IDENTITY NETWORKS Linda and Duran Duda Travel Fellowship Proposal
2026
Micky Hanlon + Emma Woo
Bachelor’s of Architecture
May 2026
Analyzing shifting layers of identity in the streets of Silk Road cities
“How we define public space is intimately connected with ideas about what it means to be human, the nature of society, and the kind of political community we want.” - ROSALYN DEUTSCHE
In a region where urban space has been contested for millennia, we seek to explore the layers of history that have built up intricate evolving urban identities in Central Asia. Through our travels we will investigate how these layers continue to evolve and shape the modern-day life of public space in cities along the former Silk Route through studying the cities’ streetscapes as records of history and culture.
INTRODUCTION
METHODOLOGY
As stated by Rosalyn Deutsche in her book Evictions Art and Spatial Politics, “How we define public space is intimately connected with ideas about what it means to be human, the nature of society, and the kind of political community we want.” Urban spaces hold a record of the historical forces that shaped them, making the built environment a tangible living document of the rises and falls of societal powers and ways of living.
We will take a holistic approach by selecting several major streets from each city, using them as a living record of the intersections of histories and cultures, and analyzing their formal and social identities. In addition, we will observe how these identities are shifting in the face of globalization. Before our travels, we will develop a timeline of major cultural influences for each city and a catalogue of historical typologies left by each influence. We have identified several streets within each city that collectively tell the story of how each city evolved over time through the spatial typologies strung along them. During our travels, we will analyze present-day use, adaptations, and access to the streets to develop a picture of how these typologies are preserved or shaped to create the modern-day identities of former Central Asian Silk Road cities. We have several research questions to guide our analysis:
Central Asia is a massive and varied region, with landscapes ranging from expansive steppes and deserts to towering mountain ranges. The steppes, being comparatively easy to navigate, were a characterizing force of the region’s culture and lifestyle for thousands of years as they allowed for extensive human migration through and around Central Asia. Small towns and cities developed along major migration routes. They eventually grew into key trading checkpoints between East and West, forming the Central Asian leg of the Silk Road Network beginning around 150 CE and tapering off around 1500 CE. As the fulcrum of a vibrant and active trade route, these cities became the melting point for numerous empires, religions, cultures, and migrations and thus were the heart of one of the first waves of globalization. The cities evolved into a layered conglomeration, manifesting exchanges of economy, culture, and political power in the form of imported spatial typologies. Benjamin Bross states, “Spatial typologies are synchronous with spatial production: their emergence, evolution and extinction exemplify a society’s material culture at specific places and times.” The present-day networks of streets and public spaces in Central Asian cities hold histories of conflict, revolution, peaceful exchange, and incessant adaptation. Collectively, these stories make up complex, layered urban identities. Although influential in shaping global geopolitical climates across thousands of years, these histories are largely understudied in much of the world. After two hundred years occupied under Russian and Soviet colonization that massively reshaped urban fabrics and limited contact with the rest of the world, Central Asia is emerging with new and shifting social and political climates. Central Asian countries are once again stepping onto the world stage as a transnational region, with oil and liquid natural gas as a powerful export. The United States and European Union are actively engaging with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in conversations over international oil and gas exports. With an outdated infrastructure system, logistical challenges pose a barrier to large-scale exportation. In response, China has begun to re-open and expand the former Silk Route infrastructure with initiatives such as the Belt and Road Program and Free Trade Zones. Once again, the street fabric will become the spatial manifestation of this new emergence.
How have different major powers such as the Silk Road Empires, Islam, and the Soviet Union defined and redefined public space in the Central Asian contest? How does the street create the identity of urban life? What are the formal and social conditions at the edges of different spatial typologies? How is public space adapted and changed to suit the sociopolitical climate of modern-day? How are modern-day geopolitics shaping the direction of life and urban development along the Silk Route? IMPACT AND DOCUMENTATION Thanks to the guidance of our professors (Professor Jeremy Leonard, Professor Burak Erdim, and Professor Donghwan Moon), we have developed a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between public space, history, and identity. Their mentorship has been incredibly valuable in shaping the direction of our research. Through meetings and conversations with them, we came to better understand the power that space holds, the influence that sociopolitical climates have on shaping built environments, and the making of cultural identity through space. This research will advance our understanding of urban space design and the intricate relationship between history and identity creation. We are both interested in pursuing urban design in our careers post-graduation, and this research will introduce us to a critical method of thinking that will enhance our architecture and design work throughout our careers. In addition, this research will introduce us to a multitude of spatial development strategies that are historically understudied in Western academic spheres.
Image Source: UrbanWorks (https://www.urbanworks.co.za/copy-of-00-state-of-our-cities)
Kurak is a traditional Kazakh practice of patchworking together materials to create pieces of art. We propose patchworking together pieces of these cities in a similar manner, utilizing a variety of data collection to holistically investigate the formal and social components that characterize modern-day Central Asian urban streetscapes. Our research will be supported by meetings with architectural and urban planning experts from universities in cities along our itinerary, as well as trusted personal contacts. Recognizing that public space is ultimately defined by the people who inhabit it, we will also intentionally engage with local residents through stays in guesthouses, and visits to tea shops and markets to better understand the lived experience of occupying and shaping public space in Central Asia. From our travels, we will develop a series of collaged street elevations documenting the physical artifacts of the histories that shaped Central Asian urban development, as well as annotations calling out the present-day conditions of public space. We will supplement these elevations with sections, written stories gathered from the street describing past and present social conditions, as well as detail drawings of noticeable motifs and patterns adorning buildings which speak to the palimpsest of cultures that comprise the region. Collectively, these will describe the physical evolution of rich cultural identity in Central Asia. Our documentation will be compiled into a portfolio, with an overview of the historical timeline of the region, chapters for each city visited, and a wider analysis of identity creation in public space. This portfolio will exist online in the form of a blog to allow for greater access and flexibility, as well as physically in a book format to be given to the College of Design following our travels. Through our documentation, we will bring our research back to the College of Design to expand the College’s curriculum of sensitive place design and architectural theory. BIBLIOGRAPHY “Architecture and Urban Design: UrbanWorks: Gauteng.” UrbanWorks, www.urbanworks.co.za/copy-of-00-state-of-our-cities. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026. “China’s Massive Belt and Road Initiative.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounders/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026. Crawford, Margaret. “Blurring the Boundaries: Public Space and Private Life.” Everyday Urbanism, edited by John Chase, Margaret Crawford, and John Kaliski, Monacelli Press, 1995, pp. 22–35. Demchenko, Igor. “Critical Post-Functionalism in the Architecture of Late Soviet Central Asia.” ABE Journal, no. 13, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4000/abe.4509 Eshanova, Zamira, and Azattyq Asia. “Central Asia Emerges as Strategic Energy Player amid Oil Crisis.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, RFE/RL, 24 Mar. 2026, www.rferl. org/a/iran-hormuz-oil-central-asia-/33713691.html. Gulnara Abdrassilova, Elvira Danibekova, Gulmira Adilbay, Ainagul Tuyakayeva (2025). Soviet Architecture in Kazakhstan: Problems of Sustainable Adaptation to Modern Conditions. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 13(3A), 2314 - 2331. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.131311.