All Fall Down? Urban Infrastructure and Permafrost in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

Soviet policy for settling the Russian North led to extensive in-migration in the 1960s - 1980s, resulting in massive population growth and a staggering pace of urbanization in the Soviet Arctic. Multistory houses, road networks, and other infrastructure were built, transforming pristine tundra into anthropogenic and urban landscapes. The Soviet emphasis on developing Russia's Arctic regions, despite the cost and difficulty of doing so, has left a problematic legacy for modern Russia. One of the common problems shared by many Soviet-era urban communities is the debilitated state of infrastructure built on permafrost. This article provides a brief overview of the challenges associated with urban development in permafrost regions in an attempt to identify major causes of present-day infrastructure problems in the communities of the Russian North.