Socialist Suburbs: Functional and Social Centers of Makhachkala Suburbia

* Статья содержит упоминание запрещенных в Российской Федерации социальных сетей. Номер был подготовлен до решения суда о запрете деятельности указанных социальных сетей. Упоминание осуществляется исключительно в научных целях и не нацелено на одобрение экстремисткой деятельности

Abstract

During the post-socialist period, most of the non-capital cities of the former socialist republics experienced stagnation or shrinking. Others, however, grew rapidly in terms of the population and the built-up area. As a result, over the 30 years of development in market conditions, large suburban areas have been formed. Using Makhachkala (Dagestan, Russia) as an example, we examine the internal spatial structure of these new post-socialist suburbs. On the basis of field materials, the functional and social centers of the Makhachkala suburbia were identified, typologized and compared. Social and functional spatial structures are partially interdependent. The production of sociality in the suburbs with a reduced population density and a weakening of the Soviet urban core by large-scale emigration is difficult. The functional centers of the suburbs of Makhachkala are extremely diverse. From the center-lines that continue the old city center and are oriented towards the transit flow of consumers, smaller center-lines move into residential areas, the functional diversity of which meets local demand. Mosques are often part of the small center-cores in former villages. In remote areas, center-clouds are formed, concentrating many different objects as analogs of central squares. There are almost no complex spatial forms of the concentration of social practices. These are mostly simple cores. Indirect manifestations of social control through graffiti and posters are widespread, as well as direct, local informal “squads”, especially in isolated ethnic suburbs.