Ugsarmal bair

Panel buildings in Ulaanbaatar

Ugsarmal bair (Mongolian: Угсармал байр, lit. 'assembled building'), or just Ugsarmal, is the Mongolian term for high rise panel buildings. Most of these buildings were built in the 1970s and 1980s with Soviet funding and Soviet designs. It supplied a large share of Mongolia's population with flats equipped with modern amenities (tap water, sanitation, central heating). Ugsarmals in Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet and Darkhan are often high-rises, while those in the aimag centers usually have only four floors. Most public flats in Mongolia, including those in Ugsarmals, were privatized in the early 1990s.

Equivalents in other countries

The term Ugsarmal bair refers specifically to buildings in Mongolia. However, similar buildings (Plattenbau) were built in other Communist countries and some Western countries.

Eastern bloc housing

• Khrushchevka (Soviet Union)
• Panelák (Czechoslovakia)
• Panelház (Hungary)
• Large panel system building (East Germany)
• Systematization (Romania)

Other countries

• Million Programme (Sweden)

See also

• Urban planning in communist countries