thesis development aid

Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources.  Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down.  There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.  A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments.  Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question.  Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list.  "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational.  An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.  "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.  Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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• Knowledge Base
• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Foreign aid and development in Africa: What the literature says and what the reality is

Evidence of ineffective foreign assistance is widespread in Africa. The debate on how aid can be effective and contribute to Africa’s development is, however, still ongoing without any clear way forward. This paper adopts a deductive approach to explaining aid and development in Africa. There is a high volume of literature on the impact of foreign aid on development in Africa, yet not many of them recognize all the factors that contribute to aid (in) effectiveness. The focus is often on macro-economic indicators which do not fairly represent the realities of poverty and suffering in many African countries. We offer an analysis of the theories that have been propounded to explain the relationship between aid and (under) development in Africa. In this paper, we critically examine such findings and test their validity against the backdrop that socio-cultural factors have not been given adequate consideration.

Related Papers

Xhensila Gaba

For more than forty years, since the colonization period ended and the structural adjustments of African economies began, up to nowadays, there has been a huge inflow of money towards Africa, particularly to the Sub-Saharan Countries (SSC), which are ranked among the most aid-dependent countries including Malawi, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo and Niger (Abuzeid, 2009). The international community has taken the responsibility to narrow the income gap between rich/developed countries and poor/developing ones through the mechanism of transferring money or capital under the foreign assistance programs. Media has played a significant role in appealing empathy to the public by transmitting a despairing and hopeless reality in Africa (Mwenda, 2008). Hence the criteria that has qualified Africa for aid is poverty relief. However, despite the good intentions of the international community, Africa is still suffering from famine, hunger, disease and conflict. One has the right to raise doubts with regard to the effectiveness of foreign aid. Has it improved or impoverished the economic reality of most aid-dependent African countries? The purpose of this paper is to approach foreign aid through economic lenses by reframing the role of aid in the economic growth equation of the developing countries. Is aid’s impact as benevolent as the intentions of the donors? The methodology consists of a qualitative deductive approach through critically assessing the existing literature and analyzing how aid fits or misfits in the macroeconomic models. The relationship between aid and growth (the two main variables, the former independent, the latter dependent) is indirectly analyzed through explaining the relation between the two intervening variables in the model (public finances-enterprise). The paper concludes by emphasizing how foreign aid has now become the problem, and not the solution since Africa is still caught in the “poverty trap”. Moreover, the last section focuses on a better assessment of the foreign aid system and suggests on how to improve it in order to help Africa undress its veil of pity-appealing and “walk on its own feet”.

International Development

Razvan Barbulescu

Kwame Wiredu

The success of development in Africa indisputably rests on the shoulders of its own people and not in the foreign aid they receive. Different scholars have variously emphasized that foreign aid has done more harm than we care to admit. External interference from donor countries and unbridled hopes on aid by African countries have, since time immemorial, created a dependency structure that consequently denies Africans the chance to set their own pace and direction for development, further complicated by the so-called " all-size-fit-all " development agendas, drafted by policy makers far and wide, who are clearly not in touch with the African reality. In this paper, I investigate the relationship between foreign aid and development in Africa using diverse literature and published research. I also offer case-discussions on how foreign aid has shaped the development track of Mozambique, a top recipient of aid and a strict adherent of the Washington Consensus, vis-à-vis Eritrea, a country that has rejected foreign aid outright yet making great strides in development. The case-studies are then applied through evidence-based analysis that interrogates and unmasks the deficiencies in the aid apparatus through the lens of colonialism, aid inequity, dependency, and donor motivations. The significance of this study is to inform policy change within the African caucus that breaks this dependency structure, set the trail in search for alternative financing for development, and subsequently set the pace toward an era of African renaissance where its own people are made to understand and believe in themselves and in their stupendous abilities to champion their developments, in their own image.

African Renaissance

Daniel N Mlambo

Foreign aid as a ratio to the Gross Domestic Income for Sub-Saharan (SSA) countries has been on the rise from an estimated 4% in 1970 to around 17-20% in 2013. However, the causality of foreign aid on economic development has been weak for SSA countries. The weak relationship between economic development and foreign aid is what motivates the pursuit of this study. The objective of this paper is to explore the nature of, and if there is a significant part, relationship on the puzzle of foreign aid and economic development in the SSA countries. The study uses a qualitative method employing literature to sift out themes that are of use in order to meet the objective. The findings of the study indicate that foreign aid has been increasing whilst there is no positive response from the economic development front for the aid receiving countries. Also the findings of our study indicate that foreign aid has caused corruption and inefficiency to increase in the aid receiving countries. Lastly, there are countries that have become aid dependent, in funding their budgets, again, and worsening inefficiency. Policy recommendations arising from the findings point mainly to two things. Sub-Saharan countries need to strongly adopt a zero tolerance to corruption so that national resources are devoted to where they benefit the country at large. Secondly, the study recommends that Sub-Saharan countries need to shun aid and start to mobilise resources domestically so that the dependency syndrome can be dealt with.

An article by the World Economic Forum in 2015 states that rich countries gave more than $130 billion to Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2014 alone. Over the last five decades, western donors spent $4.14 trillion – the equivalent of more than seven times the 2014 GDP of Nigeria. These flows are topped up by support from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other private charities, and the so-called new donor countries. Yet, in many of the countries receiving aid, poverty still looms large and underdevelopment persists. Dambisa Moyo, an Oxford economist and the author of the Dead Aid describes this paradox in even lethal terms. For Moyo, aid is not only “ineffective but malignant.” This essay discusses critically albeit briefly whether foreign aid promotes economic growth and development in the developing world or aid is a mere foreign policy instrument that the rich countries use to exploit the developing, poor nations. The paper will first start off with defining key terms that is, foreign aid itself, economic growth and development. The second part of the essay will discuss from an evidential point of view, the impact of foreign aid in the developing world, drawing specific cases from Africa. The essay then concludes that foreign aid from a multitude of evidence has failed to show any signs of success in Africa at least, in the last six decades or so.

International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478)

Maonei G L A D Y S Mangwanya

Foreign aid comprises of a provision of financial resources or commodities such as food parcels or technical advice and training. The most prevalent type of foreign aid, particularly in developing countries, is Official Development Assistance (ODA) that strives to promote development and combat poverty. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a significant dependency on foreign aid which prompts the question; Is foreign aid completely necessary in developing African countries? With a high reliance on foreign aid the focus tends to shift from developing into self-sufficient economies and combating poverty to being dependent states. The paper explores the impact of foreign aid on the development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Because low-income countries are significantly reliant on aid, the study took a qualitative approach using the case study method featuring case studies from Kenya, Togo, and Zimbabwe. From the literature of the study, it is evident that the three countries had become dependent o...

