Loss and (re)Construction of Public Space in Post-Soviet Cities

   

The importance of public space as a site for power and resistance, facilitator of social exchange or a stage for culture and performance has been long acknowledged in the academic literature. We understand public space as “all areas that are open and accessible to all members of the public in a society, in principle, though not necessarily in practice” (Orum & Neal, 2010). The purpose of this theme issue is to critically analyse the applicability and the importance of the term in a post-Soviet context. As public spaces host and reflect social, cultural, economic and political cleavages, observing transformation of public spaces can be particularly helpful for understanding multiple and protracted transformation processes in post-Soviet societies. So far, however, changes and persistency in the meaning, design, use and negotiation of public space in post-Soviet cities remains to be terraincognita – besides notable exceptions such as the edited volume on ‘Urban Spaces after Socialism’ (Darieva & Kaschuba, 2011). This special issue aims to fill this gap in the literature through exploring the tension between the loss and (re)construction of urban public space in post-Soviet cities, focusing on the agents of change, their practices and institutional settings that shaped loss and (re)construction of public space.

Authors:
Prof.Dr.-Ing. Carola Neugebauer
Lela Rekviashvili, CEU Budapest

Category:
Publication

Publication date:
2015 (scheduled)

Form of publication:
Theme issue of the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy (IMP)

Department responsible:
Junior Professorship Conservation of Cultural Heritage

Co-Author:
Lela Rekviashvili, CEU Budapest.

Project Partner:
ira.urban
Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde in Leipzig

Keywords:
public space,
urban development, (post-)Soviet legacy