Initiative Improvement in Saint-Petersburg: from Local Community Art towards Tactical Urbanism

Research Article
How to Cite
Afanasiev K.S., Stepanova E.S. Initiative Improvement in Saint-Petersburg: from Local Community Art towards Tactical Urbanism. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2022. Vol. 14. No. 3. P. 124-153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2022.14.3.6 (in Russ.).

Abstract

The article summarizes the preliminary results of the analysis of public initiatives in the field of landscaping in St. Petersburg. In order to systematize the variety of research approaches and assessments of interested persons authors used the methods of source analysis and generalization (grouping) of assessments and analogies in relation to the objects and phenomena under consideration.The practical part of the study consisted in the formation of an array of data and a bank of cases in the field of grassroots initiatives to improve the urban environment and the formation of public spaces. Based on the data obtained, there was created a map of the activity of urban communities, as well as a heat map, illustrating the foci of concentration of the social capital of the city. As the analytical tools authors used models of joint actions and cooperation, research methods of the theory of public goods and behavioral economics, as well as the method of geoinformation analysis.As a unifying term for the phenomena under consideration, the authors propose the term “initiative improving”, meaning a spontaneously emerging and developing form of civic activity at the place of residence using self-organization and self-financing tools. The range of revealed facts of initiative landscaping varies from negatively perceived ‘local community art’ (a form of naive and artisanal improvement of the space around a residential building) to initiatives of residents to restore and form public facilities approved by the majority (restoration of entrances of historical buildings, lost historical elements, green spaces). Intermediate forms in this regard are initiatives within the framework of territorial public self-government, festive events and temporary facilities. The concept that allows us to describe the most constructive format is M. Lydon's “tactical urbanism” — the theory of “small affairs” in the field of urban development.The novelty of the presented approach consists in the systematization of the facts of initiative improvement (including negative ones) and their integration into the general logic of modern urban development against the background of currently prevailing approaches based on the allocation of the decisive role of professionals and experts in this process.
Keywords:
civic activity, urban environment, public spaces, civic initiatives, initiative improvement, tactical urbanism, local community art

Author Biographies

Kirill Stanislavovich Afanasiev, Pushkin Leningrad state university, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Candidate of Philosophy, Associate Professor of Department of State and Municipal Administration
Ekaterina Sergeevna Stepanova, HSE University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Graduate Student, Lecturer of Department of Public Administration

References

Abashev V.V., Pechishchev I.M. (2018) Gorodskie setevye izdaniya kak agenty urbanizacii [Urban Network Publications as Agents of Urbanization] In: Gorod i media [City and Media]. Collected Papers of sc. conf. Perm': PSU. P. 9–29. (In Russ.) EDN: YXPWEH

Abasheva M.P. (2020) Urbanism I urbanisty v rossijskih setevyh izdaniyah 2010-h godov [Urbanism and Urbanists in Russian Online Media in the 2010s]. Perm: Permskij gosudarstvennij natsional’nij issledovatel’skij universitet [Perm State University]. (In Russ.) EDN: UNYEWL

Afanasiev K.S., Stepanova E.S. (2021) The Day After: zhizn' i sud'ba proektov souchastvuyushchego proektirovaniya v gorodah Rossii [The Day After: The Life and Fate of Participatory Design Projects in Russian Cities]. Gorodskie issledovaniya i praktiki [Urban Studies and Practices]. Vol. 6. No. 2. P. 26–47. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/usp62202126-47

Antonova N.L., Abramova S.B. (2021) Gorodskoj aktivizm molodyozhi: praktiki i bar'ery [Urban Youth Activism: Practices and Barriers]. Ojkumena. Regionovedcheskie issledovaniya [Oikumena. Regional Studies]. No. 2. P. 96–103. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.24866/1998-6785/2021-2/96-103 EDN: AUTDTU

Arnstein S. (1969) Ladder of Сitizen Participation. Journal of American Planning Association. Vol. 35. No. 4. P. 216–224.

Barkovskaya N.V. (2020) Priklyucheniya Cheburashki: grotesknaya reaktualizaciya obraza v sovremennom soznanii [Adventures of Cheburashka: Grotesque Reactualization of the Image in Modern Consciousness]. Ural'skij filologicheskij vestnik. Seriya “Russkaya literatura XX-XXI vekov: napravleniya i techeniya” [Ural Philological Bulletin. The Series “Russian Literature of the XX-XXI Centuries: Trends and Currents”]. No. 1. P. 91–106. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.26170/ufv20-01-06. EDN: ASKJCP

Best J. (2001) Konstrukcionistskij podhod k issledovaniju social'nyh problem [Constructionist Approach to the Study of Social Problems]. In: S.A. Yerofeyev (ed). Konteksty sovremennosti-II: Aktual'nye problemy obshhestva i kul'tury v zapadnoj social'noj teorii: hrestomatija [Contexts of Modernity-II: Actual Problems of Society and Culture in Western Social Theory: a Textbook]. 2nd ed. Kazan: Izdatelstvo Kazan University. P. 164–175. (In Russ.)