Ali Khalife

Simplice Asongu (PhD)

This paper assesses the aid-development nexus in 52 African countries using updated data (1996-2010) and a new indicator of human development (adjusted for inequality). The effects of Total Net Official Development Assistance (NODA), NODA from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and NODA from Multilateral donors on economic prosperity (at national and per capita levels) are also examined. The findings broadly indicate that development assistance is detrimental to GDP growth, GDP per capita growth and inequality adjusted human development. The magnitude of negativity (which is consistent across specifications and development dynamics) is highest for NODA from Multilateral donors, followed by NODA from DAC countries. Given concerns on the achievement of the MDGs, the relevance of these results point to the deficiency of foreign aid as a sustainable cure to poverty in Africa. Though the stated intents or purposes of aid are socio-economic, the actual impact from the findings negates this. It is a momentous epoque to solve the second tragedy of foreign aid; it is high time economists and policy makers start rethinking the models and theories on which foreign aid is based. In the meantime, it is up to people who care about the poor to hold aid agencies accountable for piecemeal results. Policy implications and caveats are discussed.

American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences

Ephraim kayembe

This paper examines the illusion of relying on development aid by least developed countries in their development agenda. The paper makes a theoretical analysis of aid by utilising a fusion of Dependency Theories and the Chinese dirge “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Using the historical, political, economic and capacity building contexts in Malawi as a proxy, the paper contends that development aid is not doing aid enough to development but that it could be perceived just as another masked trap to neo-colonialism. The paper hence recommends that developing countries together with partners of good will should help break this chain of neo-colonialism so that the end of the tunnel, meaningful development possible.

Paul Ojeaga

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Development aid in Zimbabwe'

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Plänitz, Erik. "EU Development Aid and Good Governance : An analysis with reference to Zimbabwe." Thesis, Halmstad University, School of Social and Health Sciences (HOS), 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-3825.

The European Union is the greatest donor of the world. Until 2002, the south African country Zimbabwe was a recipient of European development aid. Due to major disagreements over key issues, such as human rights and democratic principles, theEuropean Union has partially suspended official development cooperation in 2002. Zimbabwe has not longer fulfilled the criterions of Good Governance, which isdemanded by the European Union. In order to restore the respect for human rights and ademocratic way of governance, the EU has posed sanctions and resolutions. This study provides a study of the outcomes of these repressive measures. Have the sanctions led to a better governance performance in Zimbabwe? Before the terms Governance and Good Governance will be explained into detail, the first part of the thesis is spotting out the European Union as a normative actor.

Murambadoro, Betty. "The Role of Development Finance Institutions and Aid Agencies in Zimbabwe’s achievement of Sustainable Development Goals." Thesis, University of Cape Town, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28408.

Grimes, Paula, and Paula Grimes. "HIV/AIDS and Women with Disabilities in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12376.

Lon, Mine, and Sumaia Ahmed. "Effektivitet Av Svenskt Utvecklingsbistånd : En studie om utvecklingsbistånd utifrån biståndsorganisationers syn medZimbabwe som exempel." Thesis, Jönköping University, HLK, Globala studier, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-53776.

Mandioma, Shamiso. "The nature and extent of participation by small scale farmers in the Development Aid from People to People Farmers' Club project in Mazowe District of Zimbabwe." University of the Western Cape, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5268.

Mucheri, Tolbert. "Social capital and utilization of HIV/ AIDS-related healthcare in rural Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23713.

Wapinduka, Tendai. "Rural livelihoods and adherence to HIV and AIDS antiretroviral therapy in Chivanhu Settlement, Nemamwa Village in Masvingo District, Zimbabwe." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003743.

Boydell, Robert Arthur. "The development of the rural water supply and sanitation sector in Zimbabwe between 1974 and 1987 : the design and impact of donor supported projects." Thesis, Loughborough University, 1990. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/6946.

Musingafi, Maxwell. "Single mothers empowerment through small business development projects in Gweru, Zimbabwe : the case of the GWAPA Poverty Alleviation Programme / Maxwell Constantine Chando Musingafi." Thesis, North-West University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/2861.

Komlavi, Kokou. "L'impact de la mise en oeuvre de la conditionnalité démocratique de l'aide européenne sur la politique au Togo et au Zimbabwe." Thesis, Lyon 3, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015LYO30035.

Munyanyi, Rachael Mationesa. "The political economy of food aid: a case of Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_8972_1182748616.

The food security crisis which gripped the sub Sahara Africa after the drought in 1999/2000 threatened development initiatives in these countries. Zimbabwe&rsquo s situation has since worsened and the country has failed to recuperate from the food problems, even after an improvement in the climatic conditions. International and local food aid activities then became a priority in the fight to sustain the right to food for the affected regions. It is argued in this research that if food aid is distributed on the basis of need it will enable the vulnerable populations recuperate form food insecurity problems. It is also postulated that if well implemented, food aid programmes are also able to play the dual role of averting starvation and leading to long term development. This thesis departs from the allegations of food aid politicisation in Zimbabwe.

Using the rational choice and neopatrimonial theories of individual behaviour, this research endeavored to ascertain whether political decisions influenced the government food aid distributions which were conducted through the Grain Marketing Board. In line with these theories, it is argued in this study that politicians behave in a manner that maximizes the fulfillment of their individual needs rather than the needs of the people who vote them in positions of power.

A qualitative approach was adopted in this study and data was gathered through household interviews in the Seke and Goromonzi districts of the Mashonaland East province in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with food aid experts from the governmental and non governmental organisations dealing with food security issues in Zimbabwe.

Chiweta, Chenai. "An estimation of the effects of food aid on domestic food production and commercial food imports in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/478.

Nkomana, Nqaba. "Good governance and democracy as political conditionalities for foreign aid: the case of Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&amp.

Schoppert, Stephanie Emma. "Neopatrimonialism and foreign aid in Africa : the cases of Kenya and Zimbabwe." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2009. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1325.

Sraieb, Mohamed Mounir. "Policies for development aid." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/209091.

Menard, Audrey-Rose. "Essays on aid development." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014STRAB018/document.

Wilton, W. "Enterprise development : the case for Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Derby, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.409083.

Hallnäs, Charlotta. "Holding Hands : A case study of China’s and the EU’s foreign aid to Zimbabwe." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-274756.

Skarda, Ieva. "Essays on foreign development aid." Thesis, University of York, 2018. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20886/.

Mukozho, Delight. "Prospects and challenges of the rural non-farm economy in Zimbabwe: a case of Seke rural district." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/568.

