How did planners design Soviet cities?
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Date: 2020-06-11
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Comments and reviews: 9
Hugo
Can confirm all of this. I'm from Europe and have lived in Russia for 6 months. In the 2 places that I lived (in Spb and Nizhny) I had supermarkets, schools, police stations, everything within a 5m walk, and the things that were too far, I could take the metro (3m walk, there is a metro every 2 minutes from 5 am to midnight) or a bus (about 20 different lines passed by both my streets, both private and public owned bus companies, one every 4m, identical ones every 10-15m. Say whatever you want about the regime, but life there is much easier in terms of mobility.
Edit: As pointed out in the comments, yes, unfortunately, it only applies in the bigger cities, just like in the rest of the world. And yes, Russia has technically part of its territory in Europe, although the cultural changes are big enough for me to consider it different from the rest of it.
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Can confirm all of this. I'm from Europe and have lived in Russia for 6 months. In the 2 places that I lived (in Spb and Nizhny) I had supermarkets, schools, police stations, everything within a 5m walk, and the things that were too far, I could take the metro (3m walk, there is a metro every 2 minutes from 5 am to midnight) or a bus (about 20 different lines passed by both my streets, both private and public owned bus companies, one every 4m, identical ones every 10-15m. Say whatever you want about the regime, but life there is much easier in terms of mobility.
Edit: As pointed out in the comments, yes, unfortunately, it only applies in the bigger cities, just like in the rest of the world. And yes, Russia has technically part of its territory in Europe, although the cultural changes are big enough for me to consider it different from the rest of it.
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Anden
I'm an American who has been to Russia several times, staying a few months each time. I have to say that the micro district model is kind of awesome. There are children who play in the courtyards, buses and consistent and affordable transport to get you everywhere (and I mean everywhere, and access to grocery stores, food, bakeries, and other shops within a 3 minute walk at all times. It is AMAZING to not need a car and have access to food and transport. Not everywhere, but many people take good care of their apartments because they own them and care about how they look and function. I lived in a block with probably 1, 000 other apartments and it was quiet! Access to things like this is so rare here in America and I think we could benefit from a little bit of this. Great video.
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I'm an American who has been to Russia several times, staying a few months each time. I have to say that the micro district model is kind of awesome. There are children who play in the courtyards, buses and consistent and affordable transport to get you everywhere (and I mean everywhere, and access to grocery stores, food, bakeries, and other shops within a 3 minute walk at all times. It is AMAZING to not need a car and have access to food and transport. Not everywhere, but many people take good care of their apartments because they own them and care about how they look and function. I lived in a block with probably 1, 000 other apartments and it was quiet! Access to things like this is so rare here in America and I think we could benefit from a little bit of this. Great video.
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Eduardo
The relationship between politics and ideologies and the built environment is not so strict as some make it seem. The Brasilia superblock took most of its elements from the soviet microdistrict, but was built in a western capitalist country under the direct influence of the US in the political and economical areas. It takes some exceptions in the administrative organization (such as the Novacap company) and there were attempts to turn the superblocks into gated communities. However, overall, it works very well and, being the capital of one of the biggest economies in the world, the city is maintained in very good condition.
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The relationship between politics and ideologies and the built environment is not so strict as some make it seem. The Brasilia superblock took most of its elements from the soviet microdistrict, but was built in a western capitalist country under the direct influence of the US in the political and economical areas. It takes some exceptions in the administrative organization (such as the Novacap company) and there were attempts to turn the superblocks into gated communities. However, overall, it works very well and, being the capital of one of the biggest economies in the world, the city is maintained in very good condition.
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Herr
Interesting video - one thing that strikes me is how similar in look and layout many of those are to swedish million programme ( miljonprogrammet ) residential areas (as well as in the following decades. (Might be intersting if you want to see the swedish take on the same idea.
The main legacy from the million programme (other than the actual buildings) is that it had the sideeffect that everything got standardized (one of the many reasons why IKEA works so well in sweden - everything built after 1960 basically has one out of two sets of dimensions)
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Interesting video - one thing that strikes me is how similar in look and layout many of those are to swedish million programme ( miljonprogrammet ) residential areas (as well as in the following decades. (Might be intersting if you want to see the swedish take on the same idea.
The main legacy from the million programme (other than the actual buildings) is that it had the sideeffect that everything got standardized (one of the many reasons why IKEA works so well in sweden - everything built after 1960 basically has one out of two sets of dimensions)
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kvertiber
Here's a fun fact for you. The street with trees on it in the center of the shot at 8: 36 is called ulitsa Marii Ulyanovoy. It was named that in 1963 after Vladimir Lenin's sister Maria Ulyanova. But from 1958 to 1963 it was called Tretya ulitsa Stroiteley, i. e. Third Street of Construction Workers. Incidentally, Irony of Fate protagonists both live on Tretya ulitsa Stroiteley (though the film was shot at a different location. Looks like it was Fate that guided your hand when you were choosing the photos to illustrate your video. :-)
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Here's a fun fact for you. The street with trees on it in the center of the shot at 8: 36 is called ulitsa Marii Ulyanovoy. It was named that in 1963 after Vladimir Lenin's sister Maria Ulyanova. But from 1958 to 1963 it was called Tretya ulitsa Stroiteley, i. e. Third Street of Construction Workers. Incidentally, Irony of Fate protagonists both live on Tretya ulitsa Stroiteley (though the film was shot at a different location. Looks like it was Fate that guided your hand when you were choosing the photos to illustrate your video. :-)
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Tyler
this video was great! Definitely a topic that deserves more consideration in US planning discourse, given how often mid-rise development gets accused of being Soviet-bloc - as if that's inherently a bad thing. The aspect that makes Soviet housing different from US public housing of same time period isn't even architectural, it's maintenance and universality.
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this video was great! Definitely a topic that deserves more consideration in US planning discourse, given how often mid-rise development gets accused of being Soviet-bloc - as if that's inherently a bad thing. The aspect that makes Soviet housing different from US public housing of same time period isn't even architectural, it's maintenance and universality.
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elizabeth
I wouldn t want to be in a communist country but I think I would like micro districts
It sounds similar to our idea of transit oriented development
And having everything I need in a walkable distance sounds great it would be good for people who can t drive cars because they are too young, too old, disabled, or unable to afford it
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I wouldn t want to be in a communist country but I think I would like micro districts
It sounds similar to our idea of transit oriented development
And having everything I need in a walkable distance sounds great it would be good for people who can t drive cars because they are too young, too old, disabled, or unable to afford it
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Marcelinus
so basically the soviets created a sustainable housing scheme where every amenities is either under walking distance or can be reached through public transits, and everyone get a house. honestly i don't see anything wrong with that though, with the exception of making the cityscape boring. that's a pretty mindblowing insight, thanks!
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so basically the soviets created a sustainable housing scheme where every amenities is either under walking distance or can be reached through public transits, and everyone get a house. honestly i don't see anything wrong with that though, with the exception of making the cityscape boring. that's a pretty mindblowing insight, thanks!
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Iz
The idea of housing for all and the micro district are both great ones but I really hate how uniform every building looks, perhaps if it were to be done today it would be better to simply allocate local governments adequate funding and a checklist of what micro districts should include but leave the design up to them?
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The idea of housing for all and the micro district are both great ones but I really hate how uniform every building looks, perhaps if it were to be done today it would be better to simply allocate local governments adequate funding and a checklist of what micro districts should include but leave the design up to them?
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