Bogdanov A.L., Dulya I.S. (2019) Sentiment-analiz korotkih russkojazychnyh tekstov v social'nyh media [Sentiment-analysis of Short Russian-language Texts in Social Media]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Еkonomika [Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Economy]. No. 47. P. 220–241. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17223/19988648/47/17. EDN: QFXMQA

Certeau M. de. (2005) Po gorodu peshkom [Walking around the City]. Communitas [Communitas]. No. 2. P. 80–87. (In Russ.)

Certeau M. de (2013) Izobretenie povsednevnosti. 1. Iskusstvo delat' [The Invention of Everyday Life. 1. The Art of Making]. Transl. by D. Kalugin, N. Movnin. St. Petersburg: European University in St. Petersburg publ. (In Russ.)

Ekman P.A. (2020) Fenomen ZHEK-arta i ego realizaciya v gorode Ekaterinburge [The Phenomenon of Communal Art and Its Implementation in the City of Yekaterinburg]. In: Iskusstvo v gorode: teoriya, praktika, upravlenie. Materialy mezhdunarodnogo simpoziuma [Art in the City: Theory, Practice, Management. Proceedings of International Symposium]. Ekaterinburg: Izdatelstvo EACA. P. 184–189. (In Russ.) EDN: ULJXPY

Ellickson R. (2017) Porjadok bez prava: kak sosedi ulazhivajut spory [Order Without Right: How Neighbors Settle Disputes] / Transl. by M. Markov. Moscow: Izdatelstvo Gaidar Institute. (In Russ.)

Frolova E.V. Vzaimodejstvie naseleniya i mestnoj vlasti: problemy i novye vozmozhnosti [Interaction of the Population and Local Authorities: Problems and New Opportunities]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Research]. No 4. P. 59–64. (In Russ.) EDN: VZSLMR

Gallent N., Robinson S. (2013) Neighbourhood planning. Communities, networks and governance. Bristol: Policy press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447300069.001.0001

Gavrilov A.V. (2011) Psihogeografiya kak instrumental'nyj podhod k izucheniyu gorodskoj sredy [Psychogeography as an Instrumental Approach to the Study of the Urban Environment]. Vestnik PGTU. Urbanistika [Bulletin of PSTU. Urban Studies]. No. 2. P. 161–167. (In Russ.) EDN: OIYUTJ

Graham S., Trift N. (2014) Neispravnost': remontirovat', podderzhivat' rabotu i ponimat' [Malfunction: Repair, Maintain Work and Understand]. Neprikosnovennyj zapas. Debaty o politike i kul'ture [Inviolable Reserve. Debates about Politics and Culture]. No. 2. P. 147–174. (In Russ.) EDN: TRTEQO

Hakim Bej. (2003) Ustojchivye vremennye avtonomnye zony [Stable Temporary Autonomous Zones]. Anarhiya. Antologiya sovremennogo anarhizma i levogo radikalizma [An Anthology of Modern Anarchism and Left-wing Radicalism]. Transl. by S. Kormil'cev. Moscow: Ul'tra. Kul'tura. Vol. 1. P. 339–346. (In Russ.)

Halpern D. (2005) Social Capital. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Hilgartner S., Bosk C.L. (2008) The Growth and Decline of Social Problems: the Concept of Public Arenas. Social Reality. Transl. by I. Yasaveev. No. 2. P. 73–94. (In Russ.)

Kalashnikova K.N. (2020) Vizual'naya kommunikaciya v gorodskom prostranstve Novosibirska: differenciaciya i vospriyatie [Visual Communication in the Urban Space of Novosibirsk: Differentiation and Perception]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Tomsk State University]. No. 458. P. 101–109. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17223/15617793/458/12. EDN: FKOBAG

Kirakosyan S.A., Odnachev P.S. (2021) O formirovanii koncepcii dobrososedstva v rossijskom zhilishchnom prave [On the Formation of the Concept of Good Neighborliness in Russian Housing Law]. Pravo i politika [Law and Politics]. No. 6. P. 45–57. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-0706.2021.6.35808. EDN: HBDMZD

Koroleva M.N., Chernova M.A. (2017) Taktiki realizacii gorodskih proektov [Tactics for the Implementation of Urban Projects]. Gorodskie issledovaniya i praktiki [Urban Studies and Practices]. Vol. 2. No. 3. P. 28–42. (In Russ.) EDN: UPPAJT

