В поисках локальной идентичности Басманного района Москвы: от неуловимого к множественному

Городские исследования и практики. 2024. Т. 9. № 1. С. 34–54.

Бабурина Е. А., Mitin I., Mikhaylov A., Хазиахметова Д. Д.

Local identity of Basmanny district in Moscow is studies in the article. It is understood through the multiplicity of interconnected unique images of this urban territory. Taken together they create the mechanism of self-identification of local residents with their signified and conceived place.

The central location of Basmanny and its historical environment paradoxically raise the question about the search for the unique identity of place, as centrality understood in different ways blur the uniqueness of this very district while ‘historicity’ is reimagined in an original way resignifying the meanings of local heritage. The diversification of meanings represented in the image of ‘diverse district’ legitimizes the essence of centrality and gives birth to a number of contradictory images of Basmanny as a place for parties / going out, creative industries and students. Thus the centrality of the district promotes the multiplicity of local sub-centers with their own diversified place images. The reminiscences of ‘Nemetskaya Sloboda’ (‘German quarter’) create the idea of an alternative center. In general the identity of Basmanny as an old historical area with a special ‘atmosphere’ for the locals finds itself in semantic contradiction with the images oriented towards the newcomers and external audiences like ‘studentified / creative / party district’.

The local civil position and the identity of an ‘activist district’ is manifested as a result. It is based on the diversity of place meanings, a number of contested heritage places, the multiplicity of local communities and their civil initiatives. The latter include those which oppose the important local sub-centers symbolically constructing the images of creative and party district.

All this multiplicity of contradictory and/or interconnected meanings both with vivid local ties and spread across the entire area taken together form the unique palimpsest of local identities of Basmanny district in Moscow.

Keywords: Москва, Moscow, место, уникальность, образ города, локальная идентичность, uniqueness, image of the city, palimpsest, local identity, палимпсест, place

Publication based on the results of: Комплексное культурно-географическое исследование района Басманный города Москвы (2020)