Druzhba Park of Culture and Leisure (Elista): The Shaping of Public Spaces in Urban Environment

Abstract

Introduction. The article analyzes the formation of urban spaces as public places. Considerable attention is paid to the role of Druzhba Park of Culture and Leisure (Elista) in the city’s space. The paper suggests Druzhba Park be viewed not only as a natural zone in urban development, but also as a place for the identification of steppe people with urban environment. Goals. The article seeks to consider the place, functions and significance of the park in Elista’s public space. Methods. The study was conducted using the structural-and-functional method, and that of participant observation. Results. It is traced how changes in the political and sociocultural situations affected the visual attractiveness of the park. Urban development projects that have reconstructed the park’s space at the current stage are described. The work comes to the conclusion that the creation of Druzhba Park as a public space in the late 1930s was evidence of the spread of urban culture among the Kalmyk population.

Keywords

• garden and park complex
• druzhba park of culture and leisure
• elista’s urban environment
• city
• space