The Image of the City of Orenburg in the Context of Psychogeography

Abstract

The relevance of the topic of the work is determined by the fact that citizens' perception of their city is the basis of their daily behavior and all life activities. This means that the image of the city formed in the minds of residents is one of the important factors of its socio-cultural development. The aim of the work is to identify the peculiarities of the perception of the city and to determine the significance of the image of the city for its socio-cultural development. The main subject of the study is the image of the city of Orenburg, considered from the perspective of psychogeography. The theoretical basis of the work was the work of Western and domestic authors exploring various aspects of the problem of perception of the city: K. Lynch, V. L. Glazychev, P. Golderberger, S. U. Goldhagen, A. E. Gutnov, S. V. Pirogov, G. I. Revzin, R. Sennet, K. Ellard, etc. The work is interdisciplinary in nature, which requires a combination of phenomenological and psychogeographic approaches aimed at studying the perception of the city by its inhabitants. The author proves that the image of the city of Orenburg is multifaceted and dynamic. In pre–revolutionary history, Orenburg is an outpost of Russia, the "gateway to Asia", a place of exile for politically unreliable citizens; in the Soviet period, it was the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of labor glory. Today Orenburg appears in the minds of its residents as a cozy and quiet provincial city with a rich historical past and unique culture. However, through the unkemptness and abandonment of the outlying areas, the global shape of the city emerges in it, making one city indistinguishable from another. The feeling of the unique atmosphere of the city, concentrated in its historical center, is rapidly disappearing under the onslaught of modernization, motorization, modern urban planning. Such a "polyphony" of urban spaces puts on the agenda the issue of preserving the historical appearance and identity of the city. Making the city an object of love and pride is today the main task of the authorities and residents of the city, on the solution of which its future depends.