more elements. Soviet housing
block areas encompass huge amount of different issues at
once, because at the same time they relate to completely
different political, economic, historical situations. They are
one of the few remaining elements in post-socialist soci-
ety which try to glue the break of Soviet Union in 1990s.
As most of the structures built during the times of Soviet
Union are demolished or converted unrecognizably, these
areas often stand unchanged - at the same time they are in
the past and in the present. It covers the conficting rela-
tion of soviet housing areas with two political ideologies,
two economical directions and two architectural and urban
realities. These areas leave a strong modernistic mark on
the cities which cannot be redeveloped or change as easy as
some industrial or infrastructural areas of that time. Ulti-
mately these areas hold a confict between communism and
capitalism. Although this is overall very broad confict and
can be expanded to various felds, it can also be identifed
from architectural point of view.
Michel Foucault has proposed a concept of heterotopia
(Foucault and Miskowiec, 1986) which is focusing on
other spaces. It is a concept to defne the space which
is here and not here, which is real and not real at the same
time. This concept does not state that all conficts neces-
sarily are heterotopias, but is shows that heterotopia often
has a contradictory or even conficting elements. We can
use heterotopia as a way of looking at conficts which soviet
mass housing possess. Heterotopia is an interesting concept
to explore a mass housing areas, because heterotopian space
could not have a place in soviet society where everything
was planned, mass housing was standardized, and living
space scientifcally calculated. There could not be any place
for otherness or unpredictability. This can be seen in a typo-
logical guidebook (Zveadina and Blashkevich, 1978) and the
book The Ideal Communist City (Gutnov and Baburov,
1971) where all possible living conditions were set, meaning
that people are unable to do anything beyond that. Thus by
recognizing heterotopia we can fnd those delicate elements
of soviet mass housing areas which are able to adapt, change
and create new meanings by respecting strict and top-down
implied planning attitude.
There are seven original defnitions of heterotopia which
cover different types of spaces. During last decades the
concept was elaborated by other thinkers too and now it
is diffcult to state precisely all possible meanings. So to
keep the idea of heterotopia original, without any additional
interpretations, we can try to fnd the spatial conficts as
heterotopias based on seven original defnitions proposed by
Foucault heterotopias of crises, deviation, compensation,
time, juxtaposition, purifcation and illusion (Foucault and
Miskowiec, 1986).
Firstly, lets try to fnd what social mass housing areas are
not. These areas cannot be called heterotopias of crises,
because they are not spaces for people in crises, neither for
people out of norm or with special needs they are not
heterotopias of deviation too. Not heterotopias of compen-
sation as these areas do not compensate anything. Gated
communities can be seen as a heterotopias (Low, 2008;
Hook and Vrdoljak, 2002) and by Foucaults defnition they
would be heterotopias of purifcation. However, almost
none of the socialist mass housing areas after 1990s became
gated. In most cases the land between the houses remained
public and accessible to everybody.
However soviet mass housing areas impose a contradiction
of time, because they are spaces from different ideology,
which does not exist now, in a contemporary world, stand-
ing often unchanged. In a way they can be compared to a
museums and this means that they are heterotopias of time.
Also there is a confict between city and countryside. They
were built as ultimate symbols of urbanization, with great
connectivity to the city for a new type of dweller, but at the
same time they offered vast green space and ability to run
away from urban environment. This contradiction makes
soviet mass housing areas as a heterotopias of juxtaposition.
Lastly, if soviet housing areas are not gated, they still possess
55
a confict between private and public. It is because before
1990s everything offcially was owned by the government.
Later apartments became private, but public space remained
public (Marcuse, 1996, p. 167). This sharp artifcial division
of private and public sometimes creates an illusion that resi-
dents own their courtyards these areas became a heteroto-
pias of illusion.
THREE CONFLICTS
Heterotopia is a spatial theory, so we can assume that the
conficts which ft to the description of heterotopia are also
spatial. In this case, we can identify three conficts as het-
erotopia confict between private and public (heterotopia
of illusion), confict between past and present (heterotopia
of time) and confict between city and countryside (hetero-
topia of juxtaposition). All of them relate to different scales
confict between private and public relates to a block scale,
confict between time and present relates to a time scale
and confict between city and countryside relates to a city or
even regional scale. This analysis reveal the most important
dimensions for socialist housing areas. They refect a change
which happened to socialist mass housing areas during their
time independently of the confguration of houses. How-
ever to be able infuence these spatial dimensions we must
understand them better and fnd tools and solutions which
are fexible enough to work.
mass housing was above
all a movement that was
dominated by conict, by
emergency.
- Miles Glendinning (2012)
Figure 44. Miles Glendinning during lecture
1. CONFLICT BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC
The fuel for architectural movement in late Soviet Union
during construction peak was pure modernism as it very
well responded to political needs of standardization and
low cost. Modernism as a style, according to Charles Jencks
( Jencks et al., 1977, p. 9), offcially died on July 15, 1972,
but not in Eastern Bloc countries. For most of these coun-
tries the offcial death of modernism was 1991, December
26 the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Differently from
Western Europe, the death of modernism in this region was
sudden too.
