Ceaușima

Ceaușima (Romanian pronunciation: [t͡ʃe̯a.uˈʃima]) is a Romanian neologism sarcastically comparing the policies of former Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu to the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. This portmanteau term was coined in the 1980s to describe the huge urban areas of Bucharest that Ceaușescu ordered torn down during the final few years of his tenure. Significant portions of the historic center of Bucharest were demolished to accommodate standardized apartment blocks and government buildings, including the grandiose Centrul Civic and the palatial House of the Republic.

The term has also been used to describe other actions of Ceaușescu not linked to the demolition of Bucharest, such as intense pollution in the Transylvanian city of Copșa Mică.

Ceaușescu considered it necessary to his program of systematization to demolish vast portions of the historic and central parts of Bucharest and replace them with giant representation buildings and high-density standardized apartment blocks. The latter was rooted in the ideology of "edifying the multilaterally developed socialist society" and it was considered an epitome of the Leninist formula of the "fight between old and new" (see Historical materialism).

Started in 1974, and implemented some six years later, the program implied a comprehensive nationwide campaign of demolition, resettlement, and reconstruction. Historian Dinu C. Giurescu writes:

"The urban systematization conducted by the communist regime has destroyed 29 traditional towns to 85-90% and also has heavily mutilated other 37 cities, including Bucharest."

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