Urban Studies and Practices

The Representation of the River in Urban Sculpture

Sergey Vyacheslavovich Rogachev — 2025-09-01

Essay

Views, dams, and urban villas: Developers and the transformation of the river floodplain landscape in the city of Tyumen

Fedor S. Korandey — 2025-09-02

This paper presents the findings of a research project by urban studies master’s students at Tyumen State University, which examined the transformation of Zareka, a residential area in the Tura River floodplain that has recently undergone changes in its appearance, urban status, and functions. The paper highlights the lack of research into its development in the social sciences. Using participant observation, interviews with developers, and mapping, this study investigates the spatial rhetoric and professional practices accompanying the area’s transformation. The first section outlines the area’ historical morphology and describes the “staging” rhetoric used by the actors of its transformation, which draws on historical representations. These recurring historical narratives demonstrate an engagement with the past aimed at showing how development companies have improved a territory long considered an inner-city periphery. The second section focuses on the “marketing landscape” jointly created by two development firms. According to our informants, these new public spaces enhance the value of the residential properties. With an influx of visitors, the once “marginal” territory acquires a new character. The creators of this landscape employ a rhetoric of “centrality” for the residential complexes built around these promenades.The third section discusses urban panoramas as one of Zareka’s key resources. When addressing the potential negative impact on the city’s skyline, our informants emphasized that their activities are limited to a district scale and noted that strategic planning for the urban panorama requires municipal initiative.

Was the marine facade of Leningrad a dream or a reality for Soviet architects?

Oksana V. Potapova — 2025-09-02

Soviet architects were concerned with the design of Leningrad’s coastal areas from the 1930s. Drawing on materials of the journals Construction and Architecture of Leningrad and Architecture of the USSR, specialized publications, and archival documents, this article examines the evolution of urban planning concepts for the city’s maritime facade.

The initial idea of a “garden city” with a vast coastal park (1935 Master Plan) was replaced by a series of ensembles in the Stalinist Empire style (1948 Master Plan). Later, the concept evolved into a compromise between city-wide needs andceremonial significance compositionally linked to the landmarks of the historic center (1966 Master Plan). However, the grand maritime facade remained a dream confined to architectural drawings and models.

A formal development, lacking high-rise accents, was partially implemented in the 1960s–1980s on Vasilyevsky and Petrovsky Islands. In contrast, the southwestern and northwestern waterfronts were largely neglected, receiving only basic infrastructure and standard residential housing. This fragmented implementation has led to numerous problems related to building density, the perception of high-rises, the northern climate, flood risks, and the ecological state of the Neva Bay. Modern urban planning interventions have severely undermined the completed sections, as new land reclamation projects have pushed original waterfront elements deep into the district. The preservation of modernist buildings, which rarely have cultural heritage status, is further complicated by the fragmented, market-driven logic governing the development of individual coastal plots.

Capital motu: Aquapelagos on urban atolls

Kir V. Lamskoy — 2025-09-01

The article examines the phenomenon of metropolitan atolls and the urban cultural landscapes (aquapelagos) they create, exploring the potential of the urban atoll concept within urban studies. The capital motus the islands which constitute atoll nations — represent a unique intersection of several fundamental spatial concepts: capitals, cities, islands, and atolls. This article analyzes the nature of capitals within these spatial configurations, their specific characteristics, and whether common patterns exist in the distribution of capital and urban functions in atoll aquapelagos. Atoll nations conceptualize their capitals at a higher hierarchical level: that of the local aquapelago, which geographically corresponds to an entire atoll (e.g., Funafuti, Majuro) or its parts (e.g., South Tarawa). These nations are characterized by a ‘two-tier’ structure where a lower level of nuclear villages, corresponding to local communities, is consolidated at the atoll scale. Together with territorial and maritime components, these villages form a single heterogeneous aquapelago, whose central part functions as the capital. Capital status itself drives urban development, acting as a ‘core of urbanization.’ The complexity of the settlement structure is presented as an urban feature, where nuclear settlements interconnect to form a single urban/capital entity (e.g., Kiribati with Tarawa, Niue with Alofi). This aggregate of communities is thus elevated to a higher hierarchical level and assigned capital status, rather than this status being applied to a single peer settlement.

Concession agreements in the water supply and sewerage sector of Russian cities

Sergey B. Sivaev — 2025-09-02

This study examines concession agreements in water supply and wastewater sector within municipalities of the Russian Federation.

Its objectives are to conduct a substantive and statistical analysis of these agreements, identify barriers to private investment in the public utilities sector, and develop proposals for improving the state regulation of public-private partnerships (PPP) to enhance the sector’s investment attractiveness.

The research analyzes 353 concession agreements across 12 Russian regions and further examines agreements in 20 major Russian cities, providing a systematic overview of the country’s experience from 2011 to 2023.

The findings show that the concession agreements can be categorized into three groups according to the length of their implementation:: (a) agreements with terms up to 10 years, which were often concluded to increase concession statistics in smaller settlements and lack investment potential; (b) agreements with terms of 10–25 years, accounting for 51% of the total. This group could foster the growth of major players in the water and sanitation market if legal measures are taken to reduce investment risks; (c) agreements with terms of 25–50 years. These contain the vast majority (approx. 90%) of pledged private investment, but most of this investment is projected for 20 to 30 years in the future. Such agreements are typically found in large Russian cities and indicate the privatization water management in Russian cities.

