Modern city as a socioecological structure: experimental analysis of the structure and development of Kaunas city in 1870–1914

Abstract

The article analyzes the socioecological structure of Kaunas city (one the centers of the Russian Empire’s provinces) in 1870–1914 based on the ideas for the analysis of the structure and development of modern cities proposed by the Chicago School of Sociology. The first part introduces Burgess’s “Concentric City Model”, which is considered to be the most representative theoretical tool for modern urban structure and development analysis. In the second part, this model is applied to the analysis of the Kaunas socioecological structure in 1870–1914. The conclusions give an answer in which stage of the modern urban structure and development Kaunas city was during the period under investigation. The novelty and relevance of the research can be seen: 1) in the first attempt to present the analysis of the structure and development of Kaunas city in 1870–1914 with the help of socio-ecological concepts; 2) in the contribution to the development of interdisciplinary dialogue between history and social sciences (namely, urban ecology theories); 3) in the continuation of the research on the socioecological structure of the major cities of Lithuania during the period of the Russian Empire.