{"paper_id":"36295969-d05d-4e89-80da-8eddfa667928","body_text":"Exploring micro-spatiality, acceptance and contestation of monuments in the central area of a post-socialist city | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Exploring micro-spatiality, acceptance and contestation of monuments in the central area of a post-socialist city Remus Cretan, Alexandru Dragan, Fabian Timofte, Alexandru-Sabin Nicula This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8144806/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Recent debates on political monuments in Central and Eastern Europe have highlighted the need to study the spatial dimension and contestation of statues and other monumental sites in more detail. By employing GIS spatial analysis and media framing at the local level, our study adopts a micro-spatial perspective and critically contests monuments in the central area of Timisoara, Romania. Besides presenting differences at micro-scales of monuments based on a methodology that incorporates the Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index, Hot-Spot Analysis, Getis-Ord Gi*, and Kernel density, the results from the local media framing reveal the tensions created by nationalist and progressivist monuments. For instance, if Decebalus is a statue that has recently inspired nationalist and even far-right actions of identity, Supermam is a progressivist monument that has also been criticized and less accepted by local stakeholders. However, behind the nationalist-progressivist layer of statues, the local community still accepts the Austro-Hungarian layer of statues, which are imposing in the public space of Timisoara. Humanities/Cultural and media studies Social science/Cultural and media studies Humanities/History Social science/History Social science/Politics and international relations urban monuments collective memory public space spatial analysis Timisoara Romania Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {\"props\":{\"pageProps\":{\"initialData\":{\"identity\":\"rs-8144806\",\"acceptedTermsAndConditions\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"archivedVersions\":[],\"articleType\":\"Article\",\"associatedPublications\":[],\"authors\":[{\"id\":594940856,\"identity\":\"c609c293-3e22-4416-b95e-c0349f23c7d1\",\"order_by\":0,\"name\":\"Remus Cretan\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"West University of Timişoara\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Remus\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Cretan\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":594940857,\"identity\":\"3ac51320-df3a-49a8-b530-57dd33936c1a\",\"order_by\":1,\"name\":\"Alexandru Dragan\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"West University of Timişoara\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Alexandru\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Dragan\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":594940858,\"identity\":\"cc483fb8-1de0-495c-a0b6-17966add3fcc\",\"order_by\":2,\"name\":\"Fabian Timofte\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"West University of Timişoara\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Fabian\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Timofte\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":594940860,\"identity\":\"e9506b5c-601c-42c1-a017-1ddee43c07a3\",\"order_by\":3,\"name\":\"Alexandru-Sabin Nicula\",\"email\":\"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHoYDYJKBuYHhA4laGBsYZ4AE2IjQAgWMDcw8xGiRbz978HABwx0Z/hmJjZ9tKhgSN9xvYPuAz4UGZ/ISDs9geMYjcSOxWTrnDFDLMQbmmTPwaWHIMTjMw3CYx0AisUE6t+1/4sw2BmZmHjxa5PvfwLU0/7b8x0BYC8MNhC1t0owNDIn9bAS0GNx4lwBUf5hH4szDNsueYwzG/WyJzYz4/CLfn3v4M0/FYXv+9uTDN37UMMi2MR8+TEScGqDwgM4bBaNgFIyCUUAZAAC+3EbuphcprQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"West University of Timişoara\",\"correspondingAuthor\":true,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Alexandru-Sabin\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Nicula\",\"suffix\":\"\"}],\"badges\":[],\"createdAt\":\"2025-11-18 11:38:17\",\"currentVersionCode\":1,\"declarations\":\"\",\"doi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8144806/v1\",\"doiUrl\":\"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8144806/v1\",\"draftVersion\":[],\"editorialEvents\":[],\"editorialNote\":\"\",\"failedWorkflow\":false,\"files\":[{\"id\":106479375,\"identity\":\"652f0905-c05f-49de-b116-002b8dcaaaa4\",\"added_by\":\"auto\",\"created_at\":\"2026-04-09 04:11:20\",\"extension\":\"pdf\",\"order_by\":1,\"title\":\"\",\"display\":\"\",\"copyAsset\":false,\"role\":\"manuscript-pdf\",\"size\":26185917,\"visible\":true,\"origin\":\"\",\"legend\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"filename\":\"anonymisedmanuscript.pdf\",\"url\":\"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8144806/v1_covered_a4ac0fa1-57ac-4326-b3b4-4023c1ff999d.pdf\"}],\"financialInterests\":\"No competing interests reported.\",\"formattedTitle\":\"Exploring micro-spatiality, acceptance and contestation of monuments in the central area of a post-socialist city\",\"fulltext\":[],\"fulltextSource\":\"\",\"fullText\":\"\",\"funders\":[],\"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow\":false,\"hasManuscriptDocX\":false,\"hasOptedInToPreprint\":true,\"hasPassedJournalQc\":\"\",\"hasAnyPriority\":false,\"hideJournal\":true,\"highlight\":\"\",\"institution\":\"\",\"isAcceptedByJournal\":false,\"isAuthorSuppliedPdf\":true,\"isDeskRejected\":\"\",\"isHiddenFromSearch\":false,\"isInQc\":false,\"isInWorkflow\":false,\"isPdf\":true,\"isPdfUpToDate\":true,\"isWithdrawnOrRetracted\":false,\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"researchsquare\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"externalIdentity\":\"\",\"sideBox\":\"\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"/submission\",\"title\":\"Research Square\",\"twitterHandle\":\"researchsquare\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":false,\"editorialSystem\":\"\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"\",\"inReviewEnabled\":false,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true},\"keywords\":\"urban monuments, collective memory, public space, spatial analysis, Timisoara, Romania\",\"lastPublishedDoi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8144806/v1\",\"lastPublishedDoiUrl\":\"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8144806/v1\",\"license\":{\"name\":\"CC BY 4.0\",\"url\":\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"},\"manuscriptAbstract\":\"\\u003cp\\u003eRecent debates on political monuments in Central and Eastern Europe have highlighted the need to study the spatial dimension and contestation of statues and other monumental sites in more detail. 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