The Image of the City of Orenburg in the Context of Psychogeography

Mukhamedzhanova Nuriya Mansurovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6847-2173 Doctor of Cultural Studies Professor, Department of Philosophy, Culturology and Sociology, Orenburg State University 460018, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Prospekt Pobedy str., 18, office 20806 nuriyam@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionUrban studies is one of the most actively developing areas of modern scientific knowledge, which is understandable, because, as Lewis Wirth, a representative of the Chicago School of Urban Studies, noted, "the constant problems of modern society take their most acute form in the city.

The problems of modern civilization are typically urban problems" ^{[1, p. 21]}. This circumstance is due to the multidimensional nature of urbanism, characterized by a variety of methodological approaches, theories, concepts of understanding the city and the urban environment.

In our opinion, one of the most interesting and promising approaches in modern urban studies are phenomenological and psychological approaches to the study of the city, aimed at studying the perception of the city by its inhabitants. The development of this trend in European science in the 50-60s of the XX century was primarily associated with the research of the famous American urbanist and architect Kevin Lynch, whose ideas formed the basis of the environmental approach to urban design. K. Lynch for a number of years, using the interview method, investigated the peculiarities of the perception of the city by residents of Boston, New Jersey, Los Angeles and came to the conclusion that the perception of the city differs significantly from one person to another, since it is determined by many factors, both objective and subjective. The result of perception is a visual image of the city reflected in the mental maps of its inhabitants.

The ideas of a close, inseparable connection between a person and his spatial environment, the need to take into account the interests and values of citizens in urban planning activities were further continued and developed in the works of both Western and domestic authors: N. P. Antsiferov, E. Garcia, V. L. Glazychev, P. Golderberger, S. U. Goldhagen, A. E. Gutnov, J.. Jacobs, N. F. Dmitrievskaya, M. S. Kagan, M. Laidon, Y. V. Lobanova, L. Mumford, S. Milgram, N. A. Osminskaya, S. V. Pirogov, G. I. Revzin, R. Sennet, D. Sudzhich, N. A. Khrenov, K. Ellard and many others.

The works of modern urbanists explore the phenomenological and psychological features of the perception of the urban environment, the attitude to the city in the history of humanitarian thought, the essence of the image of the city and its socio-cultural functions, the general conditions and factors of the formation of the image of the city, the significance of the perception of the city for its socio-cultural development, as well as the influence of various physical objects of the urban environment on the well-being and feelings of citizens, on their life, emotions, health. Looking at the city through the prism of human needs and values opens up new opportunities for the study of such a complex phenomenon as the city, as well as for changing the urban planning practice towards its humanization.

The image of the city as a result of the perception of the urban environmentIn a broad philosophical sense, "an image is an active reflection of the surrounding world in a person's mind" ^{[2, p. 41]}.

Its content, structure and form are selective, which is expressed in its dependence on the actual needs and tasks of a person. The features of the image also include its dynamism, mobility, variability, multistructure, synthetics. The image is objective in its source – the reflected object and subjective in the way (form) of its existence. The image is a dialectical unity of objective and subjective, sensual and logical; past, present and future. The image has a socio-cultural nature, as it captures the value-semantic features of the phenomena of reality.

In urban studies, the image of the city is the unity of the material, social and symbolic content of the city, its mental picture, derived both from the objective parameters of the environment and from the subjective characteristics of the citizen's personality. Because of this, the image of the city is extremely individualized, each resident forms his own view of the city, "his own city", which depends on his personal experience, events of individual biography, social ties and profession, political beliefs and collective memory, as well as what he knows about the city from fiction and historical literature, MEDIA, everyday conversations with other people.

