During ULD on Sunday, 11th of May we welcome you to take part in two Urban Walks organised by Estonian Urban Lab.

Urban walk in Väike-Õismäe
Väike Õismäe, once an embodiment of Soviet idyllic ideals, has become a not-so-prestigious bedroom suburb. Should the modernist planning principles and the layout of the place be blamed, or is it just because the image of the place is out-dated? The question of how to approach large scale housing estates is very relevant in most former Soviet countries. During the urban walk we’ll have an opportunity to investigate the characteristic patterns of the place and look for a potential new identities.

Duration: 2h (by foot)

Tour guide: Anu Kägu

Restitution safari: the bloody houses of Tallinn
The re-establishment of Estonia’s political independence in 1991 was surrounded by an almost religious devotion to market reforms, ‘historical justice’ and the reunification of the Estonian nation. The backbone of the Desovietisation process was the Ownership Reform Act that gave the right to the pre-war owners or their successors to claim properties which were nationalised during the first year of Soviet occupation. Because of its social and cultural diversity, Tallinn has witnessed the widest variety of moral and physical conflicts in the course of the re-distribution. The tour reveals the physical and mental traces of the restitution in Tallinn and sheds light on the controversies embedded in the process of applying the symbolic act of ‘historical justice’ on the actual lived / geographical space and its inhabitants half a century later.

Duration: 4-5h (with bus)
Tour guide: Andra Aaloe

Urban walks are organised by NGO Linnalabor (Estonian Urban Lab).If you have any questions then don’t hesitate to get in touch via linnaretked@linnalabor.ee.

More details in May.