From glittering icon to ...

Several studies have been made of the so-called 'socialist city', most of w hich have been concerned primarily with the spatial arrangement and functio ning of cities in centrally planned economies. Geographical analysis of the symbolism of the landscape of the socialist city has, in contrast, been li mited. Similarly, several geographers have commented on the changes which h ave been occurring to the cities of Central and Eastern Europe since the fa ll of communism, indicating the ways in which urban settlements are being a dapted to the needs of the mixed economies that are now developing there. L ess attention has been paid, however, to those elements of the socialist ci ty which were created with a view to symbolizing the polity of the communis t period - its glittering icons - and which, perhaps surprisingly, have sur vived its passing. This paper will concentrate on two of the most powerful of the symbols of socialist Poland - Palac Kultury and Huta Lenina - discus sing their significance for the changing perception of that country in the post-socialist period.