In addition, a citizen rarely has the opportunity to "read this city in the original" ^{[3, p. 177]}, he is always associated with a specific locus of the urban environment, which has a certain originality and leaves a serious imprint on the perception of the city as a whole. These loci, which are the result of the layering of many factors (the architecture of the place, its history, the social composition of the population, standard of living, landscaping, etc.), have either a positive or irritating effect on the perception of the city, degrading human dignity. Therefore, the image of the city has an actively deterministic effect on the behavior of its inhabitants: a positive image of the city makes him feel proud of his "small homeland", the desire to promote its prosperity, and therefore contributes to the consolidation of residents in the city, ultimately determining the possibilities of its development. Conversely, negative forms of perception of the city generate irritation and frustration of residents, a sense of dissatisfaction and anxiety, acts of vandalism against the city. The meaning of perception is revealed in the following functions of the image of the city: communicative, ideological, socialization and personal self-realization, pragmatic, magical.

Different images of the city are peculiar not only to the residents of the city itself, but also to various sciences, since representatives of various branches of scientific knowledge distinguish their problems and aspects of study in the city as a subject of research. So, in sociology, the most typical images of the city have developed, reflecting its basic characteristics as a special settlement of people: a bazaar city, a jungle city, an organism city, a machine city. In recent decades, thanks to such qualities of urban space as openness, rapid organic evolution, the ability of self-development, self-management and self-improvement, etc., the analogy of the city with the Internet has increasingly appeared in scientific discourse ^{[4, p. 126]}. The city is the Internet, a physically tangible hypertext, a "meeting place" of many subjects of urban space and socio–cultural practices.

The images of the city reflected in the minds of its inhabitants are also different, on the one hand, and the images of the city peculiar to a professional architect, on the other. If in the first case it is "some confusion of visual, auditory, olfactory and even tactile.... impressions" ^{[5, p. 285]}, then in the second – "this is a picture of the existence of an integral organism in time and space" ^{[5, p. 285]}, in which the creative will of the architect dominates, transforming the existing state of the city into its future state. Often these are peculiar dream cities, dream cities, reflecting the ideas of architects about what a good city should be: the "ideal city" of the Renaissance, the "romantic city" by B. Goodhue, the "garden city" by E. Howard, the "radiant city" by L. Corbusier, the "city of wide horizons" by F. A. Wright, etc. ^[6]. Such images of the city, on the one hand, influenced the world of architecture, becoming the basis of modern urban planning, but, on the other hand, they became a source of serious conflicts between urban planners and ordinary citizens of the city, as hidden (in this case, it is appropriate to recall the reconstruction of Paris undertaken by Baron Haussmann in the 2nd half of the XIX century ^[7]) as well as obvious conflicts, reflected, in particular, in the famous book by J. Jacobs "The Death and Life of Large American Cities" ^{[8, 9]} and initiated the movement of "new urbanism" in European culture. The essence of this conflict can be expressed as follows: a city is not a work of art, it cannot be the fruit of the realization of the idea of even the most talented architect–innovator. The city is a constant dialogue, a field of continuous communication of all subjects of urban space: residents, officials, architects, urban planners and even guests of the city.

The city is a fairly stable and at the same time constantly changing structure, in which there is no final result and there can be no final result, it is a "continuous sequence of states" ^{[10, p. 15]}, an endless stream of changes affecting its perception by citizens. Because of this, the image of the city is also constantly changing in the range from delight and admiration to irritation and rejection. A curious example of the transformation of the image of one of the most significant objects in New York - the World Trade Center, designed by the famous architect Minoru Yamasaki, is given by P. Goldberger in the book "Why Architecture is needed". The author identifies three stages in the perception of this object:

1) "Disgust" – disgust for such a huge, ordinary, incredibly arrogant and offensive "thing" built "in the heart of Manhattan" ^{[11, p. 174]};

2) "Grumpy acceptance", connected, firstly, with the recognition that a person can get used to any architecture, and in this case such a habit is even useful, because, unlike other works of art, architectural objects have to be encountered every day; secondly, with the gradual realization of a certain value this object as a minimalist architecture;

3) after September 11, 2001, the towers of the World Trade Center became for the author and all residents of the city "the first martyr skyscrapers ..., inaccessible to any normal architectural criticism. After all, it is not customary to criticize martyrs" ^{[11, pp. 176-177]}.

