Urbanization through samostroy: slums in oil-producing regions of Soviet Siberia in the 1960s to the 1980s

The article explores the formation of slums in oil-producing regions of Siberia in the Soviet period. The work is based on the analysis of archival documents from the two main archives of the West Siberian oil and gas complex - the State archives of the Tyumen region and the State archives of socio-political history of the Tyumen region. The author conducted field research in the slums of cities in oil-producing regions of Siberia and interviewed experts on urban planning in the region. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that in Russian and foreign historiography there was virtually no research devoted to the formation of slums in the process of urbanization of the Soviet Union. In this article the author tries to show the mechanisms of creation of slums in the USSR cities through the example of oil and gas development in Siberia from the 1960s to the 1980s. The study shows that the emergence of slums resulted from the policy of the Soviet government, ministries, and departments (geologists, oilmen, and builders) that operated the oil region of Siberia. The urbanization developed uncontrollably here due to spontaneous and chaotic migration of huge numbers of workers whom the departments prompted to come and build the oil production complex in Siberia, whereas there was not enough decent housing available for everyone. Slums constituted a social mechanism of dealing with the housing problem. The departments themselves often built slums for their workers, and the slums would ultimately become the most important source of citywide and departmental identification for many city residents in the oil-producing areas of Siberia. Slums as a basis for self-identification acted as a social filter which ensured that only those who were best prepared, both psychologically and physically, and who linked their future with Siberia, would stay in the oil region.

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