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Elena Chernova, a humanitarian designer and conflictologist, stands out from the background of her Russian colleagues in that she often asks uncomfortable questions, destroying the idyll of numerous urban forums where everyone (or almost everyone) agrees with everyone. However, Elena, in fact, has no Russian colleagues: she is engaged, among other things, in resolving conflicts related to territorial planning in different cities - a unique craft. So, if Elena does not like the concept of development of St. Petersburg until 2030, she, without hesitation and without looking back at any professional "comme il faut", will tell the developers about it in person. In fact, Elena is a philosopher from urban studies in the country of the victorious technocratic approach to cities. Especially for The Village, she spoke about who, how and why imitates urbanism in Russia.
Elena Chernova
Head of the Laboratory of Sociology of Urban Planning, OJSC RosNIPIUrbanistics
From 1994 to 1999 she taught at the Department of Conflictology of the Faculty of Philosophy of the St. state university. Conflictologist, area of expertise: public involvement and PR in the field of urban planning and resolution of urban conflicts.
The city is like a mega machine
Urbanism developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, the answer to the question of what urban studies, in my opinion, should be sought in the European socio-cultural situation of that time. The twentieth century is characterized by technological progress, which leads to the complication of activities and its increasing specialization. On the one hand, specialization is the only way to cope with the complexity of activities. But from some point on, the complication goes so far that an individual specialist can no longer maintain the integrity of all activities and be responsible for its final result. Raikin beat this in the plot "Who sewed the suit?". A person is trying to make a claim about the quality of the suit. But this is impossible, because a hundred people sewed a suit. Everyone is responsible for a part of the work. And no one holds the whole.
The development of technology began to outstrip the development of human thinking. As a result, technology got out of human control - this was recorded by M. Heidegger. Now man began to serve technology. When no one holds the whole, then the humanitarian human goals of activity gradually come to naught and the sphere of activity begins to work for itself. Mumford, a representative of the Frankfurt School of Philosophy, proposed the term "megamachine" for such constructions in which the position of holding the whole and being responsible for the whole is lost. As a result, this structure itself becomes the only subject of goal-setting, and people turn into human material, a resource of a mega-machine.
Mumford saw a direct dependence of the transformation of the city into a megamachine on its size. Human thinking is no longer able to accommodate the metropolis in its integrity and complexity, so there is a loss of control. The result of the development of the city into a metropolis is the loss of control over economic factors. The growth of the city becomes spontaneous. There are even more people in the city, the cost of housing is even higher, but not because of an increase in its quality, but because of an increase in crowding. People are forced to spend more and more to live in the city. They, in fact, have to work hard just to live. At the same time, the city ceases to perform its own humanitarian, human functions, which, according to Mumford, consist in humanizing natural environment and in the transmission of culture. L. Mumford saw the way out in resisting the development of cities into megacities. It is necessary that cities remain small, proportionate to a person and social ties, that is, manageable.
Common to all mega-machines is that no one, including the authorities, holds the whole. As a result, no one is responsible for the consequences. Philosophers of the Frankfurt School discussed this situation with examples of crimes against humanity in the Second World War. It turned out that in a totalitarian state, which is the ultimate embodiment of a megamachine, it is very difficult to find those responsible for crimes. The executors only carried out orders. Those who issued these orders acted within the law of their country. And those who wrote the laws themselves did not kill a single person.
It turned out that by the middle of the 20th century all the most important spheres of activity had turned into such mega-machines: the state, medicine, education, industry, etc. and which ends with the person using technical means begins to massively destroy humanity. They showed that the current situation is not the intrigues of infernal forces, not the influence of egregors, but the consequences of the technocratic principle of organizing activities. Therefore, in order to destroy megamachines, it is necessary to move on to other, humanistic principles. As an example, I highly recommend the work of E. Fromm "The Revolution of Hope". It contains a detailed program for the transition from technocratic, formal-bureaucratic planning to humanistic planning.
Fighting Mega Machines in the West
Since the 60s, a movement has begun to create various antipodes of the megamachine organization - alternative areas of activity based on the principles of human integrity and the priority of human needs. This is communication power (J. Habermas's term) as an alternative to authoritarianism; valeology - the science of health, as an alternative to medicine, the disease industry; praxeology - the science of activity, as an alternative to economics; proposed by the Nobel laureate A. von Mises; ecology - as a restriction on any goals in the sphere of production. And urbanism, as an antipode to urban planning.
