From Soviet to Post-Soviet with Transformation of the Fragmented Urban Landscape: The Case of Garage Areas in Estonia

Abstract

While every social formation creates its specific landscape, the landscape is never homogenous but is rather fragmented. In addition to the elements that have been formed under the forces of the current era, the landscape also contains elements from previous eras. Functions of some of these landscapes have changed, reflecting societal conditions as other elements may have preserved their previous function. The garage area is one of the examples of the last case as it proliferated in the former Soviet socialist system where it had an importance in dealing with the system's shortcomings. With the fall of the Soviet system, garage areas have not been demolished and are still in use. Hence, the aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of urban landscape by applying Widgren's ‘formal procedure of reading landscapes’ and its terms form, function, context and processes using garage areas in the transformation of Estonian society as a case study. The paper analyzes two aspects. First, it shows how the formation of garage areas was conditioned by the Soviet system. Second, it will discuss how the ownership system in connection with preservation of functions has been able to influence the persistence of garage areas. While being a detail that enables insight into socialist as well as Western societies, garage areas have not received attention in previous literature.