Excavation, the process by which archeologists gather information, is the principle behind the composition of these poems— these are acts of imagination, of identification. In linking my singular life with the lives of others, I hope to tap into the common human yearning, to paraphrase my poem "The Fat Woman, " to be swallowed up by something, anything, bigger than ourselves.

Official planning documents and strategies often look at cities from above neglecting people’s experiences and practices. Meanwhile cities as meaningful places are constructed though citizens’ practices, memories and ties with their surroundings. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to discover people’s bonds with their urban allotment gardens – dachas – in the Russian city of Kaliningrad and to explore the significance of these bonds for city development. The phenomenon of the dacha has a long history in Russia. Similar to urban allotment gardens in other countries, dachas are an essential part of the city landscape in many post-socialist countries but differ by their large scale. Recent decades have brought diversity into the urban dacha areas of Russia and express a shift away from their primary function of recreational horticulture towards a greater variety in usage, including housing. Due to multiple legal frameworks these areas have become special enclaves with haphazard development, inadequate levels of infrastructure and low quality of self-build houses. Urban dachas can be examined as an example of both post-socialist suburbanization and informal settlement. In this thesis the concept of place attachment, derived from the works of human geographers and environmental psychologists, is used as both the theoretical and methodological lens to look at people-place relations in urban dacha areas. The empirical evidence for this study was gathered through interviews and observations in Kaliningrad where urban dachas comprise 11% of the city’s territory. To capture the different aspects of place attachment in these areas the data was categorised according to common themes.The findings of this study show the complexity of the bonds between people and their urban allotment gardens. Despite all the hardships, these places provide their residents an opportunity for independence and self-realization. The respondents demonstrated an energy and aspiration to achieve increased well-being for themselves and their families, however the lack of resources and institutions hinders the development of place attachment in urban dacha areas. The identified features of people’s bonds with their dachas should not only be preconditions for urban planning but also an integral part of the planning and development process. This study also tests the application of the concept of place attachment for urban studies.

In dieser Arbeit wurde „Die Bedeutung der ‚Datschenwirtschaft’ für die Ernährungs-, Gesundheits- und soziokulturelle Situation der Großstadt-Bevölkerung in der Republik Belarus“ untersucht. Die Quellenlage ist dürftig, weil die Datschen einerseits Ergebnis der sozialistischen Mangelwirtschaft sind, aber andererseits kein Interesse an deren Untersuchung bestand. Aufgrund des aktuell geringen Kenntniszustandes hat diese Arbeit einen stärker explorativen und empirisch-deskriptiven Charakter. Es wurden 10 Wirkungsvermutungen entwickelt und im Hinblick auf ihre Plausibilität überprüft. Die Datschen leisten einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Ernährungssituation der Datschenfamilien und ihres Umfeldes. Ohne die Datschenernten kann die Ernährung der belarussischen Bevölkerung nicht gewährleistet werden. Die Datschen verbessern die Einkommenssituation, sie tragen durch verminderten Einkauf bzw. durch Verkauf von Datschenprodukten zum Einkommen der Familien bei. Die Datschen verbessern die Gesundheitssituation, können aber je nach Einzelsituation gleichzeitig gesundheitliche Gefährdungen bewirken. Die Datschen binden Zeit und Arbeitskraft der Bevölkerung und tragen damit zur politischen Systemstabilisierung bei. Sie gewähren nur einen begrenzten Freiraum gegenüber der Politik. Vor dem Zusammenbruch der SU leisteten die Datschen einen indirekten Beitrag zur Erhaltung der Religion, indem auf den Datschen diese mit einem geringeren Gefährdungspotential praktiziert werden konnte. Die Datschen leisten einen Beitrag zur Erhaltung von Volkskunst und Brauchtum, indem diese zwischen mehreren Generationen übertragen werden. Die Datschen begünstigen zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen durch relativ homogene Interessen und Erweiterung der Begegnungsmöglichkeiten. Sie ermöglichen Selbstverwirklichung und bewirken soziale Anerkennung. Auf den Datschen sind vielerlei Kultur- sowie Baumaßnahmen und damit das Realisieren vieler Fantasien möglich. Die Entwicklung der Datschenwirtschaft ist untrennbar mit der politischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung verbunden. Im Falle weiterer Restriktionen wird sich die Datschenwirtschaft als zwingende Notwendigkeit erweisen. Im Falle von Demokratisierung und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung wird ihre Bedeutung für die Nahrungsmittelproduktion sinken. / In this investigation "the significance of the ''dacha economy'' for the diet, health and socio-cultural situation of the city population in the Republic of Belarus" was examined. The existing literature about this topic is quite miserable because the meaning of dacha economy results from the socialist economy of scarcity and in so far there was no official interest in that type of examination. Due to the currently low knowledge about the topic this investigation has a more strongly explorative and descriptive character. In a theoretical framework assumptions about the role and importance of dacha were developed and empirically checked with regard to their plausibility. The dacha economy makes an essential contribution to the improvement for diet situation of the families and their neighbourhood. Without the dacha production the diet of the Byelorussian population cannot be ensured. The dachas improve the income situation; they contribute to the income of the families by reduced purchase or by sale of products. The dachas improve the health situation; however, at the same time they can also endanger human health depending on individual situation. The dachas are occupying time and labour of the population and contribute with that to the stabilization of the political system. They offer a limited freedom against the political system. Before the collapse of the Soviet regime the dachas made an indirect contribution to the preservation of the religion because of being able to be practiced on the dacha with a lower threat. The dachas contribute to the preservation of folk art and customs by being able to be transferred between several generations. The dacha favour human relations by relatively homogeneous interests and expansion of the meeting points. It approves self-realisation and causes social recognition. By practising cultural habits as well as constructing buildings are opens chances to realize many imaginations on the dachas. The development of the dacha economy is inseparably connected to the political and economic development of the country. In the case of further restrictions the dacha economy will prove to be a mandatory necessity. In the case of democratisation and economic development it will likely lose its meaning for the food production