Thus, urbanism, on the one hand, is a specific phenomenon related to the field of urban planning. But, on the other hand, urbanism is a socio-cultural phenomenon that has developed in the West in line with the general patterns of overcoming the mega-machine technocratic organization of activity.
Urban studies in the 60s is not a new professional field, not a "continuation" or "development" of the architectural and urban planning professions, not a field of special knowledge. This is not science. Urbanism is a field of struggle to ensure that activities are organized on new principles. The same area of struggle was ecology and politics. And we know from recent history that the 1960s and 1970s were years of serious political transformations in the West.
And only after the end of the period of transformations, urban studies in the West began to transform into a professional sphere, which took the place of the defeated mega-machine. And today it is really a "continuation" of architecture, design, urban planning. Today in the West it is a field of knowledge and practice, the results of which we see in the example of Western cities.
The development of urban planning in Russia
Urban planning, in state of the art, this is a typical megamachine: the activity is highly specialized and is a pipeline. As a result, no specialist is able to hold the whole. Everyone tightens his screw and passes the semi-finished product to the next performer. During the time of Peter I and Catherine II, it was possible to answer the question of who built the city. In modern terms of the City Code, there were two subjects of urban development. One carried out goal-setting, the second - prepared a project for this goal. The rest are not subjects, but performers who acted within the framework of the goal and the project.
Today there is no answer to the question of who built the city. At first, many different specialists are involved in the preparation of the General Plan. Then the General Plan is transferred further - to the level of planning projects, development. Further, developers and builders make their own adjustments.
We have more did not happen replacement megamachine organizations in the urban planning
And what is embodied is not what is fixed in the General Plan, but something else, often quite the opposite. At the same time, the specialists who developed the General Plan are not responsible for the implementation: they drew everything correctly, in accordance with the norms and urban planning logic. The fact that the business logic was implemented is not their responsibility.
An indicative fact: in the Urban Planning Code of 2004 there was a paragraph "Goals and objectives of planning." But in subsequent editions, the point about goals was removed. Not because goals should not be set. Because they didn't set goals. The same set of general principles (sustainable development, balance, consideration of interests, etc.) was transferred from one note to another. But principles are not goals. This is a framework, restrictions on goals, like the commandment "do not kill, do not steal." And within the framework, it was necessary to set specific goals that were adequate to the unique urban situation, to fill the commandments with urban specifics. But if there is no goal-setting subject that holds the whole, then there is no one to set goals.
Imitation of urbanism
Current situation Russian cities significantly different from the situation of modern Western cities. We have not yet replaced the mega-machine organization in the sphere of urban management and planning. Urbanism as goal-setting, based on the needs of a person, not mega-machines, is a problem, not an achieved state. Therefore, most of the actions associated with the transfer of Western models of "urbanism" are imitation.
The authorities today support "urbanism" as a professional field of design, as a mechanism for the transfer of patterns. Initiate sociological research in the field of urban studies, which are carried out using the same tools for collecting social statistics as in Soviet time. Only in Soviet times did the authorities need to fix the degree of satisfaction of the needs of the population in a certain set of guaranteed benefits. The formula “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” assumed that the movement towards communism could be traced by fixing the steady growth in the satisfaction of needs. Soviet man. Today, an ideological “urbanism formula” has developed (participation, public spaces, bike paths…), which can be used to track the steady approach to “urbanism”.
I can detect three types of imitation of urbanism.
The first is the transfer of the “form of the city” (V. L. Glazychev’s term, which he opposed to the “essence of the city”). As a result, instead of solving real problems, instead of designing the next step in the development of a particular city, samples of design and transport solutions are offered, which have become the result of the development of Western cities. Western public spaces are not design solution on designing the quality of the urban environment. This is the result of the development of the urban community as a subject of decision making. And in our country, public spaces today are designed as a tool for forming a community. Apparently, on the assumption that in an urban environment of European quality, we will also have an urban community. This is no different from the approach in which socialist cities were designed in the 1930s.
The social city was designed as an environment that would set the social processes necessary for the state. A. Levintov expressed a very interesting hypothesis: socialist cities were designed as special devices for the proletarianization of people. After the proletarian revolution, it became clear that there was a great shortage of proletarians in the country. And it was necessary to very quickly turn the people into proletarians, with which the socialist cities successfully coped. But the formation process the right qualities from people through placing them in urban environment of a certain quality works only in the case of a mega-machine organization, when a person is the material of a machine. And if we set the goal of moving to a city based on humanistic principles, then we need to start not from the urban environment, but from the person. Social design should precede urban planning.
