This study of housing and the urban environment in a socialist society sheds light on the discrepancy between plan and reality. It investigates the sources and consequences of the problem and shows how the U.S.S.R. has attempted to find solutions. Following a general background and overview section, the book deals with the construction, control, and use of buildings in Soviet cities. It then investigates the types of housing considered to be most appropriate for today's Russian urbanite. Focusing on housing sites, it shows the reality of the housing situation in the U.S.S.R. and uncovers spatial patterns of social segregation in Soviet urban development. The question of high- and low-rise housing for workers is also discussed. Andrusz shows how today's Soviet society has evolved away from certain patterns created by the architects of the Revolution. New norms, values, and demands—particularly in the visible form of a more privatized lifestyle: the consumer-oriented, car-ownership-seeking, nuclear family with segregated role playing—have resulted in new dwelling needs. The book is enriched with tables, notes and references, and a useful bibliography.

This open access book focuses on the formation and later socio-spatial trajectories of large housing estates in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It also explores claims that a distinctly “westward-looking orientation” in their design produced housing estates that were superior in design to those produced elsewhere in the Soviet Union (between 1944 and 1991, Estonia was a member republic of the USSR). The first two parts of the book provide contextual material to help readers understand the vision behind housing estates in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These sections present the background of housing estates in the Baltic Republics as well as challenges and debates concerning their formation, evolution, and present condition and importance. Subsequent parts of the book consist of: demographic analyses of the socioeconomic characteristics and ethnicity of housing estate residents (past and present) in the three Baltic capital cities, case studies of people and places related to housing estates in the Baltic countries, and chapters exploring relevant special topics and themes. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and advocates interested in understanding the past, present, and future importance of housing estates in the Baltic countries.

Recent reforms in the Soviet housing construction process--Soviet building design and construction--Urban forms and infrastructure in the Soviet Union--U.S.S.R. practices in heat and power supply--Micro aspects of housing demand in Soviet cities--Building materials and components--Housing in Central Asia: the Uzbeck example--Construction in seismic areas--Soviet construction under difficult climatic conditions--The political economy of Soviet new towns--Reflections on the planning of old and new cities in the U.S.S.R.

The bibliography records doctoral and selected masters' theses (over 3,300 in all) from British and Irish universities in the field of Russian, Soviet and East European studies. This is broadly interpreted to include all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences as they relate to the area of Russia, the former USSR and Eastern Europe. Taken as a whole, the work probably forms the fullest and longest record of British and Irish postgraduate research in any sector of area studies. Besides its primary function as a bibliographic tool, it makes it possible to trace the effects of academic developments, institutional policies, and the changes in direction in this highly diversified field of study over the last hundred years. Entries are arranged by subject and area, supported by full author and subject indexes to aid searching. Dr Gregory Walker is a former Head of Slavonic and East European Collections at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. The late John S.G. Simmons, OBE, was Senior Research Fellow and Librarian, All Souls College, Oxford.

Originally published in 1981 and based on the authors’ own research, this book provides a comprehensive review of planning in the Soviet Union up until the early 1980s for both geographers and Soviet specialists. Planning was particularly important in the Soviet Union since not only most spatial change, but all economic planning was the product of a systematic socio-political ideology. Planning was therefore the key to understanding the Soviet economy, society and spatial change. When it was first published, this was the first study in which the focus had been directed specifically at spatial planning in the Soviet Union in any systematic way.

This open access book explores the formation and socio-spatial trajectories of large housing estates in Europe. Are these estates clustered or scattered? Which social groups originally had access to residential space in housing estates? What is the size, scale and geography of housing estates, their architectural and built environment composition, services and neighbourhood amenities, and metropolitan connectivity? How do housing estates contribute to the urban mosaic of neighborhoods by ethnic and socio-economic status? What types of policies and planning initiatives have been implemented in order to prevent the social downgrading of housing estates? The collection of chapters in this book addresses these questions from a new perspective previously unexplored in scholarly literature. The social aspects of housing estates are thoroughly investigated (including socio-demographic and economic characteristics of current and past inhabitants; ethnicity and segregation patterns; population dynamics; etc.), and the physical composition of housing estates is described in significant detail (including building materials; building form; architectural and landscape design; built environment characteristics; etc.). This book is timely because the recent global economic crisis and Europe’s immigration crisis demand a thorough investigation of the role large housing estates play in poverty and ethnic concentration. Through case studies of housing estates in 14 European centers, the book also identifies policy measures that have been used to address challenges in housing estates throughout Europe.