Echoes of Soviet Urbanism. Exploring Modernist Housing Narratives

Perspectives on Heritage, Transformation, and Community Dynamics in East European and Eurasian Microrayons

This research offers a deep dive into the architectural and social landscapes of East European and Eurasian microrayons. Through the lens of heritage, transformation, and community dynamics, this book sheds light on often overlooked narratives in Soviet urban development from the 1960s forwards and their continuations following the breakup of the USSR.

From legislative transformations in Uzbekistan to community-driven spatial transformations in Georgia, each chapter presents a nuanced perspective on the legacy of urbanism in the former USSR. This academic project is one of few, following the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, to take a look at both sides of the front line. The authors also examine developments in the Baltic States, Caucasus, and Central Asia.

The book at hand presents thirteen ‘district stories’ from seven post-Soviet countries, written by experts from a variety of disciplines, including architecture, urban and regional planning, public policy and social sciences, and human geography. The authors present observations of spatial, social, and functional transformations as well as of the formal and informal frameworks, planning strategies, and concepts that lay behind the physical development. They discuss spatial patterns and their modifications with a view to future heritage-sensitive development of the neighbourhoods. They point out unique details and the fact that genius loci makes a difference. The contributions formulate new narratives for large housing estates from the 1960s and identify the potential challenges in responsible planning and the need for action.

About the Author:

Barbara Engel (Prof. Dr.) is a German architect and urban planner. She was awarded her PhD in 2004 and worked as a visiting professor at Kent State University in the US in 2007/2008. In 2008 - 2013 she was head of the department for the inner city at the City Planning Office in Dresden. Since 2013 she has been a professor of international urban planning and design at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Barbara Engel is head of design committees in Halle and Nuremberg and vice president of the Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau und Landesplanung (DASL). Her research interests focus on urban development in post-Soviet countries, metropolitan areas, public spaces, and science communication.