Before designing such an element of the European form of the city as public spaces, it is necessary to design an alternative process to the process of proletarianization - the transformation of people into responsible owners. Practice has shown that even the formal transformation of people into real estate owners does not form citizens who are ready to take responsibility for their property.
Sociologists, anthropologists, culturologists, as representatives humanities, are not suitable for design tasks. They explore what is already there in some stable state. Even if they explore processes, they are already existing processes. Designing is working with something that does not yet exist. Design is a completely different activity from science. The tasks of social design and social engineering impose special requirements on the qualifications of humanities students. These qualifications should be created and transferred within the framework of educational programs in urban studies, which will train urbanists to work with Russian situations. These qualifications do not yet exist, they need to be designed. Today Russian education in the field of urban studies, in my opinion, made a mistaken bet on the transfer of European urban qualifications and educational programs. And, in my opinion, Russian education in the field of urban studies today also exists in imitation mode.
And the third type of transfer: the procedure of participation. Of course, the participation of citizens in making urban planning decisions is necessary, this must be developed. But the development of participation cannot be a substitute for the task of changing the basic principles of city management. And this is exactly what is happening, judging by the programs of numerous urban forums. The problems of interaction between "authorities, business and citizens" are discussed. Communication problems, of course, exist. But they are less acute than the problem of loss of control over the processes of urban development.
Participation today works at the level of the yard, quarter, i.e., at objects of such a scale where residents hold the “whole” and, therefore, can make responsible decisions. And at the city level, as long as the sphere of urban planning does not hold the whole, participation will be ineffective.
In Russian cities today, it is not participation that is required, but work with the urban conflict. Participation is used as a way to suppress and displace conflict, to disguise it. Participation does not solve, but masks the problems of urban development. Therefore, citizens, for the most part, experience disappointment after participating in public hearings. The form was followed, but the problem remained. The problems of urban development will be solved only within the framework of conflict interaction, in situations where urban groups begin to defend the right to social goal-setting, which will hinder goal-setting in the mainstream of economism. D. Harvey called it a public right to the city, contrasting it with individual access to city resources. Today is being implemented individual law on the city, and without conflict, without struggle, no one will give the townspeople the right to the city.
Therefore, today situations of urban conflicts and movements of urban activism are not imitative, reflecting the essence of urbanism, primarily in radical forms of “partisanship” - the capture and redevelopment of urban space.
Sociotechnical system as an antipode to the megamachine
From the middle of the 20th century, a direction of research emerged and began to develop in Russia, comparable in power and effectiveness to Western social and political philosophy. It began with the Moscow Methodological Circle and developed into the system-thought-activity methodology approach (SMD approach).
The most surprising thing is that methodologists, working behind the Iron Curtain, not having the opportunity to get acquainted with the main achievements of Western philosophical thought, moved in solving common European problems, but on the basis of specific "Soviet" material.
To solve the problem of mega-machine organization of activity, they proposed not philosophical, but methodological principles. The essence of these principles is that development is, first of all, the development of thinking. If a situation arose in which the development of technology began to outstrip thinking, then it is necessary to specially develop thinking. As an alternative to the megamachine, ideas about a sociotechnical system have been developed, in which the function of assembling the whole is carried out by managerial mental activity. They have developed a methodological toolkit that ensures the development of thinking. An alternative to the fragmentation and specialization of activity into many "irresponsible" links was the idea of collective mental activity. And at the end of the 70s, the method of "restoration", the assembly of activities, its reorganization and development was invented and began to be practiced: the organizational activity game (ODI). Let me emphasize once again: ODI is a unique practice of developing collective thinking and activity. All educational practices that develop thinking work with individual thinking. As a result, a person whose thinking has been developed returns to the old situation and is unable to resist the inertia of functioning. ODI allows the development of the entire field of activity due to the fact that representatives of the activity acquire the mental potential to restore the whole and set goals for the development of this whole.
Eventually
In Russia today the problem of urban development is the problem of the development of managerial mental activity. Therefore, urban studies, as a field of research and development, should be aimed at the development of a management system in the version of SMD ideas about the socio-technical system and the specifics of managerial mental activity. This is the first step. As a result of the development of managerial mental activity, managerial goal-setting for projects of territorial and strategic planning. The presence of management goals in the second step will lead to reorganization and will put the need for development of the “design shop”. Today, in the absence of management goals for master plans, urban planners do not need to develop activities. Therefore, despite the 25 years that have passed since perestroika, they continue to reproduce planning technology based on the concept of the rational distribution of productive forces.
