Updating Adaptation Strategies and Developing the Meanings of Dacha Space

The report examines a wide range of practical issues related to the process of migration of the urban population from large cities to small settlements, namely, the process of updating adaptive strategies and the development of meanings of dacha space during the implementation of the process.

This view of the study of deurbanization acquired particular significance in the years marked by the total COVID-19 pandemic, which forced city dwellers to leave cities en masse and settle in non-urban spaces. The theme continues to be heard today - in the context of new epidemiological threats, natural disasters and other factors pushing city residents out of its borders.

In the new wave of research 10 cases of relocation of Moscow city residents aged 19 to 53 years of various professions and social statuses were examined.

The family's opportunistic strategy becomes more complex and no longer involves the use of absolute practices “we moved out of town”, “stayed in an apartment”, “we live in two houses”, but becomes more multi-level, includes the combination of different formats of interaction with space and implementation solutions found that satisfy each family member.

Citizens note an increased need for creative function: it becomes possible to introduce a creative hobby as a regular ritual, rather than a one-time random activity. There is a change in attitude towards social networks (they are considered as one of the possible channels of communication with an audience of observers about the peculiarities of living outside the city without the goal of blogging).

Push and pull factors are considered not from the perspective of a radical and final assessment that influences decision-making, but, often, in the context of a possible impending rise or fall of the “wave” of the epidemic or other reasons to continue maintaining dacha space living.