From Communism to Capitalism, from Production to Consumption: The Case of the Bilshovyk Plant and Shopping Center in Kyiv

This article reflects upon the intersection of the urban landscape, class, and consumption in Kyiv, Ukraine, taking the Bilshovyk plant and shopping center as a case study. Despite the plant's central location in a large industrial building next to the metro station, for many city dwellers it does not constitute part of the urban landscape or their everyday experiences in the city. The invisibility of the plant stands in sharp contrast to the excessive visibility of the Bilshovyk shopping center, constructed in one of the former plant buildings and currently the biggest shopping mall in Kyiv. Listening to workers' experiences and looking into the past and the present of the Bilshovyk plant, the authors were able to see three aspects of the transformation of post-Soviet cities: transformations in dominant ideology, class structure, and urban space.