And only at the third step will it become meaningful to discuss certain procedures of participation, its effectiveness, the adequacy of the embodiment of the goals of urban development in certain architectural and design samples and solutions.
The exact definition of the term "urban studies" does not exist even in Europe. This term is usually referred to different areas professional activities, in one way or another connected with the city. Nevertheless, in Russia this concept has acquired more distinct semantic forms - another thing is that its scope itself is quite extensive. In the simplest sense, urban studies is a complex of knowledge about the urban structure, which can be used by specialists from various areas. In particular, sociologists, cultural figures, designers and, of course, architects are somehow connected with urban studies.
Traditional understanding of urbanism
If we reveal the term with a utilitarian approach, then much will become clearer and clearer in the representation of urbanism. From this position, it can be viewed as a complex area, including such areas as the design and management of the urban environment. In other words, urbanism is a set of tools and methods that allow you to plan and implement a project. That is, it is not at all necessary that the term should exist in relation to a particular city. The practical use of the meaning of this concept begins from the moment the concept of the plan for the future urban area was developed.
But it is not worth simplifying the activities of urbanists, which may continue after construction. Ready complex becomes a platform for the implementation of the ideas of architects, engineers and artists. Separate place this business is also occupied by designers, whose hands form urban urbanism in the form of aesthetic design. For example, the style of buildings, the design of parks, the configuration of infrastructure facilities - all this is implemented, including with the participation of design specialists.
Features of Applied Urban Studies
The specialists whose professional activity associated with urbanism, this concept is usually considered as scientific field. The fact is that in practice this direction requires high precision in understanding his own, for example, he must have an idea of \u200b\u200bmathematical models for the implementation of transport lines, have the ability to calculate communications, do not forget about the emerging image of the city and take into account sociological aspects. This will be applied urban studies, which deals with solving real problems. Of course, urban planning is primarily associated with architecture and direct construction, but there are other aspects that complicate the tasks of planners. For example, even at the stage of project development, urbanists calculate possible conflicts of interested parties - among them there may be ordinary citizens, investors, representatives of the administration and commercial organizations.
Architecture and urbanism
Still, the architectural component is the main one in understanding urbanism. Between the processes of developing a city plan and the construction of its facilities, there is a rather important stage in which architects participate. They develop a stylistic concept, which further determines the appearance of the buildings of the urban area. In our time, architecture and urbanism imply taking into account the nuances of management. Such a multilateral approach to planning allows you to initially prepare for the optimization of social processes, thereby relieving tension and improving the quality of life. At the same time, a competent specialist should approach the development of the architectural concept of business centers with offices and salons, as well as residential areas for low-income families with equal responsibility.
Urban studies and sociology
During the industrial era, specialists working on the urban structure found a number of contradictions between the technocratic approach to the arrangement of residential areas and the standards of comfort with the concepts of humanism. Similar problems arise in post-industrial times, but today sociology is engaged in their solution. Experts in this field help to design a less aggressive and at the same time comfortable and technically advanced city. Urbanism seeks to minimize bad influence industrial complexes, but at the same time not worsen the situation with jobs. As can be seen, sociology in urban studies is sometimes forced to solve contradictory problems. However, the way out is in a variety of areas - including through improved infrastructure, more effective organization transport provision and improvement of economic models.
New trends in urban planning
The modern look of cities is largely changing due to technological progress. The same innovations in the field of transportation promise to radically change the urban infrastructure. Urbanists can only properly dispose of the fruits of progress. And yet in Russia, which has experienced a stagnation in the development of urban studies, the emergence of new creative concepts is delayed. On the one hand, modern urbanism has got rid of standard approaches dictated by the state. For example, there are companies that offer original solutions in planning and architecture with design. On the other hand, the introduction of new principles of urban planning still meets the skepticism of the conservative users themselves. At the same time, a new direction, called "liberal urbanism", has been gaining momentum in the West for a long time.
What is liberal urbanism?
