Student Profile

My interest in Russia continues to grow as I look at the political and economic changes it has endured, and how they are reflected in public space. I received funding from Cornell to spend seven weeks in Moscow during the summer of 2009, with the intent of looking at relationships between urban horticulture and deindustrialization. While walking to the university on my first day, I noticed that the medians, sidewalks, and spaces between buildings were filled with vegetation. At the end of the street there was an active and well-kept park. I soon found amazing parks throughout the city, and began to wonder how they were established and maintained. These questions form the basis of my dissertation, which focuses on the policy behind Moscow's public park system. Based on a conceptual framework of urban political ecology, it integrates archival research, interviews, and assessments on the ground to examine how the system developed over time. I hope this study will contribute to environmental policy that improves upon the quality of life in cities.
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Ph.D. Candidate

pcs85@cornell.edu

Peter Sigrist is especially interested in how cities change over time. He recently completed research on the role of architecture in conflicts over land in Mumbai and the potential impacts of a proposed eco-city on Chongming Island near Shanghai. Peter’s formative experience includes setting up a carpentry workshop in the Dominican Republic, planting trees with Friends of the Urban Forest, working on a mangrove research site in Kenya, and volunteering at the Moscow State University Botanical Garden.

Peter holds a B.A. in international relations from Trinity College, and an M.Phil. in geography with a concentration in environment, society, and development from Cambridge University. At Cornell, he is studying the influence of economic transition on urban nature through a historical study of Moscow's public park system.

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