Revalorization of Industrial Heritage in Urban Agglomeration: the Case of Greater Ekaterinburg

Abstract

The paper is focused on the problem of industrial heritage preservation and use in the cities forming Ekaterinburg agglomeration. Based on the concept of reflexive modernity, the authors emphasize the relevance of a systematic and multidisciplinary approach to the heritage related work, the dominance of human values and meanings over exclusively economic ones, the need to find the unique essence of each individual object that was once part of the global industrialization process. Processes of the industrial heritage revalorization in Greater Ekaterinburg are analyzed in the context of the transition from conservation to the actualization and rehabilitation of heritage. The study confirms that the success of the implemented solutions for the revitalization of former production sites directly correlates with their scale and complexity. The transition from the discreteness of isolated projects to environmental solutions multiplies the possibilities of revalorizing industrial objects, many of which are still underestimated in public consciousness. Using specific examples, the study characterizes the history and structure of the industrial heritage of Greater Ekaterinburg, focuses on the invariance of the core of the city-plants of the Urals and the peculiarities of the settlement system, presents the genesis and current state of projects for the revalorization of the industrial heritage in Ekaterinburg and the surrounding historical industrial centers.