Urban periphery. The problem of spontaneous growth of the territory of Samara in the second half of the XIX – early XX century

The article discusses the development of Samara’s urban space in the focus of the formation and development of urban periphery. The factor of spontaneity in the formation of urban space is considered. The second half of the XIX – early XX centuries was characterized by a rapid growth of the urban population, which led to the formation of new settlements near city. The demarcation and construction of new suburban settlements was carried out by residents without the consent of the city authorities. The purpose of this article is to analyze the factor of spontaneity in the formation and development of urban space. The influence of spontaneous suburbs on the urban space of Samara and the formation of its socio-cultural identity is analyzed. The research is based on the subject field of historical urbanism and is on an interdisciplinary and socio-cultural approach. The source base of the research is the office documentation of city authorities. The ways of solving the problem of spontaneous construction in Samara at the beginning of the XX century are considered. The emergence of spontaneous suburbs was the result of the authorities’ untimely response to overpopulation of urban space during a period of rapid economic growth and shortsightedness in planning urban areas. Most often, migrants built residential houses on the lands of the industrial zone, which, along with the inaccessibility of urban communications and overcrowded irregular development, led to unsanitary conditions and outbreaks of diseases. At the same time, the poverty of the local population influenced the growth of deviant forms of behavior and contributed to the formation of a rural look of peripheral areas. All this adversely affected the urban space as a whole. In this regard, the solution of the problem of spontaneous suburbs for the city authorities was equated with the improvement of the urban environment and the improvement of its quality.