Once part of the territory seized by the Russian Empire, it was integrated into the Romanian Kingdom during the interwar period, before being annexed by the USSR, like all of Bessarabia, and radically transformed into a socialist city.

This guide focuses on the latter period. The distinct urbanistic and architectural tendencies after the Second World War are reflected in the five segments of the book: the Stalinist Empire, Soviet Modernism, Postmodernism, Soviet Brutalism, and the Industrial City. Each reflects the essential Soviet mandate to build not only a new city, but also a new society. In addition to photographic documentation and critical analysis of socialist architecture, the guide also includes essays on Chisinau's development between 1945 and 1989, devoted among other things to the city's cinemas and life in 'microraions'.