Bratislava - Petržalka - the commieblock paradise :)

[Wizzard]

Commieblocks



The oldest public park in CE in the centre of commieblock paradise



Croatian channel - a "river" of Petržalka



Central promenade



Theatre Arena



Highway



Business district and the railway station



Twin Towers

[Rebasepoiss]

How big is Bratislava's population in metropolitan area?

[Wizzard]

It depends of definition of "metropolitan area". 425,000 is the city proper, 605,000 is Bratislava region and about 1.15 million including surrounding Trnava region (what is a half of western Slovakia area). But note that all these data are based on the population living in Slovakia only. As you know, Bratislava directly borders Austria and Hungary.

Bratislava region, 2 053 km², population 606,753



Trnava region, 4 158 km², population 551,000

[ady26]

I love this city, tiny and brilliant!

[Wizzard]

Me too!!!

[CorporateWhore]

very nice pics but hardly a good representation of the reality of the commie blocks since most of your shots arent even of them. They truly are complete shitholes which no one can truly appreciate until they are in their pressence.

[vanhattan]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

very nice pics but hardly a good representation of the reality of the commie blocks since most of your shots arent even of them. They truly are complete shitholes which no one can truly appreciate until they are in their pressence.

I agree. I was just there in July, and just seeing the old commie blocks just sends shivers up my spine. It makes me very sad as I think of that time period and what horrible conditions; socially, economically, politically, etc. these people lived through. They say that there are no victims and that people choose their leaders and governments, but I still have to feel sorry for the people who lived there in the very recent past. However, communism seems to have taken on somewhat of resurgence.....guess people would rather tell them what to do than to take on the difficult task of sorting out choices that comes with free thought.

[Wizzard]

Okay, some more pictures, but this is quite goog representation of reality. I really tried to find some pics of "commieblock jungle", but I could not. Most of the pics just show some block with some grass-plot, park etc.

[Bergenser]

Interesting thread!

[sysel777]

I think, Bratislava will be very nice in future
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=438515

[mic of orion]

I really do hate commies, I just feel it is inhumane way of living cramped in concrete blocks and with little or no privacy. Hate commies bc they are breeding grounds for petty criminals and drug dealers. Not sure if that's the case in Slovakia, but in UK it is very much the main problem of large estates (commie blocks) .

[Wizzard]

I do live in a commieblock in Petržalka and I cannot imagine different kind of living. I consider it normal, typical life in most of Bratislava.

I do not think that we have a lack of privacy. When I see some villages or single villa houses generally, it seems that they have less privacy than we have. On the villages, everybody knows each other and it is common when the people can see to other house living room from own house.

Maybe the commieblocks in UK are a little different But of course, there are some estates in every city that are the base of criminals and drug dealers.

[Jonesy55]

I think that Commieblocks in much of Western Europe (including here in the UK) have a bad reputation for criminality, drugs, gangs etc because they usually only house the poorest in society.

The commieblock neighbourhoods i've seen in Eastern Europe seem to have a wider social mix of inhabitants and therefore seem like safer and more friendly areas to live in, although i'm sure some are worse than others. Having said that though the standard of accommodation isn't always that great and the apartments can be very small.

[arbeiter]

Originally Posted by Wizzard

I do live in a commieblock in Petržalka and I cannot imagine different kind of living. I consider it normal, typical life in most of Bratislava.

I do not think that we have a lack of privacy. When I see some villages or single villa houses generally, it seems that they have less privacy than we have. On the villages, everybody knows each other and it is common when the people can see to other house living room from own house.

Maybe the commieblocks in UK are a little different But of course, there are some estates in every city that are the base of criminals and drug dealers.

I don't know why people even call them commieblocks, as they look just like the ones in Sweden! And American public housing is so much uglier than Petrzalka.

nice pictures. i want to visit bratislava soon! i've been reading good things about its economy, i've heard it might even be a place to consider working...

[Wizzard]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

I don't know why people even call them commieblocks, as they look just like the ones in Sweden! And American public housing is so much uglier than Petrzalka.

nice pictures. i want to visit bratislava soon! i've been reading good things about its economy, i've heard it might even be a place to consider working...

Commieblocks, because they were built during a commie era, but you are right, most of them does not look bad.

Yes, it can be a place to consider working for people from EE countries, but especially for people from Slovakia outside Bratislava. For people in Bratislava, it is very convenient to stay here, because of quite good infrastructure and good salary in compare with the rest of Slovakia (or Czech republic except Prague).

[Swede]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

I don't know why people even call them commieblocks, as they look just like the ones in Sweden!

The 2 last pics really do look like clones of a model seen in a few places in Stockholm. As for the word... well, it fits the stereotype of housing in the old Eastern Bloc.

[:jax:]

Originally Posted by Wizzard

But note that all these data are based on the population living in Slovakia only. As you know, Bratislava directly borders Austria and Hungary.

That is what fascinates me with Bratislava. Bratislava-Vienna is not dissimilar to Malmö-Copenhagen. And then you've got the Euroregion Bratislava–Vienna–Györ.

[:jax:]

Originally Posted by Swede

The 2 last pics really do look like clones of a model seen in a few places in Stockholm. As for the word... well, it fits the stereotype of housing in the old Eastern Bloc.

In this case the stereotype is in large part true, similar buildings were made elsewhere, just that here there were more of them. The Bratislava wall of "paneláks" is the most impressive, but there is a smaller one outside Brno, and even small cities have their share. At least in most cases they did not tear down the existing buildings to construct them, though that happened. There are towns with no original town left at all, only these paneláks.

They weren't exactly creative, the floor planes and materials are practically the same, so if you have been in one, you would know to find your way in another, even in a different city (or now even in a different country).

Worse, much like Scandinavian projects they were planned around transport and with shared amenities like shopping, but the planning was deficient even then. There is no place to gather, no friendly neighbourhood pub (though that is not so different from Sweden after all...) and very, very few visual surprises.

In the early nineties there was this proposal here in Prague to add a new floor on top of each building, move everyone up a floor, and use the ground floor for common services, shops, offices etc. That surprisingly never happened, but there is discussion what to do in the long term, not the least because these buildings are ageing badly.

[Wizzard]

When talking about the common services, most of commieblocks in Petržalka has some services, shops, etc. in the ground floor or on the terrace.

[DS8®]

Interesting photos!