Urban Planning in the North (Based on the Example of the Magadan Region)

This study examines urban planning approaches in the Magadan region from the 1930s to 1980. By examining the changes in residential and public architecture, we can identify how the scientific community's and party leadership's perception of the development of the Far North changed during the period of industrialization, following World War II and N.S. Khrushchev's housing reforms. The aim of the study is to analyze architecture and urban planning to determine the stages of transformation of Magadan into a "normal city", and whether this process was unique or universal for other cities in the Far North that emerged during the industrial period in resource-rich areas. These cities grew around industrial enterprises and labor camps, providing the main workforce for these enterprises. Studying residential and public buildings in Magadan during different periods of the 20th century allowed us to understand the symbolic role that architecture played for different population groups during the colonization of the North. This approach to architecture in Magadan has not previously been presented in domestic or foreign research. Additionally, analyzing unstudied materials from periodicals helped to understand urban issues in Magadan that existed from the 1930s to the 1980s.