“COLLECTION OF COMPULSORY RESOLUTIONS ISSUED BY CITIES AND ZEMSTVOS OF THE NOVGOROD PROVINCE” AS A SOURCE ON THE HISTORY OF NORMING THE INTERACTION OF TOWNS INHABITANTS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

The problems of sanitary condition of the urban environment became the object of the policy of the city public administration as a result of the city reform of Alexander II. The city reform 1870 gave the rights to the City Dumas to publish the Compulsory Resolutions on issues of urban improvement and public health. These Resolutions were based on existing laws, but their content depended on the decisions of specific City Dumas. The existing Compulsory Resolutions could be supplemented with new ones over time and could be rewritten. In this context, of particular interest are the first attempts by local self-government bodies to legally regulate sanitary problems of the urban environment. The article is devoted to the analysis of the historical source “Collection of Compulsory Resolutions issued by cities and zemstvos of the Novgorod province” in terms of the information presented in it on the regulation of interaction between citizens and the components of the natural environment in the cities in the last third of XIX century. This historical source is valuable for researchers of urban environmental history, because it allows to identify the degree of urgency of local problems associated with urban pollution and disease for local self-government.

Greening of Public Spaces in Cherepovets during Urbanization, 1870 - 1930s: Contradictions of Sustainable Development

From the second half of the XIX century, public gardens and boulevards have become an integral part of provincial Russian towns. They played an aesthetic and sanitary-hygienic role in urban space, being, in fact, green oases in a dusty and noisy town. However, in the XX century, the functional purpose of town gardens has changed: the recreational component is being replaced by the cultural and entertainment one, which became dominant in the Soviet period. This article considers the process of urban space greening in the provincial town of Cherepovets as an example of this process and transforming the functions of the town garden. It also presents the analysis of everyday practices of using urban flora by the population of Cherepovets. The methodological basis of the work is urban environmental history. The research is based on archival and office materials, official statistics, and periodicals. Soviet power kept the tradition of new blocks greening, that formed in the pre-revolutionary period. At the same time, the entertainment and leisure functions of the recreation park supplanted the recreational function, and everyday practices of the town residents showed a dismissive and utilitarian attitude towards the town green spaces. It was due to the peculiarities of urbanization in the city. In the conditions of the constantly expanding town space and the influx of rural population, green spaces could not prevent the degradation of the natural environment, which led to the destabilization of the ecological situation in Cherepovets and prevented the sustainable development of the city. Keywords: urban environmental history, urban greening, a city garden, everyday practice