From the agricultural station to a luxury village? Changing and ambiguous everyday practices in the suburb of Vinnytsia (Ukraine)

Abstract

The study of everyday practices, self-identities and perceptions seems to be a promising approach to understand the suburban spaces as not only static containers but socially constructed, dynamic and ambiguous entities. Our case study is represented by the suburban village of Ahronomichne, located in the peri-urban area of the second-order Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia. The research methods included survey of residents (67 long-term residents and 59 newcomers), observations of the everyday activities of the residents and appearance of the build environment at seven observation points within the village, and four semi-structured in-depth interviews. We found that everyday practices of the long-term residents and newcomers significantly differ in terms of their set, spatial configuration and actual exercitation. The other important factors contributing to the variety of everyday practices and lifestyles are type of housing, age and family status. Simultaneously, we observed not just a combination but rather intertwining, mixing and hybridisation of urban, suburban and rural everyday practices and lifestyles. Another finding of the research was the western-type suburban growth of the second-order Ukrainian city in contrast to the largest cities of the country where centrifugal migrations of rich people to peri-urban area combines with the centripetal stream of less affluent migrant from peripheral settlements, keeping transitory residential strategy.

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