Educational Institutions in the Urban Environment of Tyumen in the Mid-1950s - Mid-1960s
Authors:   University of Tyumen (Tyumen, Russian Federation), Skochin Artem V. , Borodulina Elena V. ,   University of Tyumen (Tyumen, Russian Federation)
Published: December 2021

The article examines the network of educational institutions in the urban environment of Tyumen within the most dynamic period in the regional center's history - from the mid-1950s till the mid-1960s. We explore the establishment of educational institutions in the city as closely connected to real estate and residential development. We also take the peculiarities of the development of the specific city districts into consideration and focus on the evolution of the interior and exterior design of the educational institutions. A number of specific methods of historical research were applied. Thus, we used the concrete-historical method that allowed us to find out basic features of the state policy in the field of education. Having studied a wide range of different sources, we analyzed the ways this policy used to influence the local formation of the educational institutions network in the territory of the city. The comparative historical method allowed us to evaluate and compare some aspects of urban development (number of population, ways of real estate development) and different characteristics of educational institutions in Tyumen in the mid-1950s - mid-1960s (their number, facilities, architecture, etc.). The analysis of the issue under consideration allowed us to conclude that by the mid-1960s the main complex of high-rise residential buildings was located on the vacant territories in the south-eastern and western parts of the city, not far from plants and factories. New residential areas (microdistricts) were created there. The projects of these areas included not only residential units but also all the necessary social and cultural institutions. It was a real opportunity to form a relevant social environment in the city that allowed raising the living standards of the population. A wide network of educational institutions became one of the most important components of this new structure of urban environment. In the mid1950s - mid-1960s, the number of educational institutions in the city and their diversity substantially increased. For instance, in 1956 the regional center had thirty-three comprehensive schools, three colleges, five vocational-technical schools, and a few part-time schools. By 1965 the number of comprehensive schools increased to forty-one, there were also nine vocational secondary schools, ten vocational-technical schools, and sixteen part-time schools. Within the period of time we researched, three institutions of higher education were founded in the regional center. New educational institutions became training centers to provide qualified workers that were highly demanded due to the quick industrial development of the city and due to the population growth. Intense construction of new buildings in accordance with all the contemporary standard projects granted residents of different districts a better access to education; it also contributed to the quality of the educational process. However, due to a big influx of new residents to the city, the educational institutions network that had been formed by the mid-1960s failed to satisfy all the demands of the population.