Abstract
The 1989 fall of the Iron Curtain marked the beginning of new economic, socio-cultural and political realities for the former socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe. Along with the economic restructuring from statecentralised
to market economy, democratisation and liberalisation initiated a transformation of the socialist urban space, which was characterised by the changing role of its iconic landmarks. This conceptual paper examines these post-1989 changes, which range between the removal of these landmarks and their transition
into market led iconic and flagship attractions. The paper identifies the changing role of tourism from a top bottom orchestrated to a market led activity, which explains the transformation of some of these landmarks. It introduces a new framework for studying this process by suggesting that iconisation, de-iconisation and re-iconisation processes are interrelated to other strategies and approaches to the transition of the socialist urban landscape into a western market economy. The paper identifies avenues for further research and provides
some recommendations for improving the management of similar processes.
to market economy, democratisation and liberalisation initiated a transformation of the socialist urban space, which was characterised by the changing role of its iconic landmarks. This conceptual paper examines these post-1989 changes, which range between the removal of these landmarks and their transition
into market led iconic and flagship attractions. The paper identifies the changing role of tourism from a top bottom orchestrated to a market led activity, which explains the transformation of some of these landmarks. It introduces a new framework for studying this process by suggesting that iconisation, de-iconisation and re-iconisation processes are interrelated to other strategies and approaches to the transition of the socialist urban landscape into a western market economy. The paper identifies avenues for further research and provides
some recommendations for improving the management of similar processes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | (In-press) |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Geographia Polonica |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Please note that the title is a little different from the one in the file because it will be changes in the published versionKeywords
- iconicity
- visitor attractions
- tourism
- flagshipness
- socialism
- heritage