This means that Soviet housing areas are the symbols of
the modernism in post-socialist countries. A fght between
modernist planning qualities and disadvantages with todays
urban realities blend in to a bizarre juxtapositions where
suddenly strictly planned children playgrounds become a
spontaneous car parking, where public green spaces become
shopping centers (Stanilov, 2007, p. 272). This confict be-
tween private and public happens because of the functional-
istic nature of these areas everything was built at once as
an end result. Now various overlaps appear which, often un-
successfully, try to adapt these areas to contemporary needs.
People seek for individualism in a homogenic environment.
As an outcome, new developments in the post-socialist cit-
ies often become gated (Polanska, 2010, p. 295). However
even with rising demand almost no mass housing areas built
before 1990s in Eastern Europe became gated.

Confict between individual and common can be seen in the
building facades, where lack of boundaries between private
and public responsibility leads to a deteriorating environ-
ment (Stanilov, 2007, p. 182). But it is mostly visible in the
public space where needs of different people merge in to
one abstract entity of things. Residents of mass housing
blocks are not pleased by seeing their green space being
privatized and urbanized, but often they did not have any
possibility to infuence these processes (Stanilov, 2007, p.
272). As Stanislov writes, privatization not only included
empty, undesirable spaces, but parts of parks and commu-
nity facilities too. Too make things even more complicated,
often these fragmented developments did not do their best
to link and integrate with surrounding community focused
mostly on car users. New shopping centers, fast food chain
restaurants, offce buildings in socialist mass housing areas
disturbed the public space and invaded modernistic nature
of these areas. Almost always these new facilities con-
centrated on the edge of the areas next to the car traffc,
thereby shifting attraction from the center of the areas, as it
was originally planned, to the edge. As a consequence this
can be seen in chaotically shifted routes and spatial hierar-
chy. However these intrusions by creating a confict opened
static environment for a change and this can be seen as
positive side of these developments.
57
Private illegal parking garages taking over public
space. Picture from Nizhny Novgorad, Russia.
Kiosks on a public space and apartments on a
ground foors turning into commercial facilities.
Picture from Nizhny Novgorad, Russia.
Children playgrounds in courtyards are turned into
spontaneous car parking. Picture from Kaunas,
Lithuania.
Figure 45. Images by Google Steetview
Figure 46. Plan drawings
2. CONFLICT BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT
We are beginning to preserve more and more recent build-
ings. Today a more signifcant building which is 50 years
old can be easily seen as a heritage. This naturally raises
questions in post-socialist countries about their socialist
heritage. Sometimes seen as an inherited heritage it never
leaves public apathetic. It is a confict as a historical heritage
(Glendinning, 2012). Postsocialist identity formation in-
volves confict over the past (Young and Kaczmarek, 2008,
p. 54).
Even generic structure of socialist mass housing areas some-
times is argued to be a value, which is worth preserving
(Snopek, 2011). In some cases socialist mass housing areas
receive cultural heritage status (Lazdynai district in Vilnius,
Lithuania), sometimes they are demolished (demolition of
khrushchevki districts in Moscow). It is hard to tell which
approach is the best, but it is clear that these areas possess
a conficting value as heterotopias of time. Due to small
change during their lifetime, one can feel that they have
traveled to the past while visiting one of these neighbor-
hoods.
Inevitably post-socialist cities which have strong mark of
socialist heritage are changing. As Young and Kaczmarek
(2008, p. 66) concludes, there are usually three ways how
post-socialist cities deal with their socialist past neglecting
socialist times and focusing on pre-socialist Golden Age,
creating an anti-communist identities or accepting elements
from the past and including them in to the present. This dif-
ference is coming from different historical and contempo-
rary experiences (Young and Kaczmarek, 2008, p. 66). It is
easy to understand that approach to the socialist mass hous-
ing areas will be different in each context too. Thus, balance
of confict between past and present is never the same.
Depending on each city and its interpretation of socialist
past there are variety of ways to deal with socialist mass
housing areas from minimal change to unrecognizable
intervention (Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and
Design, 2012b). Nevertheless, we have to understand that
existing confict which promotes memory of socialism
makes socialist housing areas more special than any similar
development after 1990s. Without conficting memory a lot
of places would become a simple generic spaces without
it Chernobyl would become just another ruin (Zubrow, n.d.,
p. 3). The need to change must be recognized in a social-
ist mass housing areas, but at the same time there must be
a possibility to differentiate this change for each context.
Some cities could neglect them, ignore or promote as a part
of the identity.
