The seminar investigates the history of Russian town and city planning, governance and everyday experience of its residents. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, we will analyze how Russian urban design shaped and was shaped by imperial elites, merchants/industrialists and ordinary residents. The seminar analyzes the rise and fall of different cities throughout 18th and 19th centuries in the Russian empire as a result of imperial expansion, and developments of industrialization, railway and agricultural economy. It looks at how imperial and local township governance institutions supported, challenged and subverted each other. The seminar will deal with issues such as urban civic governance, urban migration and mobility, social spatial (infra)structures, social movements.
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