NEIGHBORHOOD HERITAGE
Urban layers, physical environments and living communities in the post-socialist/-Soviet city
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), RWTH Aachen University, Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of
Eastern Europe in Leipzig (GWZO), with the support of Ilia State University, Tbilisi (Georgia) are jointly convening the PhD
School „Neighborhood Heritage. Urban layers, physical environments and living communities in the post-socialist/-Soviet City “, as part of the collaborative research project cities.building.culture.
We invite applications for an international PhD School aiming at exploring various approaches in the analysis of neighborhoods and their layered heritage: urban morphology, construction and perception of values, civic engagement and urban governance, local memory and place-attachment, the meaning and impact of processes such as revitalization, redevelopment, gentrification and down-grading, mechanisms of heritage protection, but also the loss and destruction of heritage.
Both historical neighborhoods and more recent developments, such as modernist housing or large housing estates, are of interest. Moreover, we would like to reflect on how the historic urban landscape approach could be applied at the level of these neighborhoods, and discuss its particular challenges in the context of post-socialist urban transformations. The districts of Tbilisi and their layered heritage will also provide a rich field for observation, discussion, and analysis, in particular during the interactive workshops that represent one of the main formats offered during the PhD School.
We would like to reflect on questions such as:
• How did the economic and demographic changes in the last decades impact upon the built legacy of residential districts? How are they reflected in the construction of local memory and heritage values?
• What are the moments of rupture in the life of the neighborhoods, and what kinds of responses have they generated at institutional and community level?
• In which ways did the local communities appropriate the inherited built environment and what does this tells us about processes of heritage-making from below?
• How can we conceptualize mass housing districts as heritage? Which strategies would facilitate a more sustainable approach for their preservation and how could communities become more involved into decision-making?
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As we consider heritage as a dynamic process, the purpose is not so much on adopting one perspective alone, but on identifying intersections between these strategies of analysis. Also, of particular interest are contributions trying to bridge theory and practice when analyzing specific case studies that demonstrate how heritage is conceptualized, perceived, negotiated, contested, or ignored in residential districts.
The contributions will be divided into four thematic sessions, according to our project’s main areas of interest:
- Values (Attitudes, Perceptions)
- Institutionalized Practices (Institutional Actors and Practices)
- Civic Practices (Residents and Activists, Performing Heritage)
- Spatial Transformations (Morphology and Change Places)