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Systematization (Romanian:Sistematizarea) was a program ofurban planning in theSocialist Republic of Romania from 1974 to 1989.
Systematization was carried out by theRomanian Communist Party under the leadership ofNicolae Ceaușescu, impressed by theideological mobilization ofNorth Korea under itsJuche ideology, with the stated goal of turning Romania into a "multilaterally developedsocialist society". It consisted largely of the demolition and reconstruction of existing settlements, in whole or in part, in order tourbanize and modernize the country. Systematization was controversial for the mass demolition ofhistoric centers which became known asCeaușima.
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Romania had traditionally been a largelyrural country, with the vast majority of the population living invillages when theRomanian Communist Party (PCR) came to power afterWorld War II. By the early 60s, the rural population still amounted for two-thirds of the population.[1]
Systematization began as a programme of rural resettlement: the original plan was to bring the advantages of the modern age to the Romanian countryside. For some years, rural Romanians had been migrating to the cities (including Ceaușescu himself) which led to someurbanization. Systematization called for doubling the number of cities in Romania by 1990, with hundreds of villages to become urban industrial centres via investment in schools, medical clinics, housing, and industry. As part of this plan, smaller villages (typically those with populations under 1,000) were deemed "irrational" and listed for reduction of services, forced removal of the population, and physical destruction. Often, such measures were extended to the towns that were destined to become urbanized, by demolishing some of the older buildings and replacing them with modern multi-storeyapartment blocks.[citation needed] Some of these towns includeBezidu Nou,Ganaș,Eteni and the village of Cucu inOdoreu.
In theory, the systematization plan extended to the entire country, though initial work centred on the northeastern region ofMoldavia. It also affected such places as Ceaușescu's own native village ofScornicești inOlt County, where the Ceaușescu family home was the only older building left standing. The initial phase of systematization had largely petered out by 1980, at which point only about 10% of new housing was being built in rural areas. Given the lack ofbudget, in many regions systematization did not constitute an effective plan, good or bad, for development. Instead, it sometimes constituted a barrier against organic regional growth. For example, new buildings had to be at least twostoreys high, meaning that low-incomepeasants could not afford to build houses themselves.Yards were restricted to 250square metres (2,700square feet) and privateagricultural plots were banned from within the villages. Despite a perceived impact of such a scheme onsubsistence agriculture, after 1981 villages were required to be agriculturally self-sufficient.
In the 1980s, nearby villages surroundingBucharest were demolished, often in service of large scale projects such as theDanube–Bucharest Canal – projects which were later abandoned by Romania's post-communist government.
In cities, the systematization programme consisted of demolishing existing buildings (often historic) and constructing new ones in their place.Iași, for instance, underwent major transformations in the 1970s and 1980s.[2] Althoughtower blocks and other socialist-era buildings are present in all big cities across Romania, the degree to which the historic buildings (old town areas of cities) were affected varies by city. For instance old historical architecture managed to largely escape demolition in some cities, particularly in cities such asCluj, where the reconstruction schemes affected primarily the marginal, shoddily built districts surrounding the historical city centre.
The mass demolitions that occurred in the 1980s, under which an overall area of 5.9 square kilometres (2.3 sq mi) of the historic centre ofBucharest was levelled in order to make way for the grandioseCentrul Civic andHouse of the Republic, becoming the most extreme manifestation of the systematization policy. Many monuments were demolished including 3 monasteries, 20 churches, 3synagogues, 3 hospitals, 2 theatres, and theStadionul Republicii, a notedArt Deco sports stadium. This also involved evicting 40,000 people with only a single day's notice and relocating them to new homes.
Systematization, especially the destruction of historic churches and monasteries, was protested against by several nations, especiallyHungary andWest Germany, each concerned for theirnational minorities inTransylvania. Despite these protests, Ceaușescu remained in the relatively good graces of theUnited States and other Western powers almost to the last, largely because his relatively independent political line rendered him a useful counter to theSoviet Union inCold War politics.
In Romania, the demolition campaign was nicknamedCeaușima, aportmanteau of Ceaușescu andHiroshima, in reference to the destruction caused by theatomic bombing of the city.
Eastern bloc housing:
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