Spaces and Infrastructure of Urban Conflictuality: A Case Study of Novosibirsk

Abstract

The article examines urban conflict using the Novosibirsk agglomeration as a case study for 2022 to 2024. The observed multiplicity of actors and issues, together with the persistence and interconnectedness of some urban conflicts in recent years, indicate not only a rise in complexity but also a change in the nature of urban conflict and a greater impact on social and economic spaces, infrastructure, and the investment attractiveness of territories. The study aims to identify mechanisms that sustain conflictuality by analyzing the interconnectedness of conflicting agendas and actors. The theoretical foundations are M. Löw’s relational theory of space and N. Fligstein’s and D. McAdam’s theory of strategic action fields. The empirical basis comprises data from the Geo-Information Database of Conflicts of the Novosibirsk Agglomeration (N = 774 conflicts), supplemented by a content analysis of 3,070 mentions of conflicts on social media. Two-step cluster analysis and content analysis were used as methods. The results show that the thematic spaces of urban conflict are currently structured around two cores: hierarchical conflicts related to development projects, construction, and land use; and horizontal, everyday conflicts focused on security, accessibility, and the protection of values. Infrastructures of conflict—including skilled actors, stable networked conflict communities, and the media channels that serve them—play a significant role in sustaining and scaling conflicts, and in maintaining conflictuality both within individual strategic action fields and in the city’s public space as a whole. The findings are relevant to urban studies, the management of urban conflicts, and the development of mechanisms for reconciling interests in the urban environment.