59
Moscow, Russia 1962 Kaunas, Lithuania 1982 Cluj Napoca, Romania 2012
Figure 47. Image Figure 48. Image Figure 49. Image by Google Steetview
Figure 50. Time-lapse diagram
3. CONFLICT BETWEEN CITY AND COUNTRYSIDE
When talking about shrinking population in Eastern Eu-
rope we have to recognize a paradox. Although counting
from 1990s the population is constantly reducing, cities are
physically growing. This is due to the state control housing
market for long years. A lot of people around the cities re-
gained their family land and started changing land use from
agriculture to residential. Vast amount of people suddenly
started building private houses. This can be seen not only
as the need of individual, personalized space, but also as an
escape to a countryside. During socialism people living in
suburban or rural-suburban areas often cultivated gardens
and had livestock (Enyedi, 1996, p. 117) and even today
similar elemnts can be found. Socialist mass housing areas,
originally built around the city centers, after 1990s sprawl
today are between suburbia and center. Planned with green
courtyards and parks these areas can be seen today as a mix
between city and suburbia-countryside.
The roots of a confict between city and countryside can
be traced back to the early concepts. In the dawn of the
mass housing programs in Soviet Union there was a gen-
eral tendency of decentralization (Scott, 2009, p. 62). There
were a lot of different studies on decentralization, but the
most wide spread and accepted model is described in a book
The Ideal Communist City (Gutnov and Baburov, 1971).
This model can be connected to Ebenezer Howard idea of
garden city (Howard, 1902; Scott, 2009, p. 62). Less like Le
Corbusier and more like Ebenezer Howard, the Soviets tried
to create self-contained new towns beyond the central city,
rather than segregate residential, commercial, industrial, and
cultural uses (Scott, 2009). In the famous Garden City
diagram with three magnets town, town-country, coun-
try, the juxtaposition of town and country is clearly visible
(Figure 51. ).
This confict can be found looking at a mobility too. Func-
tionally planned, housing areas have great public transport
connectivity to the center, but at the same time residents
prefer having cars. This can be seen as overlap of subur-
bia where residents are depended on cars and a city center
where people tend to use public transport.
But mobility and spatial proximity are not the only ele-
ments which keep mass housing areas in limbo. Interesting
to notice is that in socialist times the concept of collective
gardens in the outskirts of city was popular (Mincyte, 2007).
There people had their small houses for temporal stay and
small piece of land which they could cultivate. In a way this
can be seen as a compensation for a lack of space for people
in their mass housing apartments. However during post-
socialist times, this property often was sold or converted to
a permanent houses. A link with a countryside for people in
mass housing areas weakened and the original compensation
idea does not work.
Figure 51. Garden city diagram by Ebenezer Howard, 1902
61
suburb
socialist mass housing
center
Figure 52. View to a courtyard.
Kaunas, Lithuania
City center
Figure 55. A section of a typical post-socialist city
Figure 53. View to the city.
Kaunas, Lithuania
Socialist mass housing
Figure 54. Location in the city.
Cluj Napoca, Romania
Suburbs
POSITIVE ELEMENTS OF SOCIALIST MASS HOUSING
THEORETICAL SUSTAINABILITY
E
ven though there a lot of issues with socialist mass
housing areas, they have a lot of positive qualities
too. Planning ideology promoted walkable distances, high
density, great public transport connectivity, focus on social
interaction and environment where children could reach
their schools and kindergartens without crossing any roads
(Bronovitskaya, 2009, p. 24). These are the qualities which
are often promoted today in a sustainable compact city
developments ( Jenks et al., 1996, p. 4). The amount of green
space attracts residents too. And having in mind cheap rent,
these areas seem to provide a good balance of qualities and
price.
As described by Elkin (Elkin et al., 1991, p. 12), sustainable
city must be of a form and scale appropriate to walking,
cycling and effcient public transport, and with a compact-
ness that encourages social interaction.. OToole (2005) in
his article Its Smart Growth, Comrade concludes that
similarities between New Urbanists, smart-growth (or com-
pact city) and the socialist planning ideology are far more
numerous than differences.
Theoretically socialist mass housing areas have potential of
sustainable cities, however existing conficts and poor ex-
ecution of theories led to a hardly sustainable environment.
It can be argued that people see the benefts of sustainability
and that these areas even with existing problems provide
special qualities which are often not found in any other
parts of the city.
63
Figure 56. Photo by Alexander Gronsky from series Pastoral 2008-2012.
Figure 57. Fragments of solutions applied to the Dainava mass housing area in Kaunas, Lithuania
65
SOLVING CONFLICTS IN SOCIALIST
MASS HOUSING AREAS
This part presents a mindset towards the conficts in social-
ist mass housing areas - the possible way of looking at issues
and their solutions. Later, possible actions are discussed
based on conclusions from the previous chapters.
DO WE NEED TO SOLVE CONFLICTS IN SOCIALIST
MASS HOUSING AREAS?
T
he true essence of socialist mass housing areas is solv-
ing conficts: Architectural practice has been inspired,
therefore, by the valid conviction that a socialist society cre-
ates new methods and new possibilities for solving its social
problems. (Gutnov and Baburov, 1971, p. 151). Urban and
architectural design for a communist society heavily refect-
ed on basic ideas of Karl Marx (Gutnov and Baburov, 1971,
p. 26). He is a creator of social confict theory and through
socialism theories he tried to solve the problem of classes.
