Institutional transformations and the governance of built heritage in post-socialist Rostov-on-Don

Abstract This paper examines the transformation of heritage governance in Rostov-on-Don during the post-socialist transition of the 1990s to the 2000s, with a focus on residential heritage. Drawing on expert interviews, documentary sources, and statistical data, this study examines how post-Soviet de-ideologisation, institutional transformation, and economic turbulence influenced the management and preservation of the city’s extensive pre-socialist built heritage. The findings demonstrate that the disappearance of Soviet-era ideological settings expanded the formal definition of heritage. However, public debate or conscious re-evaluation of local heritage did not accompany this process. Institutional reforms combined elements of Soviet-era structures with new administrative arrangements, but limited resources, fragmented responsibilities, and weak coordination undermined their effectiveness. Uniquely, the heritage designation process itself was commercialised, serving bureaucratic survival and revenue generation rather than long-term preservation. Economic decline and mass privatisation shifted the burden of maintaining historic buildings to owners lacking the financial and legal means to do so. Moreover, residents’ everyday maintenance practices emerged as a critical but under-recognised preservation mechanism. By focusing on a large regional centre, this paper contributes to post-socialist urban studies, heritage governance research, and debates on the commodification and commercialisation of cultural heritage, offering a perspective that highlights the interaction between formal policies and informal practices.