It can be said that this is the logical principle of the modern structure of the city. Or rather, approaches to its organization. To understand this trend, one should turn to the meaning of democracy. This means that not a narrow group of authorized people, but all its inhabitants, including ordinary citizens and business representatives, are involved in the formation of the urban environment. It turns out that liberal urbanism is a general compromise reached by agreement between different groups of the population. But this is not a complete definition, since the obligatory principles of such a device in the city are also provided. In particular, we are talking about the idea of humanism and comfort - this is how Western cities built in accordance with liberal urbanism are characterized in the first place.
Conclusion
Ever since the days of organizing life in Greek city-states, prominent thinkers have thought about the principles of organizing a common space for living and working. Over the centuries, these principles have changed and transformed more than once. In the modern sense, urbanism is a set of rules, the observance of which allows organizing the most comfortable city for life, taking into account the interests different categories its inhabitants. It would seem that the task is quite simple, but in practice it is not always possible to implement it. Urbanists face a lot of problems, including: the city's need for polluting plants, difficulties in organizing road networks and the need to preserve historical monuments, which sometimes hinder the development of the city.
Based on data on migration growth/decrease in the population of Russian cities for 1991-2009. an attempt is made to assess how the migration balance of cities is affected by their size, expressed in population, and their position in the system of center-periphery interactions. The existing system of migration mobility is substantiated depending on the hierarchy of settlements within the regions.
Vuchik V. R. M.: Publishing House "Territory of the Future", 2011.
The era of road-friendly designs is fading away, giving way to the broader challenge of creating livable, cost-effective, healthy social relations and sustainable cities. The book explores the complex relationships between transport systems and cities (agglomerations) of various types.
Drawing on extensive practical knowledge of urban transport systems and transport policy, Vukan Vucik provides a systematic overview of urban transport modes and their characteristics, considers the consequences of overdependence on the car, and shows that intermodal transport systems are preferred in most livable cities in the world. The latter are based on a balanced use of cars and various types of public transport. Such cities create comfortable conditions for walking and cycling, as well as alternative flexible transportation systems, designed, in particular, for the elderly and people with limited mobility.
Transportation in Liveable Cities dispels the myths and emotional arguments of favoring one particular type of transportation system, whether it be highways, rail systems, bicycles, or any other form of transportation. The book sets out the transport policy directions needed to create cities that are livable and oriented towards intermodal systems, effectively integrating different kinds transport.
The preprint examines the transformation of forms of urban navigation in the situation of digital culture, defines the main roles in the process of urban development. The productivity of using the anthropological approach in empirical studies of navigation in Russian cities is substantiated. Five principles of digital anthropologism are considered for the study of urban navigation practices.
The monograph presents the results psychological research social capital of a multicultural society on the example of Russia. An analytical review of the set of theoretical approaches to the definition of this phenomenon and its structure, offered in various sciences, has been carried out. Based on the analysis, the author proposes a psychological approach to understanding the phenomenon of social capital and methods of study. Based on the developed psychological approach, a cross-cultural study of the social capital of various ethnic groups in Russia, as well as separately Russians in comparison with the Chinese, was carried out. As a mechanism for the impact of social capital on the economy, it is proposed to consider its impact on the economic and psychological characteristics of the individual (attitudes, ideas), which ultimately leads to the formation of the so-called. "productive" economic behavior of people. The monograph analyzes the results empirical research the relationship of social capital and socio-economic attitudes, views of various ethnic groups in Russia.
To study the everyday ideas of Russians, a methodology was used based on the choice of associations with the concept of "social justice", developed by O.A. Gulevich. The sample of the study included representatives of various ethnic groups living on the territory of Russia (Moscow and the North Caucasian Federal District). It was found that both among Russians and representatives of the peoples of the Caucasus, the concept of social justice, first of all, includes respect, equality, equality and objectivity. At the same time, some differences were revealed in the understanding of social justice, based on the socio-cultural characteristics of ethnic groups.
Leibovich O. L. Bulletin of the Perm National Research Polytechnic University. Urbanistics. 2012. No. 1. S. 142-153.
The main interpretations of the city in the sociological theories of the 20th century are considered. Special attention devoted to the problems of urban social policy.
Uvarov A. A., Uvarova L. F. St. Petersburg: Petropolis, 2012.
The monograph substantiates the mechanisms for managing the development of the housing sector of a large city, which provide an opportunity to meet the needs of the general population in housing.
The scientific provisions that characterize the housing sector of a large city as a special system object of management are analyzed and clarified, the practice of managing the housing sector of St.
The monograph is intended for teachers, graduate students and university students and specialists in the field of managing the development of the housing complex.
