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Post-Soviet Transitions of the Planned Socialist Towns: Visaginas, Lithuania
[journal article]
Abstract "Visaginas, formerly Sniečkus, (Lithuania) was built as a planned socialist town and a satellite settlement
to the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Both the plant and the town were established in order to integrate
Lithuania into the All-Union economic structures via the energy supply system,. The sp... view more
"Visaginas, formerly Sniečkus, (Lithuania) was built as a planned socialist town and a satellite settlement
to the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Both the plant and the town were established in order to integrate
Lithuania into the All-Union economic structures via the energy supply system,. The specific characteristics
of the town were a particular mono industry, high living standards, ethnic composition (mostly Russian
speaking migrants, Lithuanians as minority), absence of any history prior to 1973 and strong pro-Soviet
attitudes. For years, it was a success story and the vanguard site of the socialism. After the declaration
of Lithuanian Independency in 1990, the town became the site of tensions and uncertainties. The aim of
this research study is to illuminate how post-Soviet transition has been experienced by this particular
type of community shaped by socialism. Community experiences are retrospectively reconstructed via
content analysis of the local media. The particular characteristics of the town (ethnic composition,
employment structure, etc.) made the process of transition extremely complicated. While other planned
socialist towns established new identities and new trajectories of development, in the case of Visaginas,
not the future, but the past played a crucial role in shaping the town’s identity." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
Lithuania; post-communist society; post-socialist country; monostructure; transition; urban planning; urban development; town planning; identity; social change
Classification
Macrosociology, Analysis of Whole Societies
Social Psychology
Document language
English
Publication Year
2010
Page/Pages
p. 63-81
Journal
Studies of Transition States and Societies, 2 (2010) 2
ISSN
1736-8758
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications