Kiril Ass writes in topos 105 about the (in)visible transformation of Russia’s capital under Sergei Sobyanin and how the beauty of its urban space could come at the expense of democracy.
Under the administration of Sergei Sobyanin, the third Mayor of Moscow since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian capital has gone through a drastic transformation of its urbanism. In recent years, the inner city was rebuilt and turned into to what seems to be a contemporary city at its best – a city for people. But the appearances are deceiving. The Muscovites are paying a high price for a more liveable urban environment: As the city’s public space has lost its political relevance, the citizens have further forfeited their political rights and influence.
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One of Sobyanin’s first moves in office was the destruction of the city’s informal shopping infrastructure – the remnants of the 1990s micro-economy, i.e. the hundreds of small shops and pavilions scattered across the city and concentrated near metro stations that provided the Muscovites with everything they needed on their way to work or home. These establishments
were torn down overnight by excavators, regardless of their legal status, ruining the businesses and lives of their owners and employees and overturning the daily lives of millions of Muscovites in an action swiftly dubbed “Night of the Long Shovels”.
Protests against the ruthless demolitions were in vain, regardless of whether they were voiced in the Architectural Council, reported about in the press or shouted out in the streets. The protests culminated after the Russian parliamentary elections in 2011. Thousands of people demonstrated against alleged electoral fraud.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets – yet to be gentrified – to reclaim their stolen votes. They were tolerated for a week, as these were the largest protests in a decade, only to be beaten down later. The protests continued during the winter, ending up in a massive march on the day before Putin’s third inauguration, famous for the images of his motorcade rolling through empty, heavily guarded Moscow avenues. The march was violently suppressed by the police.
In 2012, new laws were passed, severely curtailing the rights of public protest – and of oppositional political action in general. To summarize, almost any kind of political demonstration now requires advance approval by the city government – needless to say that under the new laws no approval would ever be granted for a central area of the city. In the eyes of the newly confirmed mayor, the beautiful, newly made streets of Moscow need no political activity.
Watch the video of Putin’s motorcade rolling through empty Moscow avenues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPN9OL5EqUk
topos 105 contains an article about LaToya Cantrell, the first female mayor of New Orleans. She led the recovery of one of the city’s neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina. Our author discusses the question: Can she facilitate the coordination, cooperation and funding that are critical for achieving the city’s resilience towards future disasters? Accompanying the print article, we present a five-part series on our website.
The first part deals with the cityscape of New Orleans, which before and independently of Katrina was already marked by social vulnerability that can be traced within the urban fabric.
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New Orleans, the “Crescent City”, the “Sliver by the River”, currently celebrates its 300th anniversary. August 29th also marked the thirteenth year after Hurricane Katrina triggered a catastrophic disaster in the city, followed by a dysfunctional response and a flawed recovery. Before Katrina, New Orleans was already scarred by racial inequalities and social vulnerabilities that can be retraced within the urban fabric, indicating who lives in which neighborhood and why. The flood evacuation and resulting nationwide diaspora led to a dramatic decline in the number of residents. Recently the city reached 90 percent of its pre-Katrina population count, some neighborhoods even report population growth. Yet the share of African Americans is lower, and the departure of poor and black residents after Katrina has changed the face of the city.
New strategies
Some of the lessons learned after Katrina include the realization that disasters aren’t “natural”, but rather the conjunction of at-risk settlement patterns, flawed planning, and vulnerability. This recognition also contributed to developing new strategies aimed at strengthening resilience. Formerly active in supporting the recovery of Broadmoor, one of the city’s neighborhoods, the new Mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, is experienced in such efforts.
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True to the context
The previous imperative of controlling nature is challenged by interdisciplinary and integrated planning approaches with social and environmental orientation. While flood resilience can be enhanced by taking into account the everyday life of residents, it also has an achilles’ heel: the social vulnerability of the population, related to poverty and lacking equality of opportunity. Planners and designers therefore have the responsibility to develop ethical and adequate solutions for resilient architecture, cities and landscapes – true to the context and based on collaboration and innovation.
To be continued…
Clubbing used to be something governments tried to shut down. But even nowadays, the nightlife needs someone ensuring that inhabitants stay happy and revellers calm: a night mayor like Shamiro van der Geld. But the challenges of the acceptance of nightlife are big – hopefully not too big for one single man. Our author Charlie Clemoes accompanied Shamiro during the Amsterdam Dance Event and found out more about his tasks.
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All images by: Amie Galbraith – Styleandstill
Find the entire article on Shamiro van der Geld in topos 105.
