The “local text” of Anadyr: spatial boundaries, visual representations and temporality of the Arctic city

Anadyr – the capital of Russia’s northeasternmost region, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug – is a distinctive city with a population of approximately 13,000. Situated at the edge of the continent and isolated from overland road networks, it embodies a complex interplay between migrant and indigenous populations. Yet, despite its unique position, Anadyr remains a rarely studied subject in the humanities. This study offers a cultural-anthropological analysis of Chukotka’s regional capital as a specific spatiotemporal phenomenon shaped by its Arctic context and post-Soviet history, examining it through the lenses of local discourse, the visual environment, and everyday practices. The research draws on long-term participant observation conducted between 2003 and 2025, over 60 semi-structured interviews with residents of diverse social backgrounds, and an analysis of diary entries, personal narratives regarding the architectural landscape, and online communities. The findings reveal a divergence between the city’s administrative boundaries and its mental map: residents exclude the village of Tavaivaam from their concept of the “city”, while Anadyr itself is perceived as an island cut off from the “mainland” – a perception that reinforces in-group solidarity. Within the urban landscape, the representation of indigenous inhabitants has shifted from Soviet-era paternalistic “enlightenment” to a form of superficial visual appropriation, where ethnic symbols and cuisine serve as decorative identity markers without effecting any real change in the social status of indigenous communities. Anadyr’s temporality is polychronic: the natural cycles of the polar day and night intersect with the work schedules of administrative institutions, the seasonality of maritime supply deliveries, and a nine-hour time difference relative to Moscow. Historical memory is structured through an emic periodization – a local conceptualization of eras defined by stability, ruin, and “facade-style” renewal. The study expands the understanding of Arctic cities as fully fledged social organisms whose logic is shaped by isolation, climate, and intercultural interaction, rather than merely by their function as resource hubs. A promising avenue for further research is the study of mobility – specifically, crossings across the Anadyr Estuary and air links – as practices that maintain the city’s connectivity with the outside world.

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