Engaging with the Environment in the Industrialized Russian North

Authors

• Alla Bolotova University of Lapland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8683-211X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30676/jfas.177788

Keywords:

industrial communities, perception of the environment, sense of place, Russian North

Abstract

This article deals with the complexity of relations of urban dwellers with the natural environment. It explores a rich variety of practices in engaging with non-built environments developed by the population of mining cities in the Murmansk region, Russia, founded during the Soviet period, showing how recent settlers adapt to new conditions, gradually transforming the environment into a place of dwelling. Both physical space and residents’ ideas about the place are shaped by a principle of division between the spheres of work and of leisure whereby the natural environment has acquired the meaning of leisure. Perception of the natural environment outside the urban territory developed by settlers over time contributes to the formation of people’s attachment to local places.