From Glittering Icon to...

Several studies have been made of the so-called 'socialist city', most of which have been concerned primarily with the spatial arrangement and functioning of cities in centrally planned economies. Geographical analysis of the symbolism of the landscape of the socialist city has, in contrast, been limited. Similarly, several geographers have commented on the changes which have been occurring to the cities of Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of communism, indicating the ways in which urban settlements are being adapted to the needs of the mixed economies that are now developing there. Less attention has been paid, however, to those elements of the socialist city which were created with a view to symbolizing the polity of the communist period - its glittering icons - and which, perhaps surprisingly, have survived its passing. This paper will concentrate on two of the most powerful of the symbols of socialist Poland - Palac Kultury and Huta Lenina - discussing their significance for the changing perception of that country in the post-socialist period.