Urban transformation and cultural heritage in the Turkic world: reassessing the Soviet urban heritage

The transformation of Bukhara during the 20th century illustrates the paradoxical relationship between urban modernization and cultural heritage preservation in the Soviet Union. Following the Soviet annexation in 1920, Bukhara, a UNESCO World Heritage site characterized by centuries-old Islamic urban structures of mahalla neighbourhoods, caravanserais, madrassas, and traditional courtyard houses, was progressively reorganized through successive master plans informed by Soviet principles of centralized planning, functional zoning, and the creation of socialist administrative centres. Although state protection mechanisms for individual monuments were formally introduced from the 1950s onwards, available scholarship indicates that approximately 350 of the roughly 500 ha of the city’s historic territory were substantially transformed during the Soviet period, with consequences that scholars have characterized as a significant disruption to the historic urban landscape in the sense developed by Bandarin and Van Oers. The review identifies three interpretive frameworks in the existing literature: a modernization narrative emphasizing infrastructure improvements; a preservation critique pointing to largely irreversible cultural losses; and an emerging, more nuanced perspective recognizing the paradoxical coexistence of monument protection and large-scale urban redevelopment. Based on a systematic examination of approximately 40 scholarly sources and archival materials, the review highlights critical research gaps, including limited comparative analysis across cities, insufficient documentation of the erosion of intangible heritage, and the absence of integrative analytical frameworks linking Soviet-era transformations to contemporary urban challenges.