Revealing the “Hidden” Values of the Panel Housing in Microdistricts. Their Identity and Future

Abstract

Microdistricts built up with panel houses are a great resource of housing stock all over the world. In Russia, about 8.6 million people live in such houses. But the problem of how future generations will use this potential stirs up a lot of disputes because of the quality of the urban environment and infrastructure and the size of the living area. Taking as examples the Irkutsk microdistricts, the authors analyze the “hidden” values of the mass housing and formulate possible strategies of its development for future generations.

Keywords

• panel housing microdistricts; values of soviet architecture; identity