Actually, I messed up completely. Sztálinváros was the other model city, called Dunaújváros today (it's on the Danube). Tiszaújváros was Leninváros ( = Lenin city), but only from 1970, until when it shared the name of the nearby village (Tiszaszederkény). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
And yes, from my recollection (only spent a couple of nights there -- days at the factory), it really looks like a planned community from the 1970's, with its checkerboard street patterns, small apartment buildings and public gardens, plus a couple of factories from multinational companies at the outskirts that provide employment to a large part of the population, I suppose.
So I guess this kind of towns may be the exception rather than the rule in the region that you described as rather impoverished. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
As for the impoverishment, that is the result of the collapse of heavy industry (and Western private investors focusing their mone in the Western parts and big cities) -- Tiszaújváros was relatively lucky to keep one big industry. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
