Urban Agenda #4 / spring 2015
FROM GROWTH — TO DEVELOPMENT
strategies for global cities
MAIN STREET
future of the Moscow River
STUDIES, IDEAS, TRENDS what to expect from the “age of cities”
WORKBOOK
of the IV Moscow Urban Forum
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Con t e n t
NEWS Decision / witty solutions in city management / 8 CALENDAR /2015 conferences, forums, and exhibitions / 9 PHOTOFACT / Troparevo metro station / 10 10 projects / ideas and technology for improving cities/ 12 LIBRARY / books that help understand cities / 16
Paradigms The giant leap / what awaits us in the age of cities / 18 NORMS OF GARBAGE / Grigory Revzin about future of post-soviet cities / 22 Growing Green Cities / Michael Heise about partnership between business and government / 24 Moscow PersPective / how the capital is changing / 26
strategies A new development cycle for global cities / megacities and countries — conflict or cooperation / 29 STRATEGIC MASTER PLAN — A TOOL TO MANAGE THE FUTURE / how to create image of the desired future / 32 WHERE IT IS NICE TO LIVE IN RUSSIA: looking for leader cities / what can we learn from smaller towns / 36 Sydney’s economic Strategy / from global competition to night-life / 38
HORIZONS Moscow and the river: four roads to the future / how to turn river into city’s main street / 40 “Cities should have more responsibility for managing resources” / Arab Hoballah, Chief of Sustainable Consumption and Production / SCP in UNEP / 48 CASES: Deep Tunnel Sewerage System in Singapore, Kings Cross Station in London, New Pulkovo terminal in St. Petersburg / and other new infrastructure projects / 54 “The great thing about housing is that its delivery can be the objective of the many rather than the few” / Alex Ely, architect / 56 Resources for growth / four ways to make land resources more accessible / 60 CASES: public-private partnership, COOPERATIVE, and MICROFINANCING / how to get an apartment in New York, London or Mumbai / 62
questions Quality of architecture / architects of Russia, France and India about what needs to change in their profession / 64
trends new wave / urban activism as a development driver: looking for “flexible city” / 68 Cases: Fruit map, navigation at stops, The Better Block / and other projects by activists / 71 “We must stop seeing people as inert stupid mass” / David Barry, Consultant Urban Development / 73
”Today, not business or government, but communities are interested in people” / Svyat Murunov, researcher of urban communities / 74 “Cultural processes take long time but their results are largescale and sustainable” / Alexander Auzan, Dean of Faculty of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University / 76
“Tradition needs innovation as well” / Richard Hsu, expert in culture projects / 78 What MOSCOW IS made of / research as tool for cultural design / 80
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Urban Agenda
Publisher Moscow Urban Forum NGO 22, Voznesensky Pereulok, Moscow, 125009 +7 (499) 641 16 82 www.mosurbanforum.ru director-general Olga Papadina editor-in-chief Alexander Ostrogorsky project coordinators Svetlana Belkina, Alina Ryaboshapka, Elena Stavitskaya director of marketing and working with partners Alexandra Lavrova alexandra.lavrova@ mosurbanforum.ru directorate work with the participants +7 (495) 650 50 45 welcome@ mosurbanforum.ru afisha atelier Afisha Company LLC atelier.afisha.ru photo agencies Fotobank, East News, Reuters/Pixstream, Legion-Media, Kommersant, Rambler Infographics, RIA Novosti, ITAR-TASS
WORKBOOK of Moscow Urban Forum Metropolis and state: cooperating for growth / 84 City ratings: Means to set goals / 86 Older citizens: hidden potential and new possibilities / 87
Megacity Infrastructure and Redevelopment: New Technologies and Approaches / 88 Mega-events and the City: defining the sCale of opportunity /90 ecological approaches as drivers of economic growth / 92 campus as city: new role of social infrastructure in the city / 93 PUBLIC SPACE IN THE CITY: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
DEVELOPING SOCIAL CAPITAL / 94
CONVERT OR INNOVATE / 102
CITIES AND TERRITORIES TOMORROW: TOOLS FOR POSITIVE CHANGE / 95
NEW healthcare: GLOBAL TRENDS AND framework FOR MOSCOW / 104
Moscow: Priorities for New Stage of Development / 96
INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AS A FACTOR IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT / 106
Moscow’s Spatial Strategy: Principles and Opportunities / 97
FINANCING URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE: MODELS, POSSIBILITIES, AND LIMITATIONS / 108
MOBILE CITY: HOW TO MAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT MORE ATTRACTIVE / 98 QUALITY URBAN REALM: ROLE ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECT / 100 INDUSTRY IN THE CONTEMPORARY CITY:
moscow river as a source of urban regeneration / 110 transport interchanges: a new infrastructure model and intervention in the city / 111
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New Moscow: How to Create a Complete Urban Environment / 112 Economy and Culture: Assessing Efficiency of Urban Cultural Programs / 114 Choosing Development Targets and Frameworks for Contemporary Megacity / 115 Human Potential as a Driver of Development of Russian Cities / 116 GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENS: TECHNOLOGIES OF COLLABORATION / 120 MOSCOW URBAN FORUM FESTIVAL / 124 IV MOSCOW URBAN FORUM / 128
printing ABT Group Circulation: 500 copies The magazine is registered by the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Press, Broadcasting, and Mass Communications Registration certificate PI No. FS77-53488 since 04/04/2013 The position of ANO «Moscow Urban Forum» can not coincide with opinions of experts