Sorokina N. O. Journal of Social Policy Research. 2012. V. 10. No. 1. S. 27-42.
The article deals with the problems of social inequality, materialized in the objects of urban space. The mobility of citizens is limited, which illustrates the relationship of social exclusion, reinforced by urban planning practices. Mapping the city allows you to analyze the degree of accessibility of physical space and becomes a new tool for understanding social inequality in the logic of sociology social problems and critical urbanism. Based on the analysis of virtual maps of accessibility and the opinions of citizens about the importance of space mapping, the authors analyze social inequality fixed in the objects of the urban environment, and build a typology of judgments about the social effects of the map. The results of the study demonstrate the importance of accessibility mapping projects and highlight their constructive role in reshaping urban design, overcoming social discrimination and exclusion.
The article describes how the routes of visitors are formed in the Tsaritsyno park after its reconstruction - in the most touristic, "historical" part of the park and in areas remote from the center. In addition, it is considered which visitors prefer certain routes, as well as what kind of space experience they get while doing this (or in what modes visitors master the park). The article highlights such modes as "public consumption of species", "romantic tourist look" and "existential" mode.
The article analyzes two classes of sources that characterize mass historical ideas: those on the basis of which these ideas are formed, and those that allow one to judge the content of ordinary knowledge about the past. An analysis of the available empirical data allows us to conclude that ideas about the past of political and socio-economic subsystems are structured at three levels: significant historical periods, historical events and historical figures. At the same time, the available sources do not yet allow us to judge ordinary knowledge about the past in any full extent. We can only talk about identifying some of the most obvious “reference points” that form, conditionally speaking, visible “tops of the water” of social (mass) ideas.
Urbanistics- a science dedicated to the development of various urban systems (transport, pedestrian infrastructure, ecology, healthcare, and others), their interaction with each other and with city residents.
The first paradigm, the premise that actually led to the emergence of urban studies, originated from the tradition of considering the city as a “big factory”, in which it is possible to calculate the main parameters of life activity, and as a result, to predict development and a proactive response to systemic problems.
However, the practice of applying such a paradigm in large Western cities led to the fact that urban studies in the 1960-1970s experienced two waves of criticism and change. methodological foundations associated with the introduction of the antipositivist principle of "incomplete comprehensibility of an object", and the principle of transferring some of the elements of a complex object into the category of autonomous subjects.
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The first texts that can be attributed to urban studies belong to the Greek philosophers. Thus, Plato described ideal model cities, based on philosophical reasoning about the interactions between people. Aristotle studied the organization of several dozen policies and made calculations for the optimal population of cities.
Scientific centers in Russia
Terminology of urban studies
- Birdshit Architects is a term coined by Ian Gale, which describes a development that looks good from a height, but on closer inspection is completely unsuitable for normal life.
- Sneckdown - when because of the fallen snow you can see how much space in the city is not used by cars.
- Tactical urbanism is an umbrella term that describes methods for rapidly changing the urban environment. Urban designer Eric Reynolds described this term so "Easy. Fast. Cheap."
- Gentrification - The term describes the process of turning a slum, or simply a second-rate city area, into a full-blooded area filled with city life.
- Brownfield - former, inactive or inefficiently used, as a rule, industrial areas, with the potential for reuse and redevelopment.
- Sustainable transport - any form of transportation with a reduced level negative impact on the environment.
- Pendulum migration - regular trips of the population from one part of the city to another (from a residential area to the center). Because of the territory-source of pendulum migrants practically "dies out" for a certain period of time.
- Public space is an open and undeveloped urban space, equally accessible to all residents and visitors of the city. Within the city is a common good.
- Top-Down and Bottom-Up are models of city government, in which the initiative comes from the authorities and from the residents of the city, respectively.
Concepts that exist within the framework of urban studies
- Mixed-use development (the theory of mixed development) - the type of development of the territory, when Various types real estate (residential, commercial, social, industrial and others) are mixed with each other and are within walking distance from each other.
- The theory of broken windows - according to this theory, if someone broke the glass in the house and no one put in a new one, then soon not a single whole window will remain in this house. In other words, non-compliance with some rules, norms and guidelines by citizens provokes other citizens to behave inappropriately. According to this theory, 10% of any people in any society will never break the rules, 10% will always break them, and 80% will act according to circumstances.
- Smart Urbanism is a theory of urban area planning that aims to account for various problems, interests and their solutions.
