From Socialist Icons to Post-Socialist Attractions: Iconicity in Central and Eastern Europe

Nicola Naumov, Adi Weidenfeld

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    9 Citations (Scopus)

    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.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)(In-press)
    Number of pages15
    JournalGeographia Polonica
    Volume92
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Keywords

    • iconicity
    • visitor attractions
    • tourism
    • flagshipness
    • socialism
    • heritage

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