I can confirm that from former Yugoslavia perspective. Same as you have described, also much less waste produced from food beeing "eye pleasing" (quadruple plastic wraps,...). The neibourhoods were also planned in a way you have described and it is still functioning great, unfortunatelly the large shopping malls slowly destroyed smaller neibourhood cloath shops. The public transit was also functioning great but outside the cities it was obliterated by "the need" that everyone needs to have 2 cars and tractor for his garden (beeing sarcastic here).
Also a few other things were well designed like top management only allowed to have max 5x salery of lowest salery in company, forcing managers to not only work for their salery but for all employees.
Another nice one was common accounting service that was state sponsored, basically free, but was taking care about saleries always beeing paid, contracts beeing payed, taxes,... practically preventing any malversations on expense of others. This was the first public service that was destroyed once we switched the system as it was preventing wild privatizations of public property and all sort of white collar frauds.
And I need to mention public schools and health system.
>forcing managers to not only work for their salery but for all employee
In my experience it was rather forcing managers to steal and take bribes. During communism there was even saying "Who doesn't steal, robs oneself and one's own family". I don't have statistics at hand, but I'm pretty sure that remains of that approach is still felt now, 30 years after and in post-communist countries there is much higher corruption than in western Europe.
Sure, that was the mentality, if you get paid for not doing anything, basically slacking, and there is no apparent owner of things you steal, than this is the result. And if you belong to right party you also know that there will be no consequences. And promoting based on party position instead based on capabilities doesnt help eithdr. But the 5x limit wasnt the reason for it.
Also a few other things were well designed like top management only allowed to have max 5x salery of lowest salery in company, forcing managers to not only work for their salery but for all employees.
Another nice one was common accounting service that was state sponsored, basically free, but was taking care about saleries always beeing paid, contracts beeing payed, taxes,... practically preventing any malversations on expense of others. This was the first public service that was destroyed once we switched the system as it was preventing wild privatizations of public property and all sort of white collar frauds.
And I need to mention public schools and health system.