Chipaike, Ronald. "Chinese aid and African agency since 2000: examining the cases of Zimbabwe, Angola and Ghana." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59151.

Pemberai, Zambezi. "Relief or development? An analysis of the outcome of NGO community development interventions in Marange communal area of Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1004360.

Ushewokunze, Mutemwa Tendayi. "Zimbabwe dollarisation: short term gift, long term curse - reintroducing the Zimbabwe dollar using the gold standard." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29034.

Mhakakora, Tafadza Clemence. "The urban housing crisis in Zimbambwe :a case of city of Harare." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5148.

White, Howard. "The macroeconomic impact of development aid." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.279409.

Musasa, Gabriel. "Challenges for rural tourism development in Zimbabwe: a case of the Great Zimbabwe Masvingo area." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007317.

Mushunje, Fungai. "Participation and economic empowerment of the youth in resettlement areas in Zimbabwe: the case of the agricultural sector in Mutare district." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/1568.

Chatindo, Annah. "Community development and rural poverty in Zimbabwe : a policy perspective." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6092.

Mbulayi, Shingirai P. "Energy and sustainable development: the case of Dewedzo rural community in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/866.

Zanamwe, Lazarus. "Population change and socio-economic development in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1989. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/457/.

NGIN, Chanrith. "Refining Effectuality of Development Aid: Donors’ Malfeasances." 名古屋大学大学院国際開発研究科, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2237/10935.

Kilama, Eric Gabin. "Essays on Aid Effectiveness and Development Finance." Thesis, Clermont-Ferrand 1, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013CLF10410/document.

Muruviwa, Addmore Tapfuma. "Livelihood strategies of the aged people in Mubaira Community, Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/334.

Hamunakwadi, Purity. "Successes and challenges of women's income generating projects in Zimbabwe." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6810.

Akramov, Kamiljon T. "Governance and foreign aid allocation." Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2006. http://www.rand.org/pubs/rgsd_issertations/RGSD202/.

Carlsson, Oscar, and Joakim Söderling. "Aid through trade." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Ekonomihögskolan, ELNU, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-13305.

Pycroft, Jonathan. "The Impact of Development Interventions in Ethiopia : Foreign Aid, Aid Trade and Agricultural Technology." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.507000.

Novak, Adam. "Development aid in struggles for world order : Czechoslovak foreign aid during the Cold War." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594597.

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Jowah, Eddah Vimbai. "Rural livelihoods and food security in the aftermath of the fast track land reform in Zimbabwe." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003090.

Mitsutomi, Yoshihiro. "Assessing japanese aid allocation /." Oslo : Department of Economics, Universitetet i Oslo, 2007. http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/okonomisk/2007/65748/thesis_yoshihiro_mitsutomi_final.pdf.

Swikepi, Chiedzwa. "Community participation and food security in rural Zimbabwe: the case of Marange area in Mutare district." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007303.

Honda, Tomoko. "Japan's aid policy : tension in aid reform for poverty reduction." Thesis, Swansea University, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.678554.

Mapfumo, Alexander. "Agricultural expenditure for economic growth and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/422.

Mabhena, Clifford. "'Visible hectares, vanishing livelihoods': a case of the fast track land reform and resettlement programme in Southern Matabeleland- Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001193.

Rutoro, Rangarirai. "Lay leadership development in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/5490.

Hwati, Lucky. "Participatory development (PD): NGOs and developmental practice in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015315.

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8 Projects that Exemplify Moscow's Urban Movement

• Written by Marie Chatel
• Published on July 27, 2016

When it comes to urbanism these days, people’s attention is increasingly turning to Moscow . The city clearly intends to become one of the world’s leading megacities in the near future and is employing all necessary means to achieve its goal, with the city government showing itself to be very willing to invest in important urban developments (though not without some criticism ).

A key player in this plan has been the Moscow Urban Forum . Although the forum’s stated goal is to find adequate designs for future megacities, a major positive side-effect is that it enables the city to organize the best competitions, select the best designers, and build the best urban spaces to promote the city of Moscow. The Forum also publishes research and academic documents to inform Moscow’s future endeavors; for example, Archaeology of the Periphery , a publication inspired by the 2013 forum and released in 2014, notably influenced the urban development on the outskirts of Moscow, but also highlighted the importance of combining urban development with the existing landscape.

Concluding earlier this month, the 2016 edition of the Moscow Urban Forum focused on smart cities and the impact of technology on the ways we interact with people and use public infrastructure and civic spaces. The 2016 Forum invited city officials, urbanists, and architectural practitioners – including Yuri Grigoryan from Project MEGANOM ; Pei Zhu from Studio Pei Zhu ; Hani Rashid from Asymptote ; Reinier de Graaf from OMA ; Yosuke Hayano from MAD Architects ; and Kengo Kuma from Kengo Kuma Architects – to share about their knowledge and experiences in urban design. With the city looking forward to the built results of the latest Forum, we take a look back at some of the major developments in Moscow that have emerged in the past five years.

1) Gorky Park and Garage Museum

In 2010 the city government decided to improve Muscovites’ urban environment and create public spaces, and Gorky Park was the first project of note. The Russian equivalent of Central Park, it used to attract masses of tourists to its amusement park, but no residents would spend time there. Its reconstruction began in 2011 and featured infrastructure for strolling, sport, work, culture and leisure.

Inside the park lies the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art , a landmark building from the Brezhnev communist era which was renovated and transformed by OMA in 2015. The Dutch firm kept the original structure “as found,” only repairing elements from its prefabricated concrete walls – often clad with brick and decorative green tiles. Instead, the redesign focused on a double-skin facade of polycarbonate plastic that enclosed the original structure and preserved it from decay.

2) Zaryadye Park, Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Due to open in 2018, Zaryadye Park designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro is probably one of Moscow ’s most cutting-edge projects. Located next to the Kremlin, the Red Square, and St Basil’s Cathedral, the project embodies what the architects calls “Wild Urbanism.” The project notably includes four artificial microclimates that mimic Russian landscape typologies: the steppe, the forest, the wetland and tundra. “It is a park for Russia made from Russia,” as Charles Renfro explains , in that “it samples the natures of Russia and merges them with the city, to become a design that could only happen here. It embodies a wild urbanism, a place where architecture and landscape are one.”

3) Moscow Riverfront, Project Meganom

Russian firm Project Meganom has also designed an ambitious project for Moscow ’s riverfront. Their masterplan also aims for a dialogue between the built and natural environment. A series of linear green spaces follow the river, and lines for pedestrians, cyclists, cars, and public transport are clearly delineated, improving the use of the public squares. River embankments are also transformed to function as areas for activities, communication, education and creativity nodes for public gathering.

