The Dacha Belt around St. Petersburg / Leningrad as Palimpsest, 1920–1930s

Abstract

This article offers an integrated perspective on the belt of dachas (Russian summer cottages) surrounding the city of St. Petersburg / Leningrad during the 1920s and 1930s, drawing on Manuel Castells’ concept of the new order of social relations emerging from a dual communication network: the “space of flows” and the “space of places”. The space of flows refers to a non-spatial virtual infrastructure linked to power resources and the enhancement of well-being. The space of places is characterized by exclusion from networks and development driven by its own internal logic and interests. In the post-revolutionary years, the space of flows was infused with the ideas of Taylorism-Fordism and social engineering. Consequently, parts of the imperial dacha belt were transformed into sites of socialist tourism designed to impart new knowledge and skills. In contrast, the space of places was shaped by the ideas, knowledge, and culture of the old order – elements that stood in opposition to the space of flows. Within the dacha belt, this was manifested in the form of privately rented dachas. Castells’ ideas provide a framework for examining the history of space in the USSR, complementing the conventional dichotomies of “center vs. periphery” and “modern vs. archaic”.