Implementation of the state housing policy in the Soviet Far East

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the implementation of the Soviet state housing policy in the Far East - from the end of the Civil War until the collapse of the Soviet Union. The author believes that initially the central and local authorities did not set out to eliminate the housing crisis in the region, which erupted after the end of the Civil War. A targeted housing policy began to take shape during the years of industrialization and was aimed at providing at least a primitive housing for workers of existing and new industrial enterprises. Comfortable houses with individual apartments were erected for the representatives of party elite, scientific, technical and creative intelligentsia, as well as best workers. 1957 marked a great change in the housing policy: large-scale construction began, the principle of housing distribution was changed – from now on, each family, regardless of the social or professional status of its members, could count for a comfortable individual apartment provided by the Soviet state. The author concludes that although during the 1960s and 1980s the implementation of the housing policy was rather effective and most citizens of the Soviet Far East had improved their living conditions, nevertheless the housing problem was not fully resolved.