4) Krymskaya Embankment, Wowhaus Architecture Bureau

Wowhaus Architecture Bureau recently transformed the 4-lane road at Krymskaya Embankment into a landscape park that connects Gorky Park with Krymsky bridge. The area used to be deserted, but is now reactivated with distinct transit and sport zones, as well as pavilions for artists’ exhibitions. Wave-shaped bicycle ramps, paths, and benches feature on the artificial landscape, which is also used for sledding, skiing, and skating in the winter.

5) Hermitage Museum and ZiL Tower in Moscow, Asymptote Architecture

New York architectural firm Asymptote Architecture are currently building two projects, a 150-meter residential tower and a satellite facility for St Petersburg’s well-known Hermitage Museum , where modern and contemporary art collections will be displayed. Situated in one of Moscow ’s oldest industrial areas, Asymptote’s buildings will lie in place of a Constructivist factory – which explains why the museum was reportedly inspired by El Lissitzky's "Proun" painting, as the terrace interior clearly shows.

6) “My Street”

“My Street” is the largest-scale program led by Moscow ’s government. The project aims to create about 50 kilometers of new pedestrian zones within the city center and periphery. The extensive program aims to solve parking issues, renovate street facades, and repair sidewalks and walkways with delimited areas for public transports, cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. “My Street” also requires a strong governance strategy and coordination; led by the Strelka Institute’s consultation arm KB Strelka , the project also involves 17 Russian and foreign architecture practices that were all individually in charge of one street, square or group of streets. Notable architects include the German firm Topotek 1 , the Dutch group West 8 , and the Russian firm Tsimailo , Lyashenko and Partners.

7) Moscow Metro

Moscow Metro is an architectural masterpiece that has been elaborated on since the 1920s. Its stations from the Stalin era are known for their unique designs with high ceilings, elaborate chandeliers and fine granite and marble cladding. To ensure that Moscow Metro remains an emblem of the city’s urban culture and powerful transportation system, the city’s government organized various competitions for the renovation of some Metro stations. Russian-based practice Nefa Architects was chosen to redesign Moscow’s Solntsevo Metro Station, while Latvian firm U-R-A will transform Novoperedelkino Subway Station . New stations are also being built, including two stations by Russian firms Timur Bashkayev Architectural Bureau and Buromoscow which should be completed by the end of 2018.

8) Luzhniki Stadium

Luzhniki Stadium is Moscow ’s main venue for sporting and cultural events. With Russia hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup , the stadium should reflect Moscow’s intent to become a leading megacity, which is why $540 million has been spent on construction works. Its renovation mainly focuses on the roof and seating areas, and the capacity is planned to increase up to 81,000 seats. Works will be completed by 2017.

Find out more information and talks on Moscow’s urban development and the future of megacities on Moscow Urban Forum’s YouTube channel .

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Introduction:

“ Moscow – Post-Soviet Developments and Challenges” [1]

John O’Loughlin* and Vladimir Kolossov **

* University of Colorado , Boulder

** Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

Russia has always been a highly centralized state, with the capital playing an exceptional economic, social, cultural and political role.   Paradoxically, the post-Soviet economic transition not only did not reduce this primacy, but on the contrary, considerably strengthen Moscow ’s hypertrophy.   During the 1990s, political events in the capital (attempted coups d’etat in 1991 and 1993, the struggle between ” reformers” and left-wingers) decided the destiny of all Russia , with most regions only observing with anxiety.   Though its ratio of Russia ’s total population is just less than 6%, the city contains more than half of all banking activity, more than one-fifth of retail trade, and one-third of wholesale trade.   Moscow has, to a large extent, monopolized the functions of a mediator between the country and the world economy and has become by far the most important national node of financial flows.   Even if the August 1998 financial crisis contributed to a certain improvement of the balance between the capital and the provinces, Moscow remains the major “exporter” of Russia ’s primary exports (oil, gas, timber, gold, etc.)    It is being transformed into a true global city (Gritsai 1996, 1997; Taylor 2000).

The average per capita income in Moscow is much higher than in any other of the 88 regions in Russia, and more than twice as high as the second-highest, St. Petersburg.    Moscow provides an example of post-Communist economic restructuring to the whole country and now contains the most sizeable new middle class.   The streetscape of the capital has considerably changed during the last decade.   In its downtown, contemporary offices are mushrooming, and historical buildings look fresh after recent renovation by private investors; at night, Moscow ’s main avenues are brightly illuminated by shining shop windows and advertising by global companies, provoking sharp envy from residents of many other Russian cities, which remain dark and suffer from municipal debts and power shortages.   Is Moscow really the dominant player in the Russian economy, determining the orientation and the rates of national restructuring? How stable is the Moscow ’s “miracle”?   What is the reverse side of the coin, the inequities and polarization that has become apparent in the past decade?   These questions are increasingly at the center of discussions among politicians and academic specialists.

The economic and social costs of Moscow ’s rapid changes since 1991 are already clear.   Moscow has definitely became a demographic “black hole”: mortality has exceeded fertility for a decade, the city’s population is getting older and the decrease is compensated only by labor migration from most of the former Soviet republics, from other Russian regions, and even from some third world countries.   Most migrants live in Moscow illegally.   These processes worsen the qualitative composition of population, create tensions in the labor and housing mark ets, and can potentially lead to ethnic and religious conflicts (see Vendina’s article in this issue).   Though the social territorial differentiation in Moscow has not yet reach ed the scale of U.S. or even West European cities, the growing social polarization has already seen the creation of “gated communities” and can condemn the great majority of Muscovites to live in neglected and forgotten housing ghettos.   Moreover, this polarization process risks perpetuating social contrasts in creating multi-standard systems of education and health care – separately for the richer and the poorer strata of society.        

Moscow city authorities must solve other aggravations.   One of the most serious, requiring huge investments, is the housing problem, specifically the reconstruction of the physically obsolete and dilapidated part of the housing stock, four-story apartment blocs ( Khrushchoby ) built in the 1960s.   Moreover, the city lacks empty spaces for new developments and, thus, it is necessary to demolish old residential and industrial buildings or to shift industrial plants in order to intensify land uses.   Another urgent problem is rapid automobilization, related to the insufficient capacity of the roads’ network and of parking; constant traffic jams already render downtown Moscow inaccessible by car on workdays.   (See the paper in this issue by Bityukova and Argenbright on the pollution effects of the growth in car ownership).   Against this background, slow development of public transportation caused by inadequate investment seems to be especially pressing.   The city government does not possess the financial means to build highways such as the Third Ring and, at the same time, to invest in extending the Metro (subway) and other public transportation.   The city authorities under the leadership of Yuri Luzhkov (mayor since 1992) has pledged to continue to invest in prestigious projects to maintain Moscow ’s image and competitiveness as the Russian capital and a new global city.

