Doctoral researcher, TU Dresden
PhD - Old-town Tashkent
Doctoral research at TU Dresden on how Soviet urban planning transformed Tashkent's traditional mahalla (1966-1991) - heritage conservation meets urban morphology.
Timeline
- 2024Start under Prof. Dr. Marx, TU Dresden
- 2024April - first Tashkent trip: gathering source material
- 2024Nov-Dec - second trip: more material; defining the topic & the research gap
- 2025August - third trip: further material, refining the topic
- 2026January - final topic approved; methodology defined
- 2026Apr-May - fourth trip: data collection on the defined topic
- 2027Writing & publications
- 2028Submission & defence (target)
Focus
My doctorate at TU Dresden (Chair of Heritage Conservation & Design), The Transformation of Tashkent’s Mahalla (1966-1991), studies how Soviet modernisation reshaped the city’s traditional neighbourhood community - socially, spatially and architecturally - after the 1966 earthquake reset urban planning across the old town.
Why it matters
Tashkent still wrestles with balancing rapid modernisation and density against its traditional community structures and historic identity. Reading the Soviet-era transformation is key to today’s heritage decisions - yet no comprehensive, multi-method study of this period exists.
Approach
A multidimensional approach across architectural history, urban planning and cultural studies:
- Historical-archival analysis - master plans, project documentation and resolutions from state archives.
- Field survey - surviving buildings and neighbourhood structures, and how residents use them today.
- Comparative analysis - the mahalla before and after reconstruction, across a wide source base.
- Secondary data - late-Soviet sociological surveys of the historic quarters.
What it produces
A typology of Soviet mahalla-transformation strategies - radical reconstruction, partial reconstruction, conservation and imitation - and a working definition of the “Soviet mahalla”, drawing lessons for contemporary heritage preservation.
