1979 article on how Cuba transformed cities, employment, and leisure activities along socialist principles; "... market forces, private profit, property interests, consumerism, and competitive individualism no longer dominate urban life to the extent that they did before 1959."
For several decades Cuba was ahead of all Latin America countries in the construction of new cities and rural towns, the latter receiving substantial investment in public works for reducing the rural-urban gap. Meanwhile efforts were made to 'ruralise' urban centres like Havana.
The first large scale prefabricated housing development was built in Santiago, using a factory donated by the USSR. It was designed to house 40k people and incorporate all necessary amenities (education, healthcare, commerce, etc). Residents paid 10% of their income as rent.
Culture and employment were radically altered by the elimination of the economic base of the bourgeoisie, the instilment of egalitarian social values, and the involvement of mass organisations in maintaining neighbourhoods and organising cultural and political events.
Soviet Life December 1965 Soviet Psychiatry: "In one case I observed, the doctor concluded that the patient, a factory worker, had the capacity to be a good engineer and that the unchallenging and unfulfilling nature of his present work contributed to his emotional illness." (1)
"The doctor wrote out a prescription which was addressed to the factory director, requiring that the patient be enrolled in an engineering institute and be paid his full salary during the entire period of his schooling." (2)
"Soviet psychiatrists emphasize that work therapy helps maintain the patient's contact with reality and to prevent emotional isolation and retreat from the real world; that doing socially useful work, and getting paid for it, helps restore and enhance the patient's self-esteem;"