“What Will You Call a City...”: From Changing the Name to Changing the Urban Landscape (Based on the Material of St. Petersburg)

Abstract

Aim. We investigate the patterns of changes in urban landscapes in connection with the renaming of the city.

Methodology. On the basis of the geoconceptual approach and approaches of critical toponymy, the experience of renaming cities in the world is investigated. The main problematic points are identified. Use is made of the method of system analysis, as well as historical-geographical and toponymic methods.

Results. Renaming is considered as a cultural and geographical process characteristic of our time and covering almost all countries and regions. A new place name, or geoconcept, should be considered as a landscape-onomastic innovation. A geoconcept as an innovative place name has connotative meanings reflecting a new idea and revealing a new associative image of a place. Over time, as it is mastered by the local community, the geoconcept becomes a toponym, acting as a basis for the formation of a new territorial identity. In relation to the renaming of cities, we propose a model of the landscape-onomastic cycle, describing the movement of onomastic innovation from its beginning to completion. The cycle includes four phases: origin, design, formation and maturity. The model has been tested on the material of St. Petersburg. With regard to this city, the city of three renaming, we note that, unlike Petrograd, the first Petersburg and Leningrad landscape-onomastic cycles turned out to be complete: they managed to form stable identities (Petersburg and Leningrad) and are well read in the cultural landscape of the city.

Research implication. A conceptual model of the urban landscape-onomastic cycle is developed; it can be used to study the process of renaming not only cities, but also countries, as well as in the study of intra-city and regional renaming. The results of the study are of interest to specialists in cultural and social geography, teachers, students of higher education, and anyone interested in the problems of renaming geographical objects.