Bater J.H. The Soviet City: Ideal and Reality

London: Edward Arnold (Publishers), 1980. — 196 p. — (Exploration in Urban Analysis). — ISBN: 0713161655.Bater presents an introductory synthesis of what is currently known about urban planning in the USSR. His work is based particularly on the Soviet literature in planning, geography,sociology, and demography, which he utilizes effectively. His work is also based on Western studies. The author competently treats many aspects of Soviet urban development, such as the essential features of Soviet socialist policy that affect cities, the emergence of principles of town planning in the Soviet Unionl tensions between sectoral and regional interests in decision making, and patterns of urban growth. But the core contribution of his work lies in its subtitle ("Ideal and Reality"), in the statement of the goals or norms of planning and in the actual results. Bater effectively summarizes some of the major characteristics of Soviet socialist policy: nationalization of ail resources including urban land; planned determination of land use; substitution of collectivism for privatism, particularly in emphasis on public housing and public transport; limitation and dispersal of the retail sector; state responsibility for provision of consumer services, social services, and culture; development of a large bureaucracy to direct the economy and society; control of movement of population to and among cities; and rapid industrialization. He also traces the development of principles of town planning, and notes that city government in the Soviet Union has a broader role than in Western cities, since the government attempts to provide all requirements of the citizenry, including needs met by the private sector in nonsociaiist societies. Bater concludes that, on the whole, town planning has not been very successful in the Soviet Union. Three types of problems have beset Soviet town planning: inadequate financial resources, division of authority for decision making, and lack of jurisdiction beyond city boundaries.Ideology and the city
Decision making and town planning
Patterns of city growth
The spatial organization of the Soviet city
Life in the Soviet city
The Soviet city: Ideal and Reality