Thus, any building exists in a certain socio-cultural context, which gives it specific meanings and meanings. But this context does not remain unchanged, its dynamics can change the perception of a building, giving it new meanings and meanings.

The perception of the city is also influenced by modern technological changes in the urban environment ^[12]. The high level of motorization not only changes the entire urban environment, making it uncomfortable for pedestrians, but also changes the perception of the city, when "the only meaning of space has become ... movement by itself: now we measure space by the degree of ease with which we can drive through it, get out of it. ... Urban space itself becomes less stimulating: the driver wants to drive through space, and not be excited by it" ^{[13, p. 16]}. Thus, motorization acts in the same way as the media: the city is perceived not as a sequence of spaces or text, but "as a sequence of mounted frames"; and the structure of the installation is "as a natural format for the existence of reality" ^{[4, p. 175]}. Therefore, such an image of the city can be called a "clip city".

Taking into account the importance of the problem of the image of the city for its functioning and development, the staff of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies of Orenburg State University in 2017 conducted a study of the peculiarities of the perception of Orenburg by its residents. The respondents of the empirical study were students of 2-3 courses of several faculties of the university – a total of 240 people. The study revealed both positive and negative aspects of the image of the city. If the positive image of the city reflects such events and facts that cause Orenburg residents special pride as the Pugachev Uprising, A. S. Pushkin's visit to the city, studies at the Orenburg Flight School of the first cosmonaut of the Earth Yu. A. Gagarin, the development of virgin lands, the border position of Orenburg between Europe and Asia, the Orenburg down shawl, the ethnocultural diversity of the city, etc., then negative aspects of the image of the city are connected with the phenomena and facts of urban life that are common to many Russian cities (the state of roads and urban transport; poor ecology; the condition of ancient buildings; visual garbage in the form of annoying, primitive advertising; limited employment opportunities for young people, etc.). The results of this study were reflected in the scientific articles of the members of the creative team ^[14].

However, in recent years, works aimed at studying the influence of the urban environment on the psycho-emotional state of residents have become particularly popular among those who deal with urban issues. Urban landscapes are considered from the point of view of psychogeography ^[15], cognitive neuroscience, psychology ^[16], studying the well-being and feelings of a modern citizen. Thus, the well-known psychologist and specialist in psychogeography K. Ellard in his book "Habitat: How Architecture affects our behavior and well-being" ^[15] offers an original structuring of urban space based on the emotions that this or that part of the hometown evokes in a citizen. This approach seems interesting to us, as it makes it possible to supplement the 2017 study and take a fresh look at the space of our city, at the attitude of citizens to the places of their daily life, which means to understand what can make our city better, more attractive, more beautiful. Based on the material of K. Ellard's book, a questionnaire was developed in which respondents were asked to name their examples for each of the types of urban space: "places of love", "places of passion", "places of boredom", "places of anxiety" and "places of reverence".

The analysis of the survey results showed that the "places of love" that evoke feelings of love and pride, affection and protection, support and security for most respondents are, of course, their native home and native district, as well as the historical center of Orenburg – Sovetskaya Street with the adjacent territory. In the consciousness of a person, both a resident of the city and its guest, the city is represented primarily through the image of its center. It is he who primarily determines the perception of the city as a whole: "this is the place of reflection of the city, its self-awareness, presentation of the values by which it lives" ^{[17, p. 111]}. The historical center of Orenburg is the pride of Orenburg residents: everything that makes up the "face of the city", its unique appearance is concentrated here: the uniqueness of the layout, the beauty of historical buildings, numerous monuments, ancient buildings of museums, theaters, libraries.

