cities building culture

Under the title “The Residential Built Heritage of the Soviet Union in Times of Multiple Crises,” the research of the cities.building.culture consortium will continue with another three-year funding phase, from October 2024 to September 2027.

Urban development in the post-Soviet space currently faces a variety of challenges. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, climate change, and the scarcity of resources necessitate new thinking and actions to strengthen urban resilience and adaptability to multiple threats, ensuring the protection and sustainable use of the cultural, economic, and ecological values of the historic building stock.

The research conducted by the cities.building.culture consortium aims to integrate approaches to sustainability and resilience in addressing residential buildings from the Soviet era. In its second funding phase, the consortium is broadening its scope to include topics such as resilience, resource management, and climate adaptation. Adopting a decolonial and interdisciplinary perspective, the research contributes to advancing post-Soviet regional studies through basic research and recommendations for action for cities in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Baltics.

The international and interdisciplinary networks successfully established in the first funding phase, along with the promotion of young researchers, will be further strengthened and expanded.

Subproject 1 – Reassessment and reconstruction

Led by Dr. Corinne Geering und Prof. Dr. Arnold Bartetzky (History, Cultural History, Art History, GWZO Leipzig)

Subproject 2 – Institutional and civil society practices

Led by Prof. Christa Reicher (Institute of Urban Design and European Urbanism, RWTH Aachen University)

Subproject 3 – Urban transformations

Led by Prof. Dr. Barbara Engel (Urban Development and Planning, KIT Karlsruhe)

Cross-sectional project - Integration: Theory, Methods and Networking

Led by Prof. Christa Reicher (Insitute of Urban Design and European Urbanism, RWTH Aachen University)

Group Leader: Prof. Dr. Barbara Engel

cities.building.culture continues with a second funding phase!