Ghosts of Urban Past, Present, and Future in Ulaanbaatar

In: Current history: a journal of contemporary world affairs, Band 123, Heft 855, S. 262-267

Abstract

Ger districts, informal neighborhoods where residents live in traditional yurts, continue to house much of the Mongolian capital's population. Government redevelopment plans, in an echo of socialist-era urbanization, call for moving inhabitants to new apartment buildings. The ger districts are often blamed for causing air pollution, poverty, and crime. But many residents are skeptical of the "apartmentalization" scheme and prefer to stay in the ger districts, even though they must provide for their own basic needs, like heat and water, since the state has not provided the necessary infrastructure.