Located in the southern part of Timișoara, Liviu Rebreanu boulevard delimits the old part of the city from the area with many apartment buildings built during the socialist period.
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Located in the southern part of the city, Liviu Rebreanu boulevard is bounded by Calea Stan Vidrighin and Gheorghe Domâșneanu Market in the east and Calea Șagului in the west, delimiting the old part of the city from the area with many apartment buildings built during the socialist period.
Following the Second World War, there was a shortage of housing in Romania, a situation also present in the municipality of Timișoara. The communist regime imposed a rapid development plan, by building an important number of factories and plants, which determined the phenomenon of population migration from villages to cities. The increase in the construction rate of new apartments is a phenomenon present in Timișoara between 1970 and 1989.
In a 2018 report by the National Institute of Statistics, over nine million homes exist in Romania, around seven hundred thousand being apartments built during the communist regime.
Liviu Rebreanu Boulevard in Timișoara illustrates the urban culture of "matchboxes" from communism, captured on film in the documentary "Life in Communist Blocks".
Bibliography:
- https://www.hartablocuri.ro/istoria-blocurilor/#comuniste - site accessed on march 2023
- https://www.filmedocumentare.com/viata-in-blocurile-comuniste/ - site accessed on march 2023
- https://www.vice.com/ro/article/wxeg7q/viata-la-bloc-in-anii-80-ai-comunismului-ceausist - site accessed on march 2023
Communist urban civilization
Listen to the audio version.
How could I save myself without taking refuge in poetry?
I'm driving down the street... On the left, piles of rubbish. On the right, crudely made excavations with no respect for people. A woman struggles to push a pram through the holes. Other people are rediscovering their rural roots: they are digging out their pumpkins in the dust of the street or quietly sipping their pint... I'm moving forward with difficulty. I run home. Liman.
Yes, it's the way to my house (writer Rebreanu's name - how ironic!). Boulevard for miles. Now all broken. Only I'm getting out of the house a little, on a detour. Today I had to cross, though. Depressing. I dream of the moon and all around everything is crumbling: streets, politicians' morality, ideals... I stubbornly hope we'll come to an end. Sometimes, however, I make brutal contact with the world as seen from the grassy knoll. Then I run to the poetry to cry... And start all over again.
(Excerpt from Days and days... 9. Pages of (pseudo)correspondence (7 May 2017 - 31 August 2017), volume manuscripts by Sorina Jecza)