These ideas were refected by building repetitive housing
blocks where everybody, regardless of their status, would
live in the same type of apartments. Common property
and sharing facilities where part of ideology too. But in the
end the goal to create a classless society was not achieved.
Utopian Marxist idea to create classless society by using
architecture as one of the tools failed. In such conditions it
might seem smarter instead of solving existing conficts in
socialist mass housing areas, just to reevaluate and balance
them. Otherwise solutions might refect the past totalitarian
attempts to achieve some perfect condition.
Moreover, sociologists see a confict almost as a necessity of
a modern city. However this confict must be a democratic
one. Richard Sennett has argued that: When confict is per-
mitted in the public sphere, when the bureaucratic routines
become socialized, the product of the disorder will be a
greater sensitivity in public life to the problems of connect-
ing public services to the urban clientele. (Sennett, 1970,
p. 198). Here a small everyday conficts are had in mind.
Having a variety of small everyday conficts and confronta-
tions allows people to develop themselves and at the same
time prevent serious conficts to breakout. Of course this
means that not only good conficts exist, but also negative
ones, however they often need more time to develop, but at
the same time they are more serious. These negative con-
ficts are often fostered in a communities which are closed
off from the rest. Richard Sennett often mentions few type
of examples which often foster conficts suburban neigh-
borhoods, ghettos and slums (Sennett, 1970). They try to
create an illusion of belonging, of a safe space, but by that
encourages the fear of the outside. Today the list of these
spaces can be expanded by adding gated communities and
mass housing areas (even those which are not ghettos, slums
or gated). We can notice that today architecture in a post-
socialistic environment, can encourage separation and social
enclosure by trying to achieve higher security or prestige
(Ciupalaite, 2012). This tendency poses a threat for a social-
ist mass housing areas that existing conficts combined with
a perspectives of shrinking population can become even
more serious.
Having in mind that the socialist mass housing areas might
be not the best places trying to achieve some ideal condi-
tion without conficts and that conficts are important part
of the modern city, we should not be afraid to leave them. If
conficts have potential to become more serious or already
are negative they should be readjusted to get a positive social
effects as described by (Sennett, 1970, p. 139): For experi-
encing the friction of differences and conficts makes men
personally aware of the milieu around their own lives; the
need is for men to recognize conficts, not to try to purify
them away in a solidarity myth, in order to survive.
city
future
past
private
public
countryside
Figure 58. Diagram combining all conficts on a spatial scale
67
BORDERS
E
xisting spatial conficts between city and country-
side, public and private, past and present can be seen
benefcial if well balanced. Confict between city and
countryside can be balanced by differently arranging these
two conditions. Today it is hard to distinguish what social-
ist mass housing areas are, because everything is mixed in
one place. By clarifying conditions it might be possible to
have a city atmosphere next a countryside atmosphere. Same
applies to a public and private or past and present conficts
where it is hard to fnd any borders between two conditions,
everything is simply mixed. Without having any borders
social exchange is not that strong. To have a border where
exchange can happen (Sennett, 2011, p. 326), we must have
two different conditions which border separates (Ohno and
Ohno Laboratory, 2006, p. 9). Border is also a place not only
for exchange, but confict too. This means if it is possible
to insert or adapt a border between conficting elements, it
will not remove the confict itself, but rather make it more
benefcial.
In Japan lack of attention to the borders during 20th cen-
tury resulted that most of suburban housing estates of that
time are in miserable state right now (Ohno, 2004, p. 28).
This can be applied to most of the mass housing areas built
around the world in 60s and 70s and Eastern Europe is no
exception.

But there are good examples too where borders play impor-
tant role. Rail network in Japan often works as a border for
exchange. In Tokyos Kashiwanoha area insertion of express
line in the middle of a new development generated an active
place where commercial area meets residential estate area. In
other places in Tokyo or Osaka it is possible to fnd stretches
of elevated rail tracks and under them variety of local activi-
ties. Anything from dining, drinking to workshops and
shops. Hong Kong gives some great examples too. In one of
the densest neighborhoods Mong Kok in the evening some
streets become a market places. People from neighborhoods
around rush to buy goods. These marker streets sometimes
stretch long way through different blocks. They are borders
where exchange happen. These fber like structures do not
diminish identities of the areas they are touching, but rather
work like stitching elements by using their potential.
We can notice that today perimeter of the socialist mass
housing areas is gaining more importance. Naturally new
activities try to appear next to the main roads while centers
of the areas are losing attention. New shopping centers,
advertisements, restaurants can be seen as a frst gateways
connecting originally isolated areas. Diagram based on cen-
trality and atomic logic of New Urban Settlement (Figure 41
on page 49) is no longer valid. This shift towards an edge
shows a natural need for a new borders in socialist mass
housing areas.
