Housing issue and attempts to solve it during the “Khrushchev thaw”: a view from the province (on the example of the Mordovian ASSR)

Introduction. The relevance of the work is due to the demand for Soviet experience in implementing large-scale state projects, in particular in the field of housing construction, at the present stage of Russian modernization. Methods. The factual material available in the work is drawn from the funds of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Mordovia, as well as from published sources. During the research, the following methods were used: comparative-historical, problem-chronological, historical-cultural, historical reconstruction. Results. The dynamics of all types of housing construction in the republic during the study period received the maximum turnover. Discussion. One of the reasons for significant success in the field of housing construction in the republic was the reform of the country’s economic system. Sovnarkhoz turned out to be more flexible and adapted to the conditions of planned administering as management structures, which in particular manifested itself in the field of housing construction. Other reasons for success were a kind of “revolution” in the development of housing construction methods, when, along with the state, the “people’s construction” and the cooperative method began to be widely used, as well as the industrial basis of construction, albeit not always consistently implemented. At the same time, the speed of construction generated a lot of problems in hastily constructed standard small cars, which became the reverse side of Khrushchev’s housing policy. Conclusion. The housing policy pursued by the Khrushchev leadership was one of the indisputable social conquests of the time under study, when a significant part of people from barracks and communal apartments moved to separate apartments intended for settlement by one family. However, when solving this most important problem, the authorities placed special emphasis not so much on the development of new construction technologies, as on managerial reorganization, leading ultimately to a simple increase in the workforce and organizations involved in the construction of residential facilities.