ABSTRACT
The Soviet-era cities of the Kola Peninsula in the north-western part of Russia are in a state of simultaneous dilapidation and development. Their urban landscapes reveal a distinct historic background but also modern life in a consumer society. The local material condition of ruination and their appearance as modernist spatial monuments provides frames for thinking about their future. This involves the development of new urban imaginaries for researchers, policy makers and local inhabitants – with consequences for their future development strategies and design, and for wider perspectives on urbanism in the Arctic.
