Sykhiv: from microraion to (macro)history and Lviv Interactive

Vlad Naumescu and dr. Markian Prokopovych from Central European University, Budapest have presented their projects at the seminar which took place at our Center on 20 October 2007 as part of a series dedicated to urban issues.

Vlad Naumescu has presented his socio-cultural and ethnographic study "Sykhiv: from microraion to (macro)history" focusing on the emergence and life of a city suburb, Sykhivskyy masyv. In relation to Lviv, Sykhiv emerges as the "representative Other" in full contrast to the historical center and the celebrated past of the city. With its visible layers of historical change, the suburb embodies the recent past.

Markian gave an overview of first results of the project "Lviv Interactive", which is the web-accessible, interactive historical map aiming at presenting the contemporary, living city in its historical dimension rather than reproducing a static picture of the past. Historical relevance is considered in this project from the perspective of how it helped to shape today's city: its outward appearance, internal functioning and socio-cultural system. Depending on the search criteria chosen, the interactive map will provide different views of the city thus reflecting the complexity of the urban system.