Kosarev V., Pavlov P., Kaukin A. (2019) Social'nyj kapital kak faktor ekonomicheskogo rosta rossijskih regionov [Social Capital as a Factor of Economic Growth of Russian Regions]. Ekonomicheskaya politika [Economic Policy]. No. 5. P. 124–149. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.18288/1994-5124-2019-5-124-149 EDN: JPKZPP

Lisina M., Semenenko M., Fedotova, D. (2017) Delaj sam/a: praktiki nizovyh grazhdanskih iniciativ [Do It Yourself: Practices of Grassroots Civic Initiatives]. Moscow: Pero. (In Russ.)

Low S. (2016) Plasa. Politika obshhestvennogo prostranstva i kul'tury [Plaza. The Politics of Public Space and Culture]. Transl. by Yu. Pliskina. Moscow: Strelka Press. (In Russ.)

Lydon M., Garcia A. (2019) Takticheskij urbanizm. Kratkosrochnye dejstviya — dolgosrochnye peremeny [Tactical Urbanism. Short-term Action for Long-term Change]. Moscow: Strelka Press. (In Russ.)

Lynch K. (1982) Obraz goroda [The image of the city] / Transl. by V. Glazychev. Moscow: Stroyizdat. (In Russ.)

Mueller A.K. (2020) Ot gorodskih sovmestnostej k gorodskomu planirovaniyu (ili naoborot?). “Planiruya” osparivaemuyu teritoriyu Glyajsdrajek [From Urban Interconnections to Urban Planning (or vice versa?). "Planning" the Disputed Territory of Gleisdreieck]. In: M. Dellenbaugh, M. Kip, M. Bieniok, A.K. Mueller, M. Schvegmann (eds.) Urban Commons. Gorodskie soobshchestva za predelami gosudarstva i rynka [Urban Commons. Moving Beyond State and Market]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. P. 198–219. (In Russ.)

Notman A.V. (2021) Perspektivy realizacii modeli soupravleniya v rossijskih megapolisah: novyj grazhdanskij akitivizm i mikrolokal'nye gorodskie rezhimy [Prospects for the Implementation of the Co-Management Model in Russian Megacities: New Civic Acitivism and Microlocal Urban Regimes]. Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo universiteta im. N.I. Lobachevskogo. Seriya: Social'nye nauki [Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University Named after N.I. Lobachevsky. Series: Social Sciences]. No. 2 (62). P. 86–94. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.52452/18115942_2021_2_86. EDN: MCWOHC

Oswalt P., Overmeyer K., Misselwitz, P. (2014) Urban Catalyst. The Power of Temporary Use. Berlin: DOM publishers.

Pachenkov O., Voronkova L. (2021) “Novyj gorodskoj aktivizm” i “publichnaja politika” v Rossii (na primere Sankt-Peterburga) [“New Urban Activism” and “Public Policy” in Russia (On the Example of St. Petersburg)]. Zhurnal issledovanij social'noj politiki [Journal of Social Policy Research. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 253–268. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/727-0634-2021-19-2-253-268. EDN: MOGYJO

Pavlyuk S.G. (2017) Gorodskaya lokal'naya toponimiya kak indikator prostranstvennoj samoorganizacii obshchestva [Urban Local Toponymy as an Indicator of Spatial Self-organization of Society]. Gorodskie issledovaniya i praktiki [Ubran Studies and Practices]. Vol. 2. No. 2. P. 33–42. (In Russ.) EDN: YPUWJG

Piskunov M.O. Rakov T.N. (2020) Kommunisticheskij trud? Subbotnik mezhdu pozdnesovetskim ritualom i ekologicheskoj praktikoj [Communist Labor? Subbotnik Between the Late Soviet Ritual and Environmental Practice]. Vestnik Surgutskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Surgut State Pedagogical University]. No. 6 (69). P. 113–120. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.26105/SSPU.2020.69.6.015. EDN: ZQZAHJ

Polishchuk L. (2015) Zhdat' nachal'stva ili skinut'sya samim: social'nyj kapital v zhizni goroda [Waiting for the Bosses or Organizing Themselves off: Social Capital in the Life of the City]. In: V. Auzan (ed.) Stimuly. Paradoksy. Provaly. Gorod glazami ekonomistov [Incentives. Paradoxes. Failures. City Through the Eyes of Economists]. Moscow: Stelka Press. P. 112–135. (in Russ.)

