The Diversity of Dachas in Russia and the Role of Urban Residents in Preserving the Development of Rural Lands

Abstract

The article examines the causes, extent, and role of the spread of dachas in Russia as a second home for urban residents in addition to their city apartments. The purpose of this work, based both on statistical data (which are rather scarce) and on my own field sociogeographical research in various regions of Russia, is to show the diversity of summer houses, the size of their land plots, the activities of summer residents, and their interactions with their surroundings, depending on the distance from their dachas to large cities. The location and type of dacha influence the duration of urban residents’ stay in rural areas and determine the specifics of their activities and rest. There are four historically established types of dachas in Russia located at different distances from cities: classic old dachas, garden and summer cottages, dachas in villages, and modern villas. The article provides a detailed analysis of the examples of distant dachas of Muscovites in various villages to the north of the Moscow region, based on my field research in the Pskov, Tver, Novgorod, Vologda, and Kostroma regions. I analyze the number of houses used by urban summer residents as compared to the houses of rural residents, and I show the details of summer residents’ arrangement of houses in villages, the duration of their stay in summer houses, the nature of their land use, as well as their interaction with each other and with the local population. I further discuss the role of urban summer residents in preserving the development of rural lands against the backdrop of rural depopulation, especially in the periphery of the regions. The article is accompanied by maps and photographs.