Ways to overcome the modern urban crisis: Is «alternative metropoliza-tion» possible? Article 1

Author(s):  V.S. Gritsenko, Krasnodar state institute of culture, Krasnodar, Russia, postmodernist@mail.ru

L.A. Shtompel, Dr., Prof., Southern Federal University , Rostov-on-Don, Russia, lashtompel@gmail.com

Issue:  Volume 43, № 4

Rubric:  Human Being. Culture. Society

Annotation:  The article analyses theories of urban growth and city models in order to shape the developmental pattern for Krasnodar - one of the largest cities in the South of Russia. While urban theories are mostly based on one single developmental factor (technological innovations, spatial, political or economic changes, cultural transformations), the article reveals the need to expand the range of factors by means of anthropo-cultural approach, which takes in to account human dimension of the urban area and value-spiritual nature of man. The authors come to a conclusion that developing a city model should be based on the city population as its main parameter, namely aspirations, expectations, traditions of the city people. Cultural factor should complement the existing approach to assessing sustainability of the cities in the South of Russia. The authors proceeded from the idea that every city is a complex self-organizing system with immanent logic, which is capable of self-development irrespective of expectations and efforts on the part of administrative, political and economic actors. This is connected with the cumulative effect created by people collectively adapting to rapid changes in the modern urbanized world. Political and administrative influence on the city development should be systematic in character and take into account the quality of the city population. The concept of an industrial city, which is described in traditional urban theory, should be replaced by the concept of a post-industrial, ecologically-friendly and socially harmonious city.

Keywords:  city, urbanization, city model, urban development theory, urbanization crisis, smart-city.

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