Abstract
Based on the case of the military-industrial city of Ust'-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, this paper explores (a) Soviet and post-Soviet era migration into former closed cities, and (b) the present housing situation of migrant groups living in them, paying particular attention to their ethnic background. The study is based on a survey carried out by the author and the regional statistical authority in January 2001. The principal findings suggest that there has been a clear increase in migrants from the oblast's rural areas to the regional capital, which is attributable to the regional urbanisation pressure which had been created during the city's period of 'closure', and that the origin of these migrants has shifted in favour of areas with larger Kazakh populations. Also, contradicting the Soviet goals, and resulting from structural factors re-enforced by the closed city regime, the ethnic housing gap is greatest among those who arrived during the Soviet period.