It’s a Matter of Time

Late-socialist blocks of flats (LSBFs) represent a significant part of the urban, architectural, and social legacies of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). They are key to understanding the housing dynamics of CEE countries today. An ongoing debate surrounds their vitality versus their decline. As housing estates, LSBFs have historically served—and continue to serve—as unique environments for fostering neighborhood relations. The data analyzed primarily come from a 2018 survey of residents from one of Poznań’s large housing settlements, which tests the hypothesis that the duration of residence influences the development of neighborhood relations. This analysis is further supported by a literature review and historical context. Considering the time variable, the article analyzes what constitutes neighborhood relations and ties in LSBFs. The findings indicate that (1) LSBFs constitute a temporary living space for some of their inhabitants; (2) the formation of neighborhood ties eventually occurs only after five years. Thus, the vitality of LSBFs depends on the specifics of each residence, particularly, the proportion of people who stay longer in the spaces of socialist modernism.