Pola Szczap

12/08/2022

Next tour, Sunday 14.08.2022:

Selbe River and the Development of the Inner City

Following the flow of the Selbe River this walk dives in time to track the importance of this neglected water body in the city’s development as well as define Ulaanbaatar’s inner city and investigate how its present structure developed from historical establishments.

Starts at 5 pm

Meeting point: American embassy
Finish point: North end of Peace Bridge

Cost 20k each payed via transfer, contact for details and see y’all on Sunday!

06/08/2022

I will be guiding two Ulaanbaatar city tours on Sunday 07.08:

3pm: Urban Heritage Destruction
(Meeting and finish point: Sükhbaatar Statue at Sükhbaatar Square)

6 pm: Dari-Ekh Ger District Panoramas,
(Meeting and finish point: American embassy).

20k per tour, payment details via PM.

Come along!

30/07/2022

INTERRIVER TOUR going down this Sunday, 31.07 so book yo spot aight? Cost 20K, further info in the previous post💥 We walk at 5pm sharp, so please be there a few minutes earlier.

Sunday 31.07 The Urban Blindspot Interriver Tour:

Meeting point: Olimpic Street and Narnii Zam intersection, entrance to the National Amusement Park (Ündesnii soyol amraltiin
khüreelen)
Finish point: South end of Peace Bridge

See you!

28/07/2022

Pleased to announce that after three years, the Urbaanbaatar City Walks are back in town for the summer season of 2022. At this moment I am planning two tours every week, starting Saturday July 30th. Tours are open to both English and Mongolian speakers and suitable for both native and expat residents as well as visitors/tourists. Each tour itinerary is based around a unique theme and usually takes between two and three hours to complete.

We will kick off with two of my fav walks: first a tour along Ikh Toiruu (Saturday 30.07) and a tour around the strip of land stretching between the Selbe and Tuul rivers (Sunday 31.07).

Next week I will be guiding two new tours which will set out to investigate the destruction of urban heritage sites and the futurist visions of Ulaanbaatar.

Details of further tours will follow in the coming days.

All tours start at 5 pm sharp and take around 2-3h to complete.
Please come a few minutes earlier so we are able to start on time.
Meeting and finish points vary depending on the tour.

Cost: 20k/person, please contact via PM/DM for payment details. Participant numbers are limited so be sure to book early.

We will walk a lot so please wear comfortable shoes for all types of terrain and pack some water.

More info on my approach to ‘walking the city’ along with tour descriptions can be found at:
https://ubstudies.wordpress.com/urbaanbaatar-city-walks/

UPCOMING TOURS:

30.07 The Porous Fringe Ikh Toiruu Tour:
Meeting point: Badma Yoga Datsan (intersection north of Bömbögör Market and west of Tengis Cinema)
Finish point: Züün Dörvön Zam

31.07 The Urban Blindspot Interriver Tour:
Meeting point: Olimpic Street and Narnii Zam intersection, entrance to the National Amusement Park (Ündesnii soyol amraltiin
khüreelen)
Finish point: South end of Peace Bridge

3. Destruction of Urban Heritage Sites Tour: TBA
4. Futurist Visions of Ulaanbaatar: TBA
5. ‘Development of the Inner City’ Selbe River Tour: TBA
6. ‘Prefabricated Futures’ Khoroolol Tour: TBA
7. ‘City Vistas’ Dari Ekh ger khoroolol Tour: TBA
8. ‘Friendship Raion’ Bayanzürkh District Tour: TBA
9. ‘Concrete Vegetation’ Green Areas Tour: TBA

Feel free to contact me in case you have any questions or would like to schedule a private tour.

09/06/2022

Oops, I did it again! Second time on Dział Zagraniczny, this time talking on the intersections of social unrest and hip-hop in Mongolia.

AzjaMongoliaPodcasty Czemu to hip hop wyraża najlepiej współczesną tożsamość Mongołów (Dział Zagraniczny Podcast #133) 09/06/2022 0 Podziel się na Facebooku Tweetuj Gościni: Pau Szczap Wbrew stereotypowi o stepowym życiu, połowa wszystkich obywateli Mongolii mieszka w stolicy, a co trze...

03/04/2021

The first part of my commentary on the recent COVID-19-related events in Ulaanbaatar is now up on Mongolia Focus! 🤩

In mid-February 2021, a mass testing program for COVID-19 called Neg khaalga – Neg shinjilgee (One Door – One Test; below abbreviated as 1D1T), was implemented in Ulaanbaatar. It was undertaken in reaction to the gradual spread of the COVIC-19 virus among the inhabitants of Ulaanbaatar since Dec...

15/03/2021

Gave this interview a few days ago. Always appreciate the opportunity to share with the Mongolian public.

Польшийн нийслэл Варшавын их сургуулийн монгол судлалын докторант, Улаанбаатар хот судлаач Павел Шчаптай ярилцлаа.

06/11/2020

Made another visual comparison. This time its between a partial development plan of central Ulaanbaatar from 1986 and a Google Earth satellite photo of Ulaanbaatar as of 2020. The plan on the left was part of Ulaanbaatar’s 4th General Plan designed for the years 1986-2010 but enacted only until 1990. In its entirety the partial plan covers a far bigger area but already calibrating this smaller area was all I could do myself.

https://bit.ly/2U0X7RV

04/11/2020

It's not embedable on Facebook but if you like what you see click on the link below and check out my comparison of two plans of Ulaanbaatar from the 1950s.

https://bit.ly/2TV4RFa

Short escription below:

A visual comparison of the central part of Ulaanbaatar according to the Russian Giprogor Institute’s plans of Ulaanbaatar prior to (1952) and as an expected outcome of the city’s 1st General Plan of 1954. The situation as of 1952 is also used as the base plan for the General Plan’s vision and can easily be made out in the background of the picture on the right. Both documents were created as preparation works for implementing Ulaanbaatar's 1st General Plan and both were, to my best knowledge, drawn in 1953.
Feel free to share and use/embed wherever.