Like any major city, Moscow has a complex structure that needs to be considered at different levels.   First, at the global and macro-regional (Central-East European) scale, Moscow ’s relations are dominantly economic as part of a world-city system (Taylor and Hoyler, 2000).   Second, at the national scale, Moscow is both the federal capital and a subject of the Russian Federation – here the emphasis is on its primacy and balancing of the differentiation that is becoming more apparent in the country.   Third, at the regional scale, Moscow ’s agglomeration over-reaches the capital’s city limits and issues about industrial re-location, regional transport, city-suburb relations, and the conversion of agricultural and forest zones to urban uses dominate.   Fourth, at the city scale, the optimal combination that allows the city to assume its functions, to be competitive at the international scene while still meeting the needs of its population is still to be found.   Finally, at the local (neighborhood) scale, Moscow is a relatively vast and heterogenous territorial unit, including 124 municipal districts ( rayoni ) (see Figure 1), which will soon become true local governments possessing not only their elected assemblies, but also their own budgets.   Geographical distributions of housing, jobs, services, green spaces, etc. across these rayoni are likely to become more contentious and prominent.                

To cope with the myriad of problems across a variety of scales, the city authorities need a long-term strategy.   Obviously, the privileged 1990s situation of the capital can change rapidly, as the turmoil that occurred after the financial crisis of August 1998 showed.   The Russian federal government refuses to cover even a small part of Moscow ’s expenses as the national capital. Some large companies (important taxpayers) have already moved their registered headquarters out from the city, and during the last two years city officials complain that the city budget is becoming very tight.    Discussions about Moscow ’s economic future can be summarized as the choice between different models of development that depend in turn on the model followed by Russia as a whole. If Russia remains a dominant exporter of fuel and other raw materials and her manufacturing industry and high-tech industries decline further, there will obviously be much less opportunity for Moscow to realize its potential for innovation and to select a new, more balanced model of development.   Simplifying, one can say that future of Moscow can be based on one of three options – a) traditional manufacturing; b) a service economy - mainly banking and trade, and c) science, information processing and high tech industry.   In other words, Moscow can develop as the capital of an open economy, thus continuing current trends, or as the center of national modernization.   Before the collapse of the Soviet Union , more than one million people in Moscow were engaged   in pure and applied research (one-quarter of all Soviet scholars). Though this unique human capital is now considerably weakened, the Russian capital still ranks second among European cities by the number of citations in academic journals and monographs, thanks mainly to the sciences.   To ensure a sustainable development, the city should promote these scientific innovation activities and extend them into high-tech manufacturing (Pchelintsev, 1999).    

The authors of this special issue offer no solutions for the problems that Moscow is now facing.   Rather, they analyze recent data showing the post-Soviet evolution of economic functions and social-territorial structures of the city from a perspective of its transformation into a global city.   Radical shifts in the economic structure of the capital changed (but did not diminish) its impact on the urban environment.   The theme of the changing sources of Moscow ’s environmental pollution (from stationary to automobiles) is developed in the paper by Viktoria Bityukova and Robert Argenbright .   Olga Vendina devotes her article to social geographical developments among Moscow ’s ethnic minorities and the related issue of growing ghettoization .   Elena Shomina, Vladimir Kolossov and Viktoria Shukhat analyze local community groups (non-governmental organizations) in Moscow as responses to changing neighborhood, especially housing conditions.   In the first paper in this special issue, Vladimir Kolossov , Olga Vendina and John O’Loughlin examine the evidence for Moscow ’s claim to world-city status and the geography of business developments in the city since the end of the Soviet Union .  

Soviet and Post-Soviet Research on Moscow .

Moscow attracted the attention of Soviet geographers who began to study the unique problems of the capital at the end of World War II.   Human geographers were especially interested in studying the interaction between the capital and its region, and its impact on surrounding territories of Central Russia .   They delimited Moscow ’s influence according to different criteria - the radius of daily and weekly cycles of activity, the number of second residences, etc.; the distribution of built-up areas, industry, services and recreational functions by sectors around the city by comparison to their environmental impact.   The fundamental volume on these themes – Moscow’s Capital Region- the Territories, Structures, and Environment - written by a large group from the Institute of Geography of the Soviet (now Russian) Academy of Sciences, include interesting chapters that serve as a bench mark for the post-Soviet developments (Lappo, Goltz and Treivish 1988).   Geographers gave much less attention to Moscow itself.   The social-territorial structure of the city was hardly examined – partly because of the lack of reliable statistical data for micro-districts.   The problems of Moscow ’s development were analyzed mainly by architects and urban planners, especially those serving at the Institute of Moscow ’s General Plan, whose reports are unavailable.

Some general works containing detailed information on urban life are available according to the respective periods. In particular, Yulian G. Saushkin , a patriarch of Soviet human geography and former chair of the Department of Human Geography of the USSR at Moscow State University, produced three books on Moscow (the last one appearing soon after his death with his former graduate student, Vera Glushkova) (Saushkin 1950, 1964, Saushkin and Glushkova 1983).   In the late 1970s–early 1980s, new geographical approaches to the study of the local urban environment, the conditions of life and the functional organization of the municipal economy were developed, in particular, in a laboratory of the Institute of Geography founded by Yuri Medvedkov (now at Ohio State University).   Contemporary quantitative methods (especially factorial ecology) were applied in the estimation of the quality of the urban environment (Barbash and Gutnov 1980; Barbash 1982) Examining patterns of distribution of residential areas and jobs, the number of requests to move into a specific area, its proximity to major transportation lines, the convenience of transport connections, the presence of city-wide services, the variety of employment opportunities, and the ecological situation was used as measures of attractiveness (Barbash 1984, Vasiliev and Privalova 1984).   In the 1990s, a similar approach was used by Sidorov (1992).

In the post-Soviet period, the transition to the mark et economy challenged geographers and other social scientists with new theoretical and policy problems: economic restructuring, the development of the privatized housing mark et, social polarization, unemployment, and old and new social pathologies all came to the forefront of research.   Despite publication of a number of innovative works, it is hardly possible to conclude that Russian human geographers met these challenges.   However, the works of Vera Glushkova should be mentioned.   She published a monograph devoted to the dynamics and the composition of Moscow’s population, the functions of the city and main branches of its economy, land-use and social problems (in particular, its religious geography)   (Glushkova 1997, 1999).   Glushkova also was one of the initiators and main authors of large, well- documented, illustrated volumes on history, geography and urbanism in Moscow (see, for instance, Kuzmin 2000, etc.). The second edition of the Encyclopaedia “ Moscow ” is especially worth of notice (Moskva, 1997).   Relevant geographical information on the development of Moscow is also contained in key historical publications (Vinogradov 1997, Gorinov 1996, 1997).  

