Housing Disparity and Immobility: The Kyrgyz Experience in Soviet Frunze

• In Event: From Housing Struggles to Political Mobilization: Grassroots Activism in Late Soviet Central Asia

Abstract

In the 1970s and 1980s, housing in Soviet Kyrgyzstan represented disproportionate challenge for Kyrgyz relocating to Frunze for education and employment. State policies prioritized housing allocations for specialists from other republics, resulting in a limited supply of state-provided apartments for Kyrgyz citizens. The propiska system, which required official registration to access a workplace, further constrained the ability of local residents to secure stable accommodation. This often necessitated renting rooms or non-residential spaces from Russian homeowners or living in shared communal apartments. Informal networks, based on familial and community ties, played a crucial role in mitigating the impact of these restrictions. People developed adaptive strategies to navigate a system that, by design or consequence, limited access to quality housing.

Drawing on interviews, personal memoirs, and archival sources, this work examines the practical adaptations and strategies employed by Kyrgyz residents in the late Soviet period. It seeks to document how Kyrgyz managed the constraints imposed by state housing policies, thereby offering a grounded understanding of the interplay between institutional frameworks and everyday life in late Soviet Kyrgyzstan.

Author

• Baitur Toktosunov, Esimde Platform (Kyrgyzstan)