Slovak housing estates represent the realizations of 20th century urban visions. Construction of mass housing was not only substantiation of the Athens charter ideas to the urban conception. Large number of housing estate in Slovakia and in Bratislava from this period has the quality and original urban concept. Many of them came from the urbanarchitectural competitions. Petržalka, the biggest housing estate in Slovakia was created on the base of worldwide competition. Housing estates are the mirror of the socialist era and of the “collective dream”. The paper presented the brief history of their development, their main characteristics. Study focus to the problems of the housing estates, which came from the normative planning, from the pure technical and elements base until 1989. Research was oriented also to the problems which leave the mark on their urban fabric after 1990 during the new social structure and find wais how to transform it for better living of their inhabitants.