Based on this analysis, the article provides recommendations for improving legislation governing concession agreements in the public utilities sector.

Sustainable and resilient water infrastructure for water security of communities, their population, and economic assets

Alexander P. Martusevich — 2025-09-03

Many water infrastructure systems are underdeveloped and are not always capable of ensuring water, food, or energy security, and may not be resilient to natural and man-made risks. This can be attributed to both managerial and financial reasons.

While the distribution of responsibilities for municipal water supply and wastewater disposal has been well studied, these issues remain insufficiently explored for other types of water systems critical to communities. These include multi-purpose water infrastructure (MPWI), rural water supply, and systems for protecting settlements and economic assets from the negative impacts of water (such as avalanches, mudflows, landslides, collector-drainage systems, and stormwater sewers).The methodological basis for addressing these questions is drawn from research on national water security indicators based on the “nexus” concept; the approaches and recommendations of authoritative international organizations, including the Global Water Partnership, UNECE, and the OECD (e.g., the “3Ts” concept and recommendations on private sector participation); as well as the authors’ analysis of the specific benefits provided by water infrastructure and the experiences of several countries. The article presents the author's vision of options for sustainable, systemic solutions to these issues. It proposes an appropriate distribution of responsibility among different levels of public authorities and other economic agents for financing the capital and operating costs of various types of water infrastructure.

A methodology for implementing elements of green infrastructure into urban planning solutions for stormwater management

Ekaterina S. Andreeva — 2025-09-03

Изменение климата и рост урбанизации создают новые вызовы для устойчивого развития городов. Конкурентоспособность городов напрямую зависит от того, как городская политика отвечает на вызовы, связанные с изменением климата. Интенсивные дожди становятся причиной затопленных улиц, домов, особенно в городах с устаревшей ливневой канализацией и низкой долей проницаемых поверхностей.

В ответ на вызовы, связанные с изменением климата и увеличением количества осадков, в зарубежной практике сформировалась стратегия управления дождевой водой, основанная на имитации естественных гидрологических процессов при помощи строительства зеленой инфраструктуры (ЗИ). В России управление дождевой водой преимущественно осуществляется с помощью серой инфраструктуры, но инициативы по внедрению ЗИ также появляются. В строительных правилах закреплено несколько типов ЗИ, однако при этом отсутствуют нормативы расчетов для их проектирования.

Цель работы — предложить методологию определения мест размещения ЗИ и алгоритм расчета объемов дождевой воды, которые она может принять. Разработанная методология выстраивалась на основе исследований, посвященных развитию политики реализации ЗИ, а также на основе руководств по проектированию ЗИ, применяемых в городах Филадельфии и Лондоне. Разработанная методология позволяет определить возможность ЗИ перехватывать дождевую воду во время наиболее частых ливней с периодом повторяемости в 1 год и в 10 лет, продолжительностью 24 часа.

Методология была апробирована на центральной части Екатеринбурга. Разработаны рекомендации для федерального и муниципального уровней по созданию нормативной базы для развития ЗИ, а также выявлены прямые и косвенные эффекты ее внедрения.

An evaluation of the efficiency of water utilities

Ilya A. Dolmatov — 2025-09-03

The main goal of the state authorities in the management of sectors providing public utilities, including water supply and sanitation, is to provide reliable and high-quality services at affordable prices. In pursuing this goal, the state acts as a regulator whose most important task is to ensure conditions for the most effective forms of management for such utilities. However, there are currently no framework that would allow a wide range of users to systematically evaluate the performance of specific water utilities, compare their efficiency using key parameters, and assess their development dynamics over an extended period. This is due to both the presence of the large number of such enterprises and the lack of a methodology for their comparison. This article presents an approach to the comprehensive assessment of water utility performance, based on a system of indicators developed by the authors.. Furthermore, it examines the main results of a study on the efficiency of the 75 largest water utilities in 2023 compared to 2022, based on several of the most significant indicators.

The first Russian urbanist. On the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lev Aleksandrovich Velikhov

Kirill A. Strakhov — 2025-09-03

The year 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lev Aleksandrovich Velikhov, a prominent Russian urbanist, author of the fundamental works Fundamentals of Urban Economy and An Experiment in Municipal Programming, editor of the Urban Affairs journal, a deputy of the 4th State Duma, and a major figure in municipal governance. The representation of Velikhov in academic literature reveals a systemic problem in the perception of urban studies within Russian scientific discourse: an amorphous understanding of the field and an underestimation of Velikhov’s status.

The author argues for the scholar’s pioneering role, which allows him to be considered the first Russian urbanist. Velikhov understood urbanism as “the science of the city, as well as the art of urban management.” Postulating the broad, interdisciplinary nature of urban science, he became the first integrative urban scholar. He was the first to develop urban studies as an educational discipline in Russia, publishing the country’s first textbook and academic course on the subject. He was also the first to tackle the highest scientific challenge—identifying regularities—and formulated the “laws of urbanism.” Alongside his scholarly works, Velikhov’s practical projects and journalism serve as a veritable encyclopedia of Russian urban life during a pivotal period.

In the late 1930s, Velikhov was repressed, which had a detrimental effect on the development of Russian urban science. The image of the scholar and the foundations of the science he proposed became obscured for subsequent generations. His anniversary raises questions about preserving his scientific legacy, integrating his academic course on the urban economy into modern educational programs, searching for and publishing his unknown works, and clarifying significant facts of his biography.