“Suburban Revolution”: The regional case (Ulan-Ude)[«Пригородная Революция» В Региональном Срезе (Улан-Удэ)]

The author considers the processes of suburban growth in major Russian cities that becomes more and more visible, and at the same time has much in common with the processes of development of other large cities in post-socialist countries. The driving forces of the so-called “post-socialist suburban revolution” in Russia determined by the rapid growth of private housing construction on the periphery of the capital cities are similar to those typical for Eastern European countries. They are as follows: the prolonged housing crisis, restrictions on the private property and private housing construction in the Soviet period, degradation of the social infrastructure in central districts of the cities in the 1990s, liberalization of distribution and developing of urban and suburban areas, in-migration from rural areas—all these factors have a significant impact on the growth of cities with a million-plus population as well as on smaller regional capitals. The growth and development of the suburban zone of Ulan-Ude—the capital of the Republic of Buryatia—quite fit into this “post-socialist context” though with important regional features related to local housing traditions, level of income, character of rural-urban migration, etc. The key directions of growth of the inner and outer suburbs of Ulan-Ude are as follows: wooden low-rise housing construction, transformation of dachas into places of year-round accommodation, construction of cottages and townhouses, high-rise housing construction, development and reconstruction of suburban villages. The suburban area of Ulan-Ude has mono-functional character (residential areas) for the industrial and commercial construction and social and public infrastructure are still poorly developed, which determines the rural-urban look of the suburban micro-districts.