Rataje is a large residential area in the eastern part of the city ofPoznań in western Poland. It contains a number of housing estates, consisting mainly of prefabricated concrete panel blocks, housing a total of approximately 90,000 people. The former village of Rataje was situated close to the right bank of the riverWarta, and was incorporated into the city of Poznań in 1925. The area today referred to as Rataje also includes the former villages of Chartowo and Żegrze, brought within the city boundaries during the time of Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. The area was within the city's former Nowe Miasto district ; in the current administrative division of Poznań it is divided into three osiedles called Rataje, Chartowo and Żegrze. Building of the new estates began in the late 1960s, the first block being completed in 1967. The main estates are as follows:
In "lower Rataje" : Osiedle Armii Krajowej, Osiedle Bohaterów II Wojny Światowej, Osiedle Jagiellońskie, Osiedle Oświecenia, Osiedle Piastowskie, Osiedle Powstań Narodowych and Osiedle Rzeczypospolitej.
In the Chartowo area : Osiedle Lecha, Osiedle Czecha, Osiedle Rusa, Osiedle Tysiąclecia, Osiedle Zodiak.
In the Żegrze area : Osiedle Orła Białego, Osiedle Polan, Osiedle Stare Żegrze.
Some of the estates were renamed after the fall of communism: os. Armii Krajowej was originally called Osiedle Manifestu Lipcowego, os. Stare Żegrze was Osiedle Związku Walki Młodych, os. Orła Białego was Osiedle Związku Młodzieży Polskiej, and os. Polan was Osiedle Związku Młodzieży Socjalistycznej. These three Unions were successive communist youth organizations in Poland. The estates were built under the auspices of the Osiedle Młodychhousing cooperative, which was founded in 1958. Today the cooperative has around 40,000 members, and continues to administer most of the buildings and estate infrastructure. The Lake Malta recreational area, and the neighbouring Malta shopping and entertainment complex, are situated just north of Rataje. At the south-eastern corner of the Rataje estates, in the Franowo neighbourhood, is a group of several large retail centres and a multiplex cinema. Rataje has a number of tram lines connecting it with the city centre and other parts of Poznań. It is also served by various bus routes, mostly terminating at the bus station on the Rataje roundabout . The main road out of Poznań in the direction of Katowiceruns through Rataje, mostly as an elevated road.