According to the author, the craving for natural landscapes is genetically inherent in a person: "despite the fact that the average citizen does not orient himself in the natural environment, does not know its grammar and vocabulary, echoes of some deep, primordial connection with the conditions that formed our species still live in us" ^{[15, p. 33]}. For a city like Orenburg, located in a steppe zone with a sharply continental climate, this factor is particularly significant ^[18]. However, there are not so many such places in the city, and even those are not in the best condition.

these are mainly objects of the actively developing leisure industry, which has a global character and is designed for consumption by young people – the bulk of "impression buyers" ^{[4, p. 61; 19]}. At the same time, the subjective preferences of respondents, their individual ways of entertainment and leisure activities are most clearly manifested here.

The "places of anxiety" that cause feelings of anxiety, fear, danger, risk – mainly such areas of the city as Shanghai, Mayak, Karachi, Yuzhny – are the periphery of the city, disadvantaged, least well-maintained areas, sloboda, that is, something intermediate between the city and the countryside ^[20]. And intermediate means "marginal" with all the shades of meanings that this concept carries: "There is a kind of hooligan flavor of life here" ^{[17, p. 110]}. Garage and woodlands between the districts, the night city, broken underpasses and roads cause a completely understandable sense of anxiety and danger among residents of the city ^[21], which indicates, first of all, the problems of improving the urban environment.

These are "emotional dominants in the life of the city and at the same time material milestones of its history" ^{[3, p. 62]}.

The architecture of such residential areas today is one of the main objects of criticism of modern architects, urban planners, urban scientists and ordinary residents. The symbols of this architecture were box houses, bookcase houses, in which the conflict between the economic and aesthetic principles of the organization of the urban environment was most clearly expressed. Endless, featureless facades, buildings of the same type, monotonous landscapes do not give a person impressions. Therefore, one of the serious ailments of the modern citizen, according to scientists, is sensory starvation (sensory deprivation) – acute starvation for a variety of impressions caused by the lack of cognitive stimulation of human thinking ^{[5, p. 343; 26]}. "The city is filled with meaning thanks to the time layers formed by its buildings. There is something repulsive in a place where there are only new buildings around. For a moment it may delight us, but very quickly the absence of history makes itself felt" ^{[11, pp. 192-193]}. The charm of novelty quickly fades, as it is very superficial, and gives way to boredom ^{[27, 28]}.

Since the survey did not provide a justification for the choice of respondents, to explain this result, we turned to the reviews of visitors to this object left on the Internet sites: yandex.ru , otzovik.com , autotravel.ru et al . Summarizing the reviews of Orenburg residents on the cultural complex, which was created as a museum representing the traditional culture of the peoples of Orenburg, we can draw some conclusions. This complex, according to residents, cannot be called national-cultural, since in recent years all the buildings on its territory function as restaurants and cafes with national (and not only) cuisine. Some of the farmsteads do not work, some are put up for sale. The general condition of the cultural complex, which 10 years ago was the subject of admiration and pride of citizens, is now characterized by them as "ruin". An interesting idea, unfortunately, turned into another food court, a Potemkin village.

Thus, the analysis of these materials shows that there are serious problems in the organization of the complex's activities that require immediate solutions for its financial and organizational support.

ConclusionThus, summing up a small study of the image of the city of Orenburg, carried out from the standpoint of psychogeography, we can draw some conclusions that are quite correlated with the results of the 2017 study.

The perception of the city by its inhabitants varied depending on specific historical circumstances. In pre–revolutionary history, Orenburg is an outpost of Russia, the "gateway to Asia", a place of exile for politically unreliable citizens; in the Soviet period, it was the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of labor glory, the steppe capital. Today Orenburg appears in the minds of its residents as a cozy and quiet provincial city with a rich historical past and a unique culture. However, through the unkemptness and abandonment of suburban areas, the global shape of the city with its faceless high-rise buildings, noisy highways and shopping complexes, making one city indistinguishable from another, emerges in it. The feeling of the unique atmosphere of the city, the "spirit of the city", concentrated in its historical center, is rapidly disappearing under the onslaught of modernization, motorization, modern urban planning. Such a "polyphony" of urban spaces puts on the agenda the issue of preserving the historical appearance and identity of the city. Making the city an object of love and pride is today the main task of the authorities and residents of the city, on the solution of which its future depends.