Housing and Urban Development in the USSR

By Gregory D. Andrusz

Series: SUNY series in Urban Public Policy
Paperback : 9780873959124, 354 pages, June 1985
Hardcover : 9780873959117, 354 pages, June 1985
Out of print (Paperback)
Out of print (Hardcover)

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements
Glossary
Preface
List of Tables

Introduction

1. Historical Background and Overview

Part I. Forms of Housing Tenure

Introduction

2. The Development of the Four Housing Tenures, 1917-41

3. The State Housing Sector

4. The House-building Co-operative

5. The Private Housing Sector

Part II. Housing: Social, Economic, and Spatial Dimensions

Introduction

6. The Social and Spatial Dimensions of Soviet Housing Policy

7. The Housing Problem: Economic and Technological Aspects

8. Low-rise Housing: Urban Morphology and Social Structure

Part III. Housing and Urban Growth

Introduction

9. The Policy and Practice of Soviet Urbanisation

10. Conclusion

Appendix
Notes and References
Index

The “architects of the Russian Revolution” were indeed architects and town planners insofar as their designs for dwellings and social facilities provided an ideal setting for the new society. Yet, almost seventy years later, the Soviet housing goals a

Description

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.

Gregory D. Andrusz is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Middlesex Polytechnic of Great Britain.