            A series of works on urbanism and architecture richly illustrated by detailed maps of   the environment, roads, transportation, planning structure and functional zoning of the city appeared as a result of public discussions, the first steps in the discussion and adoption of the new General Plan of Moscow to 2020 (Arkhitectura... 1999, Moskva... 2000, Moskva..., 2001).   Comprehenisve studies on the history of architecture and urbanism in the capital also appeared during the first post-Soviet decade (Kudriavtsev, 1994).    Geographers participated   during the 1990s in several important works on the environment in Moscow .   In particular, Viktoria Bityukova wrote a thesis, where she studied both the “real” spatial distribution of polluters and their distribution by administrative-territorial units (Moskva... 1995; Bityukova 1996; Kuzmin 2000).   Some environmental maps can be found on the official web-site of the government of Moscow ( www.mos.ru ).

Geographical studies of Moscow were given further impetus by the improvement of official statistics, as well as by the 1995 decision of the capital’s government to introduce a new instructional discipline in the city’s and region’s high schools   – “knowledge of Moscow” ( “moskvovedenie” ).   This educational policy spurred the appearance of a series of textbooks (for example, Alekseev et al ., 1996, 1997 ).   Furthermore, the city government of Moscow initiated the publication of two monthly journals that contain the results of social studies of the city ( Simptom and Puls ).   The Committee on Telecommunications and Mass Media of the Government of Moscow yearly publishes about a dozen small books on current social problems, but unfortunately, only a very limited number of copies are printed and are not available in most libraries.   

Outside of Russia , in his key work, Timothy Colton (1995) analyzed the dynamics of the city’s boundaries, and its demographic, industrial and even political patterns in Moscow in the 20 th century. Many academic journals, including Post-Soviet Geography and Economy, regularly publish papers on the human geography of the Russian capital.   GeoJournal prepared a special issue on Moscow and St. Petersburg ( Gdaniec , 1997; Kolossov, 1997; Vendina, 1997).   In the field of social geography, Mozolin (1994) explained the intra-urban distribution of housing prices in terms of accessibility to the CBD and urban morphology.   Bater (1994) and Daniell and Struyk (1994) analyzed the development of the housing mark et in Moscow and, in particular, the results of privatization of housing, the implementation of municipal housing programs under new conditions, and the construction of new one-family cottages by “new Russians”. Kirsanova (1996) widely used the results of the polls about evaluations and preferences of different parts of Moscow by Muscovites and analyzed their relations with the gender, age, education, and the place of socialization of respondents and with the types of housing.   Vendina (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997), and Vendina and Kolossov (1996) related the transformations of functions and employment in different districts of Moscow in the post-socialist years with the pattern of housing prices on the secondary mark et, while Gritsai (1997) compared the first results of mark et transformations in Moscow, especially the development of business services, with the situation in some largest world metropolises.

Post-Soviet developments in Moscow of demographic and social indicators (natural population change, ethnic composition and the level of education, especially during the 1979-1989 intercensal period in the old administrative districts abolished in 1992), were examined by Rowland (1992). Differences between the inner and the outer zones of the city and the concentration of the educated people in the center and the south-west were also considered in the analysis of the    outcomes of the first democratic elections in the capital (Berezkin et al. , 1990 and Colton, 1995).   Bater, Degtyarev and Amelin (1995) and Kolossov (1996, 1997) showed that the voting behavior of Muscovites differs greatly from most other regions of the country and has stable territorial patterns, while the differences in electoral preferences between the west and south-west parts of the city with the remainder were defined and explained by O’Loughlin, Kolossov and Vendina, 1997.   More recently, Pavlovskaya and Hanson (2001) reported on the effects on family life of changes in the retail structure and privatization of services in a rayon in central Moscow and Argenbright (2000) paints an evocative picture of the changing nature of Moscow ’s public spaces, from controlled Soviet to the contemporary free-for-all.

A visitor to Soviet Moscow would hardly recognize its successor.   The center of Moscow increasingly looks like a Central European city, like Warsaw or Budapest , with expensive stores, gallerias, super mark ets, commercial offices, and a full array of retail services.   Meanwhile, the streetscapes of Moscow ’s outer zones are hardly changed from Soviet times.   As a small segment of the population of “new Russians” prosper in these times of frantic change, the majority of Moscovites struggle to make ends meet.   In a sample of 3,500 Moscovites in April 2000, we found that only 22.8 % agreed with the statement that “things are not so bad, and it is possible to live”, while the majority (55.3%) said that “life is difficult but it’s possible to endure”.   Another 13.3% said that “our condition makes it impossible to endure further.”   And, it is worth re-emphasizing that Moscow is much wealthier than the rest of the country and should not be considered as a typical Russian city or even a harbinger of things to come for other large cities of the former Soviet Union .

            The frenetic pace of commercial life in central Moscow and the associated rush to gentrification and re-development, quick money, criminal activity, banking and financial scandals, and great uncertainties has produced an “city on the make” ( Spector , 1997) .   What is most startling is the contrast of these world-city functions and consequences to the daily lives of most of the population.   The ‘dual city hypothesis” of Mollenkopf and Castells (1991), developed for New York City , seems increasingly apropos for Moscow .   Of course, dramatic polarization is a persistent feature of many major Third World capitals but its appearance in Moscow is undoubtedly the quickest.   Whether the growing gaps in Moscow   - between rich and poor, between the segments of the population who are tied to the incorporation into the global economy and those whose livelihood is connected to state services or to small-scale local enterprise, and between the older generation whose world is still colored by their Soviet-era experiences and the post-Soviet generation – will magnify as they have for the past decade or will be eased is an important research question, not only for Moscovites and Russians, but for all societies undergoing rapid social and economic change in these globalized times.   The papers in this special issue contribute to this research and offer a picture of the city after 10 years of post-Soviet change against which future developments can be compared.

Alekseev, Alexander I., ed. (1996) Moskvovedenie ( Moscow Studies). Moscow.: Ekopros .

Alekseev, Alexander I., Vera G. Glushkova and Galina Y. Lisenkova , eds. Geografia Moskvy i Moskovskoi oblasti (Geography of Moscow and of the Moscow Region). Moscow : Moskovskie Uchebniki , 1997.