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OP E NING RE M A RK S
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OP E NING RE M A RK S
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Dear colleagues, partners, friends,
I Mayor of Moscow
Sergei Sobyanin
n December 2014, many of you came to participate in the traditional Moscow Urban Forum, fourth of that name. The number of participants, the number of cities and countries, from which they come to Moscow, increases with every year. Each year, the Forum becomes more and more interesting both for professionals and for residents of megacities. The Forum’s discussion topics vary but what remains unchanged is our focus on the residents, on their opportunities and needs in a modern urban environment. The 2014 theme — Drivers of City Development — was associated with a very important idea for us: while very important, the cities’ growth is not synonymous with their development. Primarily, the city is made up of people, and the development of the city means improving the quality of life for its inhabitants, first of all. This means convenient transport links, high quality healthcare services, education, culture, social support, good environmental situation, interesting city agenda for everyday life, and maximum opportunities for professional and personal development of each resident. It is these comfortable megacities and not just those growing far and wide that attract talent and investment, both domestic and from abroad. We have already achieved a lot by setting a goal to make Moscow a comfortable city for living, a city with balanced and sustainable development. Our program covers all key aspects of life in the capital — from healthcare to transport, from developing stateof-the-art manufacturing to beautifying yards and small parks close to homes. Ensuring that the city develops is a demanding administrative and political task. Studies initiated by the Moscow Urban Forum for two years in a row and discussions at its plenary meetings show there is no — and, probably, there cannot be — definitive answers to the challenges the major cities face all around the world. Still, at the same time, we have an opportunity to share our experience and search for the most efficient solutions together that would improve the lives of people in our cities.
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decision
Witty solutions in city management
Venice
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n 2015, a law may be enforced in Venice forbidding the use of “noisy” wheeled luggage by tourists. This is the initiative of the city’s Special Commissioner Vittorio Zappalorto. In Venetian narrow alleys, such luggage creates extreme noise spreading far and wide in the night and disturbing the locals.. Should the law be passed, tourists using “noisy” luggage will face a fine of up to 500 Euro starting from May 2015. The law will not apply to the locals.
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CALENDAR
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Conferences, forums and exhibitions in 2015
19–24 january MUNICH BAU WORLD'S LEADING Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials and Systems
One of the main events in the construction industry in 2015, a global trade fair for architecture, construction and engineering technologies and commercial and residential building design. www.bau-muenchen.com
27–31 may MOSCOW
16–17 february LONDON ICURS: XIII International Conference on Urban and Regional Studies
An annual conference to which leading scholars in urban studies flock from the world over. One of the few platforms discussing urban studies in the language of study, not finance. www.waset.org
8–10 june NEW YORK
20th International ARCH Moscow Exhibition
6th International World Cities Summit Mayors Forum
Russia’s main architecture and design show will traditionally take place at the Central House of Artists and bring together the country’s leading architects. www.archmoscow.ru
The international summit of mayors will have the mayors of the world’s largest cities convene in New York to discuss global metropolis development issues. The summit has been an annual event since 2010 and is the largest forum for exchanging experience in the field of city management. www.worldcitiessummit. com.sg/mayorsforum/ home
20–13 march CANNES 26th International Commercial Real Estate Show
The main show for commercial real estate has long become not only a platform for professional opinion exchange, but also a place to sign largescale contracts, find new partners, investors, and business development directions. www.mipimcannes.ru
5–7 october MUNICH 18th International Property and Investment Trade Fair EXPO REAL
Leading European developers, investors, authority figures, architects and designers will assemble for three days in Munich to discuss news, trends and market issues in commercial real estate. www.exporeal.net
17–18 april SHANGHAI
27–29 may LEIPZIG
11th Metro World Summit
8th International Transport Forum
The metro development summit will attract the chief players in the field: there will be government members, leaders of the world’s largest undergrounds, representatives of architectural, construction, and engineering firms. This is the world’s only platform for discussing metro issues on such a level. www.cdmc.org.cn/mws
A meeting place for the highest-level officials and experts, it brings in ministers, regional leaders, investors and business representatives every year. Traditionally, the forum includes a show of new products by international transport companies. www.2015.international transportforum.org
