January 17, 2025 | 15:30
Society
Research
The development of former industrial cities: YSU PhD student’s research focuses on post-Soviet challenges and new opportunities
YSU PhD student Armine Ghalamdaryan is conducting a scientific study to explore the post-Soviet landscape of several former industrial cities in Armenia, with the goal of identifying their development prospects. According to her, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many industrial cities in Armenia lost their distinct character. Factories, production capacities, and resources were divided into shares and privatized by individuals, leading to the weakening of the economic foundation that supported the population's well-being. These privatized remnants of industrial production, failing to integrate effectively into the emerging market economy, were mostly destroyed.
The scientific project titled "Social Transformations of Urban Space in the Post-Soviet Period" by Armine Ghalamdaryan, a PhD student at the Faculty of Sociology, has been awarded funding as part of the "Research Assistance Program for PhD Students and Young Applicants - 2024" competition, announced by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.
The PhD student plans to conduct her research in the former industrial cities of Armenia, such as Charentsavan, Sisian, and Stepanavan.
"The project aims to study former industrial cities, as they present more challenges. During the Soviet era, a number of cities in Armenia were industrialized, with large factories and production facilities established. After the collapse of the USSR, these factories ceased to operate, and the way of life of people changed dramatically, as these cities' development was centered around industrial activity," explained the PhD student.
Armine Ghalamdaryan intends to investigate the changes that occurred in these cities, focusing on migration, types of economic activity, resource distribution, urban style, architecture, and urban identity.
Alongside uncovering the historical, cultural, economic, and social layers of these cities, the PhD student will also document the experiences of the residents. "Interviews will be conducted with the city dwellers to explore what they did during the Soviet period, what the cities were like, what memories they have, and how they live now and what activities they are engaged in," she noted.
Armine Ghalamdaryan emphasized that the research aims to uncover new perspectives for the future, particularly in terms of which directions these cities could develop, given that they are stagnating. There is a lack of economic competitiveness, a small population, and numerous issues related to environmental, civil infrastructure, and employment challenges.
The PhD student is currently finalizing the methodology for the research, and the fieldwork phase, which will involve analyzing documents, statistical data, and conducting interviews with residents, is set to begin soon.
The scientific supervisor of Armine Ghalamdaryan is Professor Arthur Mkrtichyan, Dean of the Faculty of Sociology. The results of the research will be published in the form of scientific articles.
It is also worth noting that Armine Ghalamdaryan is a member of the scientific team of the Territorial Studies and Development Laboratory, operating at YSU Faculty of Sociology. The laboratory was established in 2024 as part of the "Establishment of Remote Laboratories of the HESC" program. The current focus of the laboratory’s research is also on post-industrial small towns in Armenia, and therefore, the doctoral research is being conducted within this framework as well.
