Cultural Impact Assessment Research Articles

Cultural impact assessment: Two cases in native American communities

Cultural impact assessment: Two cases in native American communities

From a history of war into a multicultural urban environment: A cultural impact assessment of the conservation of the Swedish-Russian Fortress of Lappeenranta, Finland

Finland, under Swedish rule at the time, started constructing the Lappeenranta Fortress in the 1720s for defence against an eastern threat. A small town had been founded on the site as early as 1649. In 1741, the Russians invaded the fortress in a fierce battle. Russians, led by Aleksandr Suvorov, started to improve the fortress in the late 18th century. The oldest buildings in the fortress date back to this time. When Finland was annexed into the Russian Empire as an autonomous grand duchy, the fortress was employed as a correctional facility for prisoners. After the Second World War, the fortress was left to deteriorate, but in the 1970s a 30-year conservation project was launched. This article explores the effects of this conservation work on the city of Lappeenranta as well as on its inhabitants.