Thesis defence by Olga Suslova

LATTS is pleased to announce that Olga Suslova’s doctoral thesis defence will take place on Friday, 30 January 2026 at 2:30 p.m. (doors open at 2 p.m.) in room V404 of the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC) on the Cité Descartes campus. Her thesis in urban planning is entitled:

Post-socialist urban transformations in Saint Petersburg: The advance of urban authoritarianism through urban renewal

This thesis was completed at LATTS, under the supervision of Elsa Vivant and co-supervision of Martine Drozdz.

Composition of the jury:

• Béatrice VON HIRSCHHAUSEN, CNRS Research Director, Géographie-cités/Centre Marc Bloch (Rapporteur)
• Martin MÜLLER, University Professor, University of Lausanne (Rapporteur)
• Elsa VIVANT, University Professor, Gustave Eiffel University (Thesis Supervisor)
• Martine DROZDZ, CNRS Researcher, LATTS/French House of Oxford (Co-supervisor of thesis)
• Claire CARRIOU, University Professor, University of Paris-Est Créteil (Examiner)
• Lydia COUDROY DE LILLE, University Professor, Lumière Lyon 2 University (Examiner)
• Ozan KARAMAN, CNRS Research Fellow, LATTS (Examiner)
• Perrine POUPIN, Research Fellow, CNRS, CRESSON (ENSA Grenoble) (Examiner)

Summary of the thesis:

This thesis examines post-socialist urban transformations in Saint Petersburg through the lens of the renovation of Soviet architectural heritage, which reveals the rise of urban authoritarianism. Using a mixed methodology – combining interviews, observation, mapping, statistics, network analysis and online ethnography – it explores the political, economic and social forces that have shaped the city since the fall of the USSR. The research highlights the gradual commercialisation of the ‘socialist city’, while challenging the dominant narratives of neoliberalisation, revealing in particular the clientelist and authoritarian dynamics of urban power at work in the demolition and reconstruction projects of Soviet buildings. The Narvskaya Zastava neighbourhood, a former emblematic working-class area, serves as the main case study for analysing the resulting tensions between heritage preservation and urban transformation.

Based on both fieldwork and digital research, the thesis shows that heritage becomes a strategic space for contesting authoritarianism and forced politicisation. Architectural, historical and legal expertise is mobilised as a political resource by residents, activists, professionals and, sometimes, representatives of the authorities, thus revealing the internal flaws and tensions of the authoritarian state. However, the study highlights the plurality of rationales that structure residents’ reactions, whether favourable or opposed to renovation projects, and reveals post-socialist social relations that are much more complex than a simple opposition between winners and losers of economic liberalisation.