Systematization (Romania)

Romania had traditionally been a largely rural country, with the vast majority of the population living in villages when the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) came to power after World War II.

[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.

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-storey apartment blocks.

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 of Bucharest was levelled in order to make way for the grandiose Centrul Civic and House of the Republic, becoming the most extreme manifestation of the systematization policy.

Many monuments were demolished including 3 monasteries, 20 churches, 3 synagogues, 3 hospitals, 2 theatres, and the Stadionul Republicii, a noted Art Deco sports stadium.

In Romania, the demolition campaign was nicknamed Ceaușima, a portmanteau of Ceaușescu and Hiroshima, in reference to the destruction caused by the atomic bombing of the city.

Ianca (shown in a postcard) became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rural systematization program . A model for a small town in geographically flat plain areas.
A typical village panel block in 1988 being built during the Romanian rural systematization program.
Nehoiu became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rural systematization program. A model for a small town in geographically mountainous areas.
Militari neighborhood in Bucharest. The population of Bucharest doubled between the beginning of the communist regime and the Romanian Revolution of 1989 .
Brașov, Valea cetății
Communist blocks of flats in Mănăștur , Cluj. Unlike in many other cities, the reconstruction schemes in Cluj did not affect the historical old town .
Unification Square in 1977 during the systematisation. The Unification Hall and the Unirea Shopping Center can be seen here
Civic Centre in Bucharest
The skyline of many cities became dominated by standardized apartment blocks, like this row in Bucharest