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In this paper, we focus on the relations between the main new towns in people’s democracies, taking as a vantage point the relations between the East German town of Eisenhüttenstadt with the other three main ‘socialist cities’: Nowa Huta (Poland), Dimitrovgrad (Bulgaria) and Dunaújváros (Hungary). From study trips by architects and town planners, to workers’ delegations, not to mention sister city practices that involved very diverse groups, there was a wide array of circulations among these cities. Based on observations of the actual differences between these cities, we endeavour to understand the scope of these exchanges that presented the Socialist bloc as an area of circulation that, if not necessarily closed, was centred on itself.