Environmental factors of urbanization in the north of Western Siberia and their impact on urban development in the mid-1960s - 1980s

The article examines the environmental problems of the urbanization process in the North of Western Siberia during the period of active industrial development (1965-1980s). The city is considered as a system consisting of two subsystems: a territorial community of people and a set of material objects that make up the artificial environment of the inhabitants. Pollution and environmental degradation of the environmental territories of the North of Western Siberia were associated not only with the development and formation of the oil and gas industry, but also with the development of urban public infrastructure and problems in the domestic sphere. In general, it is possible to distinguish the following periods of formation of communal infrastructure in the North of Western Siberia in 1965-1980. 1 period (1965-1972) - single commissioning of sewerage networks, water supply in cities and towns, lack of sewage treatment facilities, lack of landscaping. During this period, many cities were built without a master plan, there was no control over the environmental situation in the region. Wastewater treatment plants were not enough or they simply did not exist. Period 2 (1972-1979) - gradual introduction of sewage treatment plants and engineering networks into operation. In this period we started active demolition of dilapidated housing and relocation of people to comfortable housing. From 1976 the construction changed, began to insulate the walls of houses, to build in accordance with climatic conditions. In the 3rd period (1980-1989) the control of building of waste-water treatment plants was strengthened. The control of carrying out of nature protection measures was increased. Important decisions for the sanitary well-being of northern cities were made, for example, days of sanitary cleaning and improvement of urban areas. Environmental issues became very important in the development of planning documents for urbanized territories. Local governments became actively involved in landscaping and planting trees and shrubs. The north of Western Siberia became a territory with an “industrial landscape”, developed infrastructure and cities with a si gnificant for the northern conditions permanent population. The northern city was closely included in the production processes and became a focal point of active impact on the adjacent space. The analysis of urbanization processes in the context of the industrial development of the North of Western Siberia in 1965-1980s made it possible to identify the key contradiction in the development of northern cities. The northern city’s close involvement in industrial processes and their full priority bought the likelihood of the implementation of the main goal of Soviet urban planning - the creation of optimal living conditions in all settlements without exception while improving their territorial organization. In many cases, the process of urbanization was spontaneous and led to the violation of the ecological balance, which prevented cities from performing their main functions. Thus, the city has become a hotspot of active impact on the surrounding space and has itself experienced the negative environmental and social consequences of such impact. Socially significant aspects (departmentalism, lack of master plans during construction, focus on the implementation of production plans rather than on the development of social infrastructure) played a major role in the aggravation of environmental problems of cities.

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