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Eastern and Central Europe in Film and Print
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Soviet Microdistricts
Subdivision of residential districts
• Government-dictated urban planning
• Response to forced industrialization and urbanization
• Integrated with public transportation plan
• Schools and shops
Subdivision of residential districts
• “Ideal housing for our collective society”
• “Housing for a new way of life”
• Standardized, panel block construction
• Faceless grey rectangular boxes
• No pride of ownership
Contrast with the “American” dream
Estonia
Soviet Living Conditions
• 160 sq ft/citizen
• Inexpensive (subsidized by the state)
• 10-15 year waiting list
• Extended families crammed in small apartments
• Stated-owned or state-run cooperatives
• 1991: Right to personal property
Poland
Soviet Apartment Complexes
Soviet Apartment ComplexesSoviet Apartment Complexes
Soviet Apartment ComplexesSoviet Apartment Complexes
The Disincentives of Common Property
• 160 sq ft/citizen
• Inexpensive (subsidized by the state)
• 10-15 year waiting list
• Extended families crammed in small apartments
• 1991: Right to personal property
• Now privatized
• “Everyone owns, no one cares”
• No incentives to improve value or “productivity”
• Slackers get the same rewards
• Unbalanced market/supply chain
• Managers have control, susceptible to bribes
• Deterioration of equipment and assets
• Increased pollution
Transition to a Market Economy
• Initially, party managers took advantages of influence to seize real state, oil fields, etc.
• Rise of the oligarch (Tycoon)
• Commercial and contractual laws were not fully in place
• Housing: most desirable units sold first
• Few could afford mortgages
• Housing was 2-10%, now 25-30% of annual income
Source: Marhkam, Harvard University, 2003
Transition to a Market Economy
• Government continues to subsidize
• Stimulants for construction and development
• Heating and hot water subsidies
• Not yet true market pricing
• Still building apartments
• A few old microdistricts have become Roma ghettos (Slovakia)
Transition to a Market Economy
• Poor condition of “unsold” complexes
• Persistent housing shortages
• Unaffordable mortgages
• Need to demolish old complexes (would increase shortages)
• Poles holding on to current units
• Housing no longer a “social right”
Poland Today:
• Member of EU
• Attracting foreign investors
• Courts are flooded with restitution claims for private property seized by Germany and the Communists.
Poland Today:
• Member of EU
• Attracting foreign investors
• Courts are flooded with restitution claims for private property seized by Germany and the Communists.
Poland Today: •People in Poland work 1966 hours a year, higher than the OECD average of 1739 hours.
•In Poland, nearly 59% of the working-age population aged 15 to 64 has a paid job. This figure is lower than the OECD employment average of 65%.
•Only 36% of Poles believe that their communities are tolerant of migrants, ethnic minorities and gays and lesbians, well below the OECD average of 61% and the 3rd lowest in the OECD after Turkey and Estonia.
SOURCE: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Poland Today: •In Poland, the average home contains one room per person, less than the OECD average of 1.6 rooms per person. (US = 2.3)
•In Poland, the average household earned $13,811 USD in 2008, less than the OECD average .
•When asked, 35% of people in Poland said they were satisfied with their life, much lower than the OECD average of 59%.
•At 54% of the eligible population, Poland has one of the lowest voting rates in Parliamentary elections in the OECD (average 70%).
•SOURCE: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Religion in Europe: Belief in God
GDP Per Inhabinant
GDP Per Inhabinant