Argenbright, Robert “Re making Moscow : New Places, New Selves." Geographical Review 89 (1): 1-22, January, 1999.

Arkhitektura , stroitelstvo , disain (Architecture, Construction Works and Design).   Special Issue on the General Plan of Moscow to 2020, 4  (14), 1999.

Barbash , Natalia B. “Spatial Relations Among Places with Complementary Functions Within the City of Moscow .” Soviet Geography: Review and Translation , 23 , 2: 77-94, February, 1982.

Barbash , Natalia B. “ Privlekatelnost Razlichnykh Chastei Gorodskoi Sredy Dlia Gorozhan (Na Osnove Dannykh Obmena Zhiliem )” (The Attractivity of Different Parts of the Urban Environment for Residents (on the Basis of Data on Residential Exchange)” Izvestia Akademii Nauk SSSR: Seriya Ggeograficheskaya 5: 81-91, 1984.

Barbash , Natalia B. and Aleksei E. Gutnov “Urban Planning Aspects of the Spatial Organization of Moscow : An Application of Factorial Ecology.” Soviet Geography: Review and Translation, 21, 9: 557-574, November, 1980.

Bater , James H. “Housing Developments in Moscow in the 1990s”.   Post-Soviet Geography, 35 , 6 : 309-328, June, 1994.

Bater , James H., Andrei A. Degtyarev , and Vladimir N. Amelin .   “Politics in Moscow : Local Issues, Areas and Governance.”   Political Geography, 14 , 8: 665-687, November, 1995.

Berezkin , Andrei V., Vladimir A. Kolossov, Marianna Pavlovskaya , Nicolai Petrov and Leonid Smirniagin . “The Geography of the 1989 Elections of People's Deputies of the USSR (Preliminary Results).” Soviet Geography , 30 , 8: 607-634, October 1989.        

Bityukova , Viktoria R. Sotsialno-ekologicheskie problemy razvitia gorodskikh territorii ( na primere Moskvy ) (Social-Environmental Problems of Urban Territories’ Development: the Case of Moscow) Doctoral thesis.   Moscow : Department of Geography, Moscow State University , 1996.

Colton, Timothy S.   Moscow : Governing the Socialist Metropolis. Cambridge , MA :   Harvard University Press, 1995.

Daniell , Jennifer and Ray Struyk , Housing Privatization in Moscow : Who Privatizes and Why .   Cambridge , MA : Blackwell Publishers, 1994.

Federov , Dmitri “Telecommunication Computer Networks in Moscow .” Geojournal , 42 ,4: 433-448, August 1997.

Gdaniec , C. “Reconstruction in Moscow ’s Historic Centre: Conservation, Planning and Finance Strategies- the Example of the Ostozhenka District.” Geojournal , 42 , 4: 365-376, August 1997.

Glushkova , Vera G. Moskva . Istoria i Geografia ( Moscow : History and Geography). Moscow : Mir Publishers, 1997.

Glushkova , Vera G. Sotsialnyi Portret Moskvy na Poroge XXI Veka (A Social Portrait of Moscow at the Eve of the XXI Century). Moscow : Mysl Publishers, 1999.   

Gorinov , Mikhail M., ed. Istoria Moskvy (History of Moscow ), vol. 1-4.   Moscow : AOL, 1996, 1997.

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Figure   SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Location of Rayoni in Moscow

[1] Acknowledgements: This special issue benefited from the collaborative work of many individuals.   In Boulder , Tom Dickinson prepared the final versions of all of the maps and Clionadh Raleigh helped with the bibliographic and grammatical elements of the project.   Altinay Kuchukeeva assisted with the research on the papers and Jim Bell, now at the U.S. State Department, was involved in the project in the early stages.   In Moscow , the project was assisted by xxxx , xxxxx , and xxx.   The project was funded by a grant to Professor O’Loughlin by the National Science Foundation and by grants to Professor Kolossov by …….

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INTERNSHIP: User Assistance Development (May - Aug 2024)

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During this internship, you will have the opportunity to work with software developers, senior user assistance developers, and industry experts.   Additionally, you will author and edit technical content, create examples and videos, and implement improvements based on user requests.

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Android Studio uses Gemini Pro to make Android development faster and easier

As part of the next chapter of our Gemini era, we announced we were bringing Gemini to more products . Today we’re excited to announce that Android Studio is using the Gemini 1.0 Pro model to make Android development faster and easier, and we’ve seen significant improvements in response quality over the last several months through our internal testing. In addition, we are making this transition more apparent by announcing that Studio Bot is now called Gemini in Android Studio .

Gemini in Android Studio is an AI-powered coding assistant which can be accessed directly in the IDE. It can accelerate your ability to develop high-quality Android apps faster by helping generate code for your app, providing complex code completions, answering your questions, finding relevant resources, adding code comments and more — all without ever having to leave Android Studio. It is available in 180+ countries and territories in Android Studio Jellyfish .

If you were already using Studio Bot in the canary channel, you’ll continue experiencing the same helpful and powerful features, but you’ll notice improved quality in responses compared to earlier versions.

Ask Gemini your Android development questions

Gemini in Android Studio can understand natural language, so you can ask development questions in your own words. You can enter your questions in the chat window ranging from very simple and open-ended ones to specific problems that you need help with.

Here are some examples of the types of queries it can answer:

How do I add camera support to my app? Using Compose, I need a login screen with the following: a username field, a password field, a 'Sign In' button, a 'Forgot Password?' link. I want the password field to obscure the input. What's the best way to get location on Android? I have an 'orders' table with columns like 'order_id', 'customer_id', 'product_id', 'price', and 'order_date'. Can you help me write a query that calculates the average order value per customer over the last month?

Gemini in Android Studio remembers the context of the conversation, so you can also ask follow-up questions, such as “Can you give me the code for this in Kotlin?” or “Can you show me how to do it in Compose?”

Code faster with AI powered Code Completions

Gemini in Android Studio can help you be more productive by providing you with powerful AI code completions . You can receive suggestions of multi-line code completions, suggestions for how to do comments for your code, or how to add documentation to your code.

Designed with privacy in mind

Gemini in Android Studio was designed with privacy in mind. Gemini is only available after you log in and enable it. You don’t need to send your code context to take advantage of most features. By default, Gemini in Android Studio’s chat responses are purely based on conversation history, and you control whether you want to share additional context for customized responses. You can update this anytime in Android Studio > Settings at a granular project level. We also have a custom way for you to opt out certain files and folders through an .aiexclude file. Much like our work on other AI projects, we stick to a set of AI Principles that hold us accountable. Learn more here .