14–16 october MOSCOW denkmal Moscow European Trade Fair of Heritage Preservation, Restoration and Museum Technology
The third joint Russian and German fair dedicated to new technologies in restoration, as well as increasing the investment appeal of cultural and architectural objects. The show in Leipzig is held bi-annually. www.denkmal-moscow.ru
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26–30 october NEW YORK International Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The most influential international body in the field of tall buildings will hold its upcoming congress in New York, the birthplace of the skyscraper. It will be dedicated to global integration in the field of tall building construction www.ctbuh2015.com
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PHOTOFACT Troparevo Metro Station
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he Moscow Metro is growing at an unprecedented pace. In the next few years, about 60 km of new lines are to be laid, and new stations will appear in the outermost areas, while with the second subway ring line, the city residents will be able to move around it without going through the center. Since 2011, 13 new stations have been opened, and the Troparevo station joined them in early December bringing the city center “closer” to the New Moscow residents. However, it is not the new stations only that change the metro — new models of rolling stock go into operation as well, almost all the subway lines enjoy wireless internet access, and the navigation system is being updated.
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10 projects
Ideas and technology for improving cities
BERLIN
Museum-side pool www.flussbad-berlin.de/en Berlin enthusiasts are working on the Flussbad Berlin project — creating a 750-meter open-air pool near the Museum Island. This project in one of the arms of the Spree river may become a reality by 2020. Architects from Realities: United will make wide steps out of the steep Lustgarten embankment, and infrastructure (changing rooms and showers) will be partly placed underground. A large park to be planted near the pool will serve as a natural water filter using particular species of trees and reeds. One of the key challenges the city is facing is the fact that the river is not used to its full potential. With this project implemented, the Spree embankment will become Berlin’s central public space, featuring a city beach in
MEXICO CITY
The X-factor www.aeropuerto.gob.mx The new Mexico City airport, designed by Norman Foster and Fernando Romero, will be the world’s most eco-friendly airport. To this end, the architects will be using a wide range of innovative energy-saving technologies. Solar batteries will help diminish carbon emissions, while natural ventilation will maintain optimal temperatures within the terminal year-round. A rainwater collection system is in the plans well. The new airport will have an area of 550 thousand square meters, with a giant X-shaped terminal and six runways (three initially, and another three to be added by 2062). The budget will be $9.2 billion. Norman Foster’s design won an international contest, and this will be the architect’s third airport, including the world’s current largest in Beijing. At the moment, Mexico City only has one airport, which is overly strained as it handles about 33 million passengers a year.
summer and an ice-skating rink in winter. The project won the prestigious Holcim Award in 2012. At the moment, it is reviewed by the state fund for the support of urban development projects.
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NEW YORK
Dam-park www.rebuildbydesign.org
MUMBAI
The path is made www.ridlr.in
The Danish bureau BIG won the contest for beautifying the area around Lower Manhattan by suggesting a project named Big U. It is meant to protect the city from natural disasters. The architects have designed a three-part construction. The parts fence off different plots of land and function independently. The embankment will feature a large tall farm terrace. It will serve not only as protection from disasters (the “gate” placed between the Manhattan Bridge and Montgomery Street will rise in case of flooding), but also as а public space with a viewpoint and a park with salt-resistant trees and shrubbery. The project will cost $335 million, and the New York municipality is promising to erect similar constructions in other parts of the city eventually.
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Mumbai’s thirteen million inhabitants rarely resort to public transportation due to overcomplicated routes, irregular traffic and the increasing amount of private cars. To combat the suffocating traffic jams, the city authorities, have decided to encourage citizens to forgo private vehicles in favor of public transportation. With this in mind, a special app called Ridlr was created to enable registered users to follow real-time schedules for buses, trains, metro, and monorail, track their routes and find stops. An additional option allows the smartphone user to let his or her friends know that he or she is about to board a certain bus at a certain stop and invite them to come along.
LONDON
FLOATING CYCLEWAY www.thamesdeckway.co.uk We are in the fourth year of the London government’s twenty-year transport development strategy focused primarily on the safety and availability of all modes of transportation. Now London may receive an unusual cycleway called the Thames Deