I don’t doubt that the destruction was severe, but that there is a persistent myth that continually overstates the destructive power of aerial bombardment in WW2. By way of brief comparison, Soviet artillery dropped more tons of high explosive on Berlin in 12 days than British and American bombers did during the entire war. And Berlin was a comparatively short urban battle by the standards of the Eastern Front. Taking into account ammunition logistics, aircraft simple cannot compete with destructive power of artillery. Urban warfare in the west was less common and when the Allies crossed the Rhine in March 1945, there were was very little combat in German cities, excepting Aachen which was pulverized by the US Army in the process of taking it.
I’ll concede I’m overstating the impact of the war on urban planning in the Soviet bloc, as you seem to be pretty knowledgeable on it, at least in the German case. Urban planning of actually existing socialism is something I really want to know more about. However, the thoroughness of destruction in the east, particularly once you cross the Oder is well historically documented, and this did impact the recovery overall.