- New urbanism is a concept that implies the revival of a city (district) in a compact environment.
Urban studies is a branch of economic geography, which is the study of the problems of the functioning and development of cities, as well as their complex analysis. The first "urban" works belong to the Greek philosophers. For example, Plato described the ideal model of the city, talking about the relationship between people. And Aristotle, studying the organization of dozens of policies, made calculations on the optimal population of cities. During the Renaissance, pundits began to write about housing standards, street and canal systems, and the rules for organizing trade. And already, in 1909, the world's first department of urban planning was opened in London. Now this is an actual and very popular direction. Cities are growing, urbanists are multiplying. And now there are many schools and educational programs in the world where you can study urban studies.
What are urbanists doing now?
As we all have noticed, the word "urban" has become very popular. And if a person is at least a little interested in the city, then he is immediately recorded as an urbanist. And many people think that these are, first of all, those who stand up for paths and parking for cyclists.
Meanwhile, urbanism helps people of different professions working on the city (architects, designers, builders, sociologists, planners, economists, etc.), as well as ordinary citizens to agree and find a common language.
In addition, urban studies help to develop mechanisms for the dialogue of city residents with the authorities and the resolution of all kinds of urban conflicts. By and large, urbanists want to make our cities comfortable and favorable for a long and happy life.
Are there urbanists in Kazakhstan?
Yes, they are, and there are many of them. In Almaty for sure. There are many urbanists now, they are full of energy and enthusiasm. And we think it's a great trend.
For example, not so long ago, Almaty Development Center JSC, created on the initiative of the city akimat, began to function. Apparently, they will deal with issues of sustainable development and increasing the innovative potential of Almaty. On the website of the Center you can read about its mission and projects. It became known after the announcement of a competition for the best concept of creating a new public space on the territory of the tram depot, which caused a public outcry. By the way, all interested can send their applications and works until October 2.
In addition, projects were launched in Almaty Urban Talks , Urban Forum Almaty and Archcode Almaty, where you can listen to lectures, explore areas of the city, participate in the development of projects and master classes. You can learn more about this on their social media pages.
Among other things, there is City Solutions - a public initiative aimed at turning Almaty into a convenient city for citizens. The project was created by Pavel Koktyshev and Dana Shayakhmet. City Solutions coordinator — Gaukhar Zhumagulova.
And also appeared Almaty Urban Re-Hub is an open educational platform for the exchange of ideas between citizens, as well as for the creation and implementation of urban projects.
Of course, this is not all that concerns Kazakhstani urbanism. With the development of cities and the growth of the agglomeration, this direction is becoming very attractive for young professionals. Therefore, one can observe a frenzied increase in the number of enthusiasts who want to participate in the creation of "cities for people." And this is good.
Everything is clear, but are there any real projects from Kazakhstani urbanists?
Actually, yes. For example, City Solutions has already held five urban hackathons for the improvement of Almaty, during which participants developed ideas to achieve specific goals. Ways to solve problems are more than interesting and raise many questions. Some even seem very strange to us. However, we do not undertake to judge the effectiveness of certain measures. You can independently evaluate all the ideas on the page of the corresponding section of the site.
In addition, City Solutions received a grant from the Soros Foundation Kazakhstan in the amount of 7 million 500 thousand tenge, which will be used to educate the most active hackathon participants. The organizers plan to launch the course together with the Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design. And it's very cool! Perhaps in the future, graduates of the course will be able to put their skills into practice and make life in the cities of Kazakhstan look like the sweetest dream.
In addition to all this, the organizers of the above projects hold weekly lectures, master classes and initiate any research. Visit their social media accounts and follow the life of these urban communities.
I think I want to be an urbanist too. What to do? What are the pitfalls?
First of all, it is worthwhile to clearly understand that urbanism is not only photos from fashionable lectures, reposts about successful experiences somewhere in Amsterdam, Berlin or New York, organizing a hackathon, as well as a demand to widen the sidewalk and build bike paths.
First, urbanism is serious business. You will have to get a real education, and not take a couple of courses or design workshops. A real urban education is just beginning to emerge.
Secondly, you will have to protect the interests of a huge number of people and think about how to make their life better and more comfortable. And this is a big responsibility. The whole area, city or metropolis is looking at you!
Thirdly, for some reason it seems to us that you can handle it. If you have the desire and great ideas to change cities, then half the work is already done. It remains only to find like-minded people, to learn something, to defend our useful projects and make them real.