Build a Generative AI app using the Gemini API starter template

Not only does Android Studio use Gemini to help you be more productive, it can also help you take advantage of Gemini models to create AI-powered features in your applications. Get started in minutes using the Gemini API starter template available in the canary release – channel for Android Studio – under File > New Project > Gemini API Starter . You can also use the code sample available at File > Import Sample > Google Generative AI sample .

The Gemini API is multimodal, meaning it can support image and text inputs. For example, it can support conversational chat, summarization, translation, caption generation etc. using both text and image inputs.

Try Gemini in Android Studio

Gemini in Android Studio is still in preview, but we have added many feature improvements — and now a major model update — since we released the experience in May 2023. It is currently no-cost for developers to try out. Now is a great time to test it and let us know what you think, before we release this experience to stable.

Stay updated on the latest by following us on LinkedIn , Medium , YouTube , or X . Let's build the future of Android apps together!

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USG Celebrates Oasis Project to Restore Aral Sea Ecosystem

For Immediate Release

Press Release

Almaty, Kazakhstan, April 11, 2024  – This week (April 12-16), USAID is leading an expedition to the USAID Oasis project on the former shores of the Aral Sea in the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan. USAID and its Kazakhstan partners have created a 500-hectare demonstration site for testing black saxaul shrubs as a first step in restoring the local ecosystem. 

The Aral Sea disaster is considered one of the worst ecological catastrophes in human history. Formerly the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s when the rivers that supplied it with water were redirected to irrigate massive agricultural fields. Today, the Aral Sea is only at 10% of its original water surface area. The remaining portion has turned into the world’s newest desert, the Aralkum Desert. This transformation has caused frequent sand and dust storms, leading to severe pollution in the environment and negatively impacting health in local communities.

The USAID Oasis serves as a powerful example of the impact of climate change and the growing water crisis in Central Asia. However, it also inspires hope as governments, NGOs, and communities have come together to take collaborative action to resist and build resilience against these pressing threats.

The Oasis is a part of a larger USAID initiative called USAID’s Environmental Restoration of the Aral Sea Activity (ERAS-I). USAID launched this initiative in 2021 in cooperation with the Executive Directorate of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (ED IFAS). The name “Oasis” reflects its purpose of being a refreshing patch of green in the desert, which is the first step towards reviving the plant and animal life of the region.

The U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Daniel Rosenblum, will travel to the Oasis to  commemorate the project’s success and celebrate the people and organizations who have contributed their time and effort to this significant achievement. 

“The testing and research at the Oasis will benefit not only Kazakhstan communities in this region, but will also inform ecosystem restoration efforts throughout the Aral Sea region. Working together with national and international partners, we are proud to be part of this mission to find collaborative solutions to build climate resilience in Central Asia,” said Ambassador Rosenblum. 

USAID’s Regional Water and Vulnerable Environment   activity is focused on strengthening regional capacity to manage shared water resources and mitigating environmental risks in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins.

USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. For more information, visit:  https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional   and USAID’s Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia  .

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USDA Invests $1 Million to Support Renewable Energy in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development State Director for Michigan Brandon Fewins today announced more than $1 million in grants to northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula agriculture producers and rural businesses to make investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

“These projects will help lower costs, enhance incomes and strengthen the resilience of rural businesses,” said Fewins.  “While solar panels are a common improvement, considerable benefits can be gained from upgrading to more energy efficient equipment.”

The grants are made available through the Rural Energy for America Program , and total Michigan funding in this announcement is $1,032,853.

Bunches of Blessings LLC, in Baraga County, will use a $9,975 grant to purchase and install a four kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic system. This project will produce 4,952 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year. Project payback is 29 years.

Van Dam Enterprises Inc., in Charlevoix County, will use a $108,000 grant to purchase and install a 58.8 kW roof mount solar photovoltaic system. Van Dam Enterprises Inc. has been operating for 10 years and they design, build, and restore wooden boats. This project will realize $10,720 per year in savings and will replace 71,899 kWh (91 percent) per year, which is enough energy to power six homes. Project payback is 21 years.

Boyne Boat Yard, Inc., in Charlevoix County, will use a $53,500 grant to purchase and install a 28 kW roof mount solar photovoltaic system. Boyne Boat Yard, Inc. is a marine service and storage company that has been operating for 10 years. This project will realize $5,256 per year in savings and will replace 34,130 kWh (100 percent) per year. Project payback is 21 years.

Elmer's County Market, Inc., in Delta County, will use an $857,878 grant to purchase and install a 380.89 kW roof mount solar PV system. Elmer's County Market Inc. is a small, independently owned retail grocery store that has been operating for 17 years in a disadvantaged area. This project will realize $28,679 per year in savings and will replace 461,814 kWh (17 percent) per year, which is enough energy to power 42 homes.

Leelanau Company LLC, in Grand Traverse County, will use a $35,000 grant to purchase and install energy-efficient lighting. This project will realize $6,057 per year in savings, reducing consumption from 237,182 kWh to 61,240 kWh per year. Project payback is five years.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov .

To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit GovDelivery subscriber page . 

Reimagining Design with Nature: ecological urbanism in Moscow

• Reflective Essay
• Published: 10 September 2019
• Volume 1 , pages 233–247, ( 2019 )

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The twenty-first century is the era when populations of cities will exceed rural communities for the first time in human history. The population growth of cities in many countries, including those in transition from planned to market economies, is putting considerable strain on ecological and natural resources. This paper examines four central issues: (a) the challenges and opportunities presented through working in jurisdictions where there are no official or established methods in place to guide regional, ecological and landscape planning and design; (b) the experience of the author’s practice—Gillespies LLP—in addressing these challenges using techniques and methods inspired by McHarg in Design with Nature in the Russian Federation in the first decade of the twenty-first century; (c) the augmentation of methods derived from Design with Nature in reference to innovations in technology since its publication and the contribution that the art of landscape painters can make to landscape analysis and interpretation; and (d) the application of this experience to the international competition and colloquium for the expansion of Moscow. The text concludes with a comment on how the application of this learning and methodological development to landscape and ecological planning and design was judged to be a central tenant of the winning design. Finally, a concluding section reflects on lessons learned and conclusions drawn.

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The landscape team from Gillespies Glasgow Studio (Steve Nelson, Graeme Pert, Joanne Walker, Rory Wilson and Chris Swan) led by the author and all our collaborators in the Capital Cities Planning Group.

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Evans, B.M. Reimagining Design with Nature: ecological urbanism in Moscow. Socio Ecol Pract Res 1 , 233–247 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00031-5

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Issue Date : October 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00031-5

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