EDITING FIBERS
T
he easiest way to deal with new spatial needs and work
with existing conficts in socialist mass housing areas
would be by changing urban fabric. This would involve tear-
ing down existing buildings, building a lot of new structures
to introduce housing diversity, rearranging spaces, changing
big roads to small scale roads, creating continuous fows
through areas and providing a lot of new facilities which
in the end would create a city like atmosphere. In this way
socialist mass housing areas would become a continuous
parts of the cities.
It is a natural way for architects to work with issues by
creating new buildings, functions, roads and often this ap-
proach works well. There are a lot of examples where cities
are trying to regenerate areas in this way, like Lyon Part
Dieu area in France or Aarhus station area in Denmark. But
socialist mass housing case is different. All Eastern Europe
is experiencing dramatic decrease of population and social-
ist mass housing areas often take a big part of the cities.
Naturally this leads to a question of fnance and the need
for big amount of new facilities. Vast size of socialist hous-
ing areas would demand a lot of investment, but decreasing
population will produce big fnancial challenges and at the
same time, the need for new facilities will decrease. No less
important is to remember that during Soviet Union times,
city centers of the cities were not a primal focus and today
there are a lot of possibilities to develop city centers of post-
socialist cities. The regular way where change is based on
radical redevelopment and urbanization cannot be applied
in socialist housing areas. Actions must achieve maximum
effect with minimum investment.
Fibercity theory can be used for working with shrinkage
in socialist housing areas. It respects modernistic nature
of these areas, promotes a biggest effect with minimum
investment, focuses on contemporary needs and is fexible
to adapt to various scales and situations. Conficting nature
of socialist mass housing areas can be edited using Fibercity
too.
FIBERS
Essential part of Fibercity are fbers. As they are linear type
elements, they can stretch and infuence different segments.
Existing fbers differ from city to city. Bigger cities have
more diverse palette of fbers and smaller cities have less.
In Tokyo, elevated train tracks and metro lines can be seen
as fbers (Ohno and Ohno Laboratory, 2006, p. 8), while in
smaller Eastern European cities these kind of elements do
not exist. Transportation networks of buses, trolleybuses
and sometimes trams are the most obvious kind of fbers.
Depending on the city structure, rivers and unbuilt slopes
can be seen as fbers too. At city scale it is easier to fnd
them, but in closer scale, like a district, it is a little bit more
diffcult.
We have to understand that freedom of movement is an es-
sential part of our cities (Ohno and Ohno Laboratory, 2006,
p. 9), thus fbers on a scale of districts can be of recognized
in linear elements which encourage or correspond to move-
ment. It can be linear parks, stretches of land along the road,
inner spaces between buildings creating direction. Existing
variety has to be recognized, but it is also important to fnd
where new fbers can be inserted or updated.

Figure 59. Informal path structure - (in)visible fbers of the district
(Dainava, Kaunas, Lithuania).
69
Figure 60. Fibers in Kaunas city: rivers, linear green spaces, major roads.
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC
Today the land in the socialist housing areas is public, how-
ever the confict between what is public and private rises,
because existing needs ask for different situation. By recog-
nizing natural commercialization of land in the perimeter
we can imagine a further progress. This could lead to a
continuous active strips along the roads becoming places
for exchange which were not foreseen in the original plans.
Now this process is happening slowly, chaotically and new
functions often do not take into a consideration residential
blocks around. Seeing main roads running along the perim-
eter of the socialist mass housing blocks as fbers leading to
the city centers, it would be possible to create new develop-
ment possibilities which could beneft housing areas.
Privatization of the perimeter is a possibility which would
beneft mostly commercial functions and would clarify only
commercial part of the private-public confict. There is
another side of the confict which is a private needs of the
residents. Today all residents share the same space for their
personal needs, but it is not theirs. In a case of Seoul this
is solved by creating gated communities. Although it is a
simple way for clarifying everything, it removes the possibil-
ity of the social confict which can be benefcial.
On the other hand, the idea of gated communities is very
attractive to a lot of people. Examples in Seoul shows that
it can work well, as long as it creates a contrast to the sur-
rounding area. Existing vast amounts of public land in the
courtyards of socialist mass housing areas could be given
to the residents for a specifc use. It would ease manage-
ment costs for the government and excessive public land is
anyway not benefcial for residents. As it can be seen in case
of Shenzhen, where too much of green space creates distant
spaces.
Assigning land around the perimeter and in the courtyards
for private use does not remove the existing confict be-
tween public and private. The space around the buildings
would remain public as people need to access their apart-
ments. Schools and kindergartens in the center of court-
yards would stay and they would need public access too.
Public interests would overlap private needs in some places,
but from undefned confict this would turn to a more de-
fned benefcial confict.
This overlap can be created by insertion of linear parks run-
ning through the blocks. These parks could connect public
facilities within each block and make a greater urban impact
on the city.
71
Figure 61. Rearranging private and public confict in a Dainava micro-district in Kaunas, Lithuania.
CITY AND COUNTRYSIDE
Essence of the existing confict between city and country-
side is the overlap between the need to live in a city and a
need to have a getaway from it. This can be traced back to
the original ideas where socialist mass housing areas had
to provide different kind of lifestyle on the edge of the city
with close proximity to the nature. As a compensation for
a life in a small apartments people had collective gardens
outside the cities. Today this changed and socialist mass
housing areas are not anymore on the edge of the cities
while collective gardens are often sold.
Following the setup of the private and public confict we
can see that city life is starting to take over the perimeter.
This is where city type of functions like shopping centers,
daily facilities, restaurants appear. On the other hand,
courtyards as originally planned are still very green. Trees
became bigger, almost no new development took place in
courtyards. This naturally leads to a point where we can
imagine apartment buildings being in a schizophrenic situ-
ation one part of them facing countryside atmosphere and
other side being in the city. Clear separation of two vivid
atmospheres can be seen best in a case of Honk Kong where
city does not overlap with a greenery. Although it is a unique
situation of Hong Kong, similar vision could reinforce a
special character of socialist mass housing areas as unique
spaces of the cities. At the same time generic apartments
would become more diverse as they would have very differ-
ent views through the windows.
To emphasize the contrast between the two, courtyards
could be seen as a place to bring back the collective gardens
closer to the residents. At the same time, idea of the collec-
tive gardens could be updated with a contemporary needs.
They could become places for elderly to spend their time
taking care of vegetation and places for young families to
teach children about nature. A great example of similar type
of space can be seen in Tokyo where next to Kashiwanoha
station, Urban Design Center Kashiwa, people can harvest
vegetables and later a chef prepares meal from them. In
socialist housing areas products could be prepared in a new
restaurants which could be located on the perimeter of the
area.
73
Figure 62. Rearranging confict between city and countryside in a Dainava micro-district in Kaunas, Lithuania.
PAST AND PRESENT
Confict between past and present refect different kind
of spatial situation. Here not the space itself is important,
but how it changes in a relation to the surrounding spaces.
Socialist mass housing areas since their construction in most
cities did not change a lot. The museum-like feeling where
space gives an opportunity to travel back in time is often
positive in fast changing world. On the other hand, when
everything is changing except the residential area, it might
give a negative psychological impact to the residents. This
could be managed by trying to balance the value of memory
of the past and the need to refect contemporary situation.
Tokyo gives a great case with widely applied land readjust-
ment system where it enables a complex urban fabric to
adapt to contemporary needs. The adjustment is done by
redefning existing properties and as exchange giving a
proft to the owners. Similar idea can be applied to the
socialist mass housing areas where every apartment has
different owner with different needs. In time of shrinkage
it is possible to imagine that not all buildings might be fully
occupied and this might lead to ineffcient use and diffcult
management.

Standardized apartments mean that most of the apartments
in different buildings are structurally the same. For people
there should be no big difference if they would need to
change their apartment to the one in a building close by.
Apartment readjustment process could lead to an easy way
of tearing down building when a critical mass of empty
apartments in the area would appear. The buildings which
would be left, should be renovated and residents for their
efforts should get some kind of beneft. In this case it could
be a private piece of land in the courtyards or in some cases
on the perimeter of the areas.
Kuba Snopek notices that spatial composition can be the
main value looking from a heritage point of view in this
type of areas, not so much the buildings themselves (Sno-
pek, 2011, p. 97). Apartment readjustment could trigger
spatial change of the areas and combine past and present.
However depending on each context this change could have
different scale and speed.
75
Figure 63. Rearranging confict between past and present in a Dainava micro-district in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Figure 64. Fragment of proposed readjustment in Dainava area, Kaunas, Lithuania.
77
CONCLUSIONS
Ending part summarizes the research and brings several
main points which were discovered. Main action points are
presented while describing their limitations and possible
further research directions.
LIMITATIONS

Not all socialist mass housing areas are the same, not all
of them are built using the same planning logic. There are
various reasons why they are different - from political status
of the country to a personal ambitions of the architects, but
it is important to understand that this research has its limits
and cannot cover completely all types of socialist mass hous-
ing.
Research was based on an idea of a soviet mass housing
areas with generic characteristics, such as:
main city roads running around the perimeter of the area,
areas created in tabula rasa condition,
public facilities and public land in the centers of the
blocks,
satisfactory building condition.
If some of these factors are different, the area might have
different conficts and naturally the solutions will be differ-
ent.
Figure 65. Examples from Lviv, Kaunas and Tallin demonstrates how
different areas in different countries can have potentially same characteristics
and in the end possibly same conficts with similar solutions. All areas have
important city roads running along the perimter, public facilities in the center
and vast green spaces.
Examples from Cluj Napoca, Plodviv and Vilnius are shown as cases where
conficts might be different. In cases from Cluj Napoca and Vilnius there are
no important city roads on the perimeter of the areas. This could cause that
the confict between private and public might be not important. In case from
Plodviv, the area does not seem to have public facilities in the middle, neither
any public space around - the relation between surrounding area is very differ-
ent. This means that confict between city and countryside, public and private
could not present.
79
Cluj Napoca, Romania.
Plodviv, Bulgaria.
Vilnius, Lithuania. Tallin, Estonia.
Kaunas, Lithuania.
Lviv, Ukraine.
IN SEARCH FOR THE DIAGRAM OF EVERYTHING
T
his research was mostly focusing on a common as-
pects of socialist mass housing areas. This leads to an
idea that it should be possible to make a diagram of perfect
post-communist block - in a way an evolution of New Urban
Settlement (NUS) diagram (page 49). Logically, what
needs to be done is just to apply actions based on conficts
between private and public, city and countryside, past and
present on top of NUS or any other generic representation
of socialist mass housing area and the result would be a
diagram solving all problems.
But it is a false assumption, because originally diagrams
which were representing perfect socialist block were based
on the atomic logic they were completely isolated from the
context, the areas themselves were seen to be built in tabula
rasa condition. Today it is not the case, all of these areas
have different relation with the city, functions and how
they changed over time is very different. At the same time,
discussed methods were heavily focusing on the conficts
in relation to the surroundings. This makes it impossible to
summarize everything in one useful diagram. Socialist mass
housing areas today are similar, the solutions can be simi-
lar too, but the application is very different and it should
encourage diversity between neighbouring areas. Instead of
trying to have one unifed misleading diagram it is better
to talk about palette of solutions which can be mixed every
time differently using the same mindset.
81
POST-SOCIALIST FIBERCITY
F
ibercity theory is fexible enough to adapt to different
contexts. However this research took a little bit different
angle and did not try to apply this theory to the city scale
rather it was an attempt to work with the very specifc parts
of unspecifed cities. The results are possible actions for
transformation of socialist mass housing areas which allows
them to be integrated in the post-socialist Fibercity. These
actions encourage shift and focus to the edge of socialist
mass housing areas, around the main public transportation
networks which can be seen as fbers - the most important
part of Fibercity. Further actions help to deal with other
aspects of shrinking cities vacant houses, occupation of
elderly and use of empty spaces.
Having in mind that post-socialist cities often have several
mass housing areas, there should be a way to create different
charachters in them. This would enable a healthy competi-
tion between different blocks to attract or maintain resi-
dents. These charchters could emerge from existing spatial
oppurtunities. The logic of most mass housing areas is the
same, but distances, open spaces, proximity to the center,
greenery is different. These spatial confgurations could be
main points for fnding diversity.
Post-socialist Fibercity should be another research which
would be connected to a specifc city. But this research
could help to edit and provide freedom while working with
big, very important and originally static socialist mass hous-
ing areas. Although there was no intention to investigate
a scale of post-socialist city, but from research fndings it
is possible to see some tendencies. The planning strategy
during socialist regime left city centers underdeveloped.
In future compactness can lead to higher concentration of
people in the center. The roads leading there often will run
through socialist housing areas as the planning strategy was
focusing on great connectivity in these areas. Shift toward
the edge in socialist housing areas could leave courtyards
as voids in the cities. Further development of centers and
socialist mass housing areas becoming voids of specifc,
often rural atmospheres could be a new characteristics of a
post-socialist Fibercity.
Figure 66. Socialist mass housing areas in relation to the fber structure of
Kaunas city.
RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS
R
esearch tried to fnd possible ways to work with a
shrinkage in a post-socialist countries. The background
of socialist mass housing is a specifc political ideology and
rapid urbanization. Built in the same way, at the same time
by the same political system, today these areas have com-
mon issues, regardless of the culture, climate and religion of
the countries in Eastern Europe.
The view on the socialist mass housing can be expanded
by looking at the outcomes of rapid urbanization in Asia
where similar needs produced different conditions. Four
different specifc situations in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Soul and
Shenzhen either gave ideas for possible change in socialist
mass housing areas or showed a way which should not be
followed. It was concluded that it is possible to adapt a land
readjustment strategy from Tokyo to readjust the apart-
ment ownership, gated communities in Seoul is a case
which shows how to insert a contrasting environment
in the city and Hong Kong demonstrates an alternative of
balancing green spaces in mass housing areas. On the
other hand Shenzhen revealed that too much green is not
always a quality.
It became apparent that the complexity of the shrinkage
in post-socialist cities is connected with a complex issue
of socialist heritage in Eastern Europe. In a post-socialist
countries it is important not only to adapt existing social-
ist mass housing areas to the trends of shrinkage, but at the
same time it is necessary to adapt them to a post-socialist
condition. One of the key common charachteristic of the
socialist mass housing areas discovered in the research was a
shift of activities from the center towards the perimeter
caused by new commercial functions.
Looking just at specifc problems does not make sense as
the complexity causes too many of them and it is hard to
tell which are the most important ones. A step back must be
taken. The research proposes to look on a reasons of these
problems, the conficts which trigger them. In this case
the scope narrows down and it becomes possible to defne
focus.
Research suggests that otherness or as described by
Foucault heterotopias (Foucault and Miskowiec, 1986)
is something which was not foreseen in original plans of
socialist mass housing areas. Thus conficts which could be
described as otherness are unique and special in that con-
text. These conficts are based on the change from socialist
to post-socialist environment. They generate problems, but
at the same time also a special character of the socialist mass
housing areas. Conficts are seen as important parts of mod-
ern cities (Sennett, 1970), thus instead of removing them it is
proposed to maintain them. Main identifed conficts with
such qualities are:
Confict between private and public
Confict between city and countryside
Confict between past and present
Furthermore research suggested that it is necessary to have
a mindset or a vision to work with socialist mass housing
areas as separate examples and study cases cannot give con-
vincing direction. In this case a theory of Fibercity (Ohno
and Ohno Laboratory, 2006) was a mindset. Thus further
listed possible actions should allow socialist mass housing
areas to become parts of a bigger city scale vision which
would be based on the same Fibercity mindset.
The main actions are based on three spatial conficts and
the shift of activities from the center to the perimeter:
Privatization of land on the perimeter and in the
courtyards
Creation of contrasting urban and rural atmospheres
within the blocks
Spatial reconfguration of the housing areas
In the end, research shows that complex issue can be tackled
by focusing on a few specifc reasons of the problems rather
than problems themselves. Readjusting existing conficts
should allow problems to solve themselves. But it is impor-
tant to remember the limitations and importance of each
different context. It is doubtful if ideas of this research
could be applied to all of the socialist mass housing areas,
because not all of them have same characteristics and the
cities have different interpretations of socialist heritage.
Existing differences of the context would lead to different
results even if the same mindset would be followed.
83
city and countryside
private and public
past and present
Figure 67. Readjusting three conficts
Figure 68. This page: Actions applied to a
Dainava socialist mass housing area in Kaunas,
Lithuania.
Figure 69. Next page: A plan for a Dainava
socialist mass housing area.
Linear fberparks connecting public facilities
in blocks around. They defne and create links
between different areas of the city. By decreasing
unused public space, municipalities with their
limited budget can focus on management of linear
spaces.
Linear developments on the perimeter of the blocks
defne commercial activities and integrates areas
with the city. Newly available land next to main
transportation arteries can be attractive for busi-
ness. Money generated from that land can stay in
the block and fnance other processes.
Private space in the courtyard of the block gives
control to the residents and frees government from
the management. This extra quality can ecnourage
residents to be involved in to the changing of the
block.
85
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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Figure 26. Ibid.
Figure 27. Baycrest - Wikipedia user (2005). At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kin_Ming_Estate.
jpg (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 28. JF1460 (2011). At http://www.panoramio.com/photo/55375847 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 29. Google (2009). At https://maps.google.com/ (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 30. Ibid.
Figure 31. Author unknown (1963). At http://populargusts.blogspot.jp/2006/05/crossing-temporal-
and-spatial.html (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 32. Lloyd, R. (2010) [Photograph]. At http://stophavingaboringlife.com/shenzhen-city-skyline-
china/ (accessed 4.9.14).
Figure 33. d_rk (2013) [Photograph]. At http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.
php?p=102120267#post102120267 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 35. Ibid.
Figure 36. Hnit-Baltic (2014). At http://maps.lt/ (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 37. Gronsky, A. (2012) [Photohraph, from series Pastoral 2008-2012]. At http://www.alexander-
gronsky.com/#/portfolio/works/pastoral-2008_2012/0 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 39. Collage by author.
pp. 118.
Figure 43. Ohno, H., Ohno Laboratory, (2006). Tokyo Fibercity 2050. The Japan Architect No. 63,
Tokyo. pp. 2.
Figure 44. Glendinning, M., (2012) [Video frame]. The Hundred Years War: Towards a Global Narra-
tive of Mass Housing, Modern Heritages. Architecture fund, Vilnius.
Figure 47. Pastvu (1962). At https://pastvu.com/p/67792 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 48. Augaitis, A., Grubeviius, A. Mikuiauskas, V., Rakauskas, R. (1928) [Photograph] Kaunas.
Vilnius, Mintis. At: http://www.miestai.net/forumas/showthread.php?p=762216 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 51. Howard, E., 1902. Garden cities of to-morrow (being the second edition of To-morrow: a
peaceful path to real reform). S. Sonnenschein & co., ltd, London. pp. 16-17.
Figure 52. Aliba (2008). At http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10572115 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 53. drylio (2007). At http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3302052 (accessed 5.27.14).
91
Figure 56. Gronsky, A. (2012) [Photohraph, from series Pastoral 2008-2012]. At http://www.alexan-
dergronsky.com/#/portfolio/works/pastoral-2008_2012/0 (accessed 5.27.14).
Figure 58. Ibid.
Figure 59. Ropolaite, R. (2014).
Figure 60. Ibid.
Figure 61. Ibid.
Figure 62. Ibid.
Figure 63. Ibid.
Figure 64. Ibid.
Figure 67. Ibid.
Figure 68. Ibid.
Figure 69. Ibid.
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