Putnam R. (2000) Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990

Semenov A., Minaeva A. (2019) Goroda raskhodyashchihsya ulic: razvitie gorodskih konfliktov v Rossii 2010-h [Cities of Diverging Streets: the Development of Urban Conflicts in Russia in the 2010s]. Zhurnal issledovanij social'noj politiki [Journal of Social Policy Research]. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 89–104. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/727-0634-2021-19-2-189-204. EDN: VYUBHY

Sendra P., Sennett R. (2022) Proektirovat' besporyadok Eksperimenty i transgressii v gorode [Designing Disorder Experiments and Disruptions in the Сity]. Transl. by I. Kushnareva. Izdatelstvo Gajdar Institute. (In Russ.)

Shipulina N.B. (2016) Samodeyatel'nyj dizajn gorodskih dvorov Volgograda v aspekte antropologii veshchi [Amateur Design of Volgograd City Courtyards in the Aspect of the Anthropology of Things]. In: Fundamental and Applied Sciences Today X: Proceedings of the Conference. North Charleston: CreateSpace. No. 1. P. 21–35. (In Russ.) EDN: XHVAIP

Shomina E.S. (2015) Sosedskie centry kak element infrastruktury sosedskogo soobshchestva [Community centers as an element of the neighborhood community infrastructure]. Ekonomicheskie i social'no-gumanitarnye issledovaniya [Economic and socio-humanitarian studies]. No. 4 (8). P. 95–104. (In Russ.) EDN: VEIMTZ

Sim D. (2019) Soft city. Building Density for Everyday Life. London: Island press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.38.1-2.185

Sinyagin Yu.V. (2020) Oprosnik ocenki upravlencheskogo potenciala v kompleksnoj lichnostno-professional'noj diagnostike [Questionnaire for Assessing Managerial Potential In Complex Personal and Professional Diagnostics]. Moscow: Izdatelstvo “Delo” RANEPA.  (In Russ.) EDN: IQLBIW

Smirnov A.V. (2018) Iskusstvo gorodskih dvorov: specifika yavleniya i perspektivy izucheniya [The Art of Urban Courtyards: the Specifics of the Phenomenon and the Prospects of Study]. In: S.V. Maltseva, E.Yu. Stanyukovich-Denisova, A.V. Zakharova (eds.) Aktual'nye problemy teorii i istorii iskusstva: sb. nauch. statej [Actual Problems of the Theory and History of Art: Collection of Scientific Articles]. Saint-Petersburg: Izdatelstvo PSU. No. 8. P. 600–608. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.18688/aa188-6-59 EDN: NJYQIL

Smirnova I.N. (2016) «Zhivushchie ryadom»: Sosedskie vzaimootnosheniya v gorodskom prostranstve [“Living Nearby”: Neighborhood Relations in Urban Space]. Vestnik Ivanovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Estestvennye, obshchestvennye nauki [Bulletin of the Ivanovo State University. Series: Natural, Social Sciences]. No. 1. P. 56–63. (In Russ.) EDN: VWVFJL

Spector M., Kitsews J. (2001) Konstruirovanie social'nyh problem [Constructing Social Problems]. In: S.A. Yerofeyev (ed.) Konteksty sovremennosti-II: Aktual'nye problemy obshhestva i kul'tury v zapadnoj social'noj teorii: hrestomatija [Contexts of Modernity-II: Actual Problems of Society and Culture in Western Social Theory: a Textbook]. 2nd ed. Kazan: Izdatelstvo Kazan University. P. 160–163.

Ward K. (Ed.) (2014) Researching the City. A Guide for Students. London: SAGE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526401885

Wates N. (2014) The Community Planning Handbook. 2nd edition. London: Earthscan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315848716

Yasaveev I.G. (2004) Konstrukcionistskij podhod k social'nym problemam [Constructionist Approach to Social Problems]. Zhurnal issledovanij social'noj politiki [Journal of Social Policy Research]. Vol. 2. No. 4. P. 533–546. (In Russ.) EDN: IAROZF

Zhelnina A.A., Tykanova E.V. (2019) Formal'nye i neformal'nye grazhdanskie infrastruktury: sovremennye issledovaniya gorodskogo lokal'nogo aktivizma v Rossii [Formal and Informal Civil Infrastructures: Modern Studies of Urban Local Activism in Russia]. Zhurnal sociologii i social'noj antropologii [Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology]. Vol. 22. No. 1. P. 162–192. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2019.22.1.8. EDN: VVKYRG
Article

Received: 28.05.2022

Accepted: 28.09.2022

Citation Formats
Other cite formats:

APA
Afanasiev, K. S., & Stepanova, E. S. (2022). Initiative Improvement in Saint-Petersburg: from Local Community Art towards Tactical Urbanism. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 14(3), 124-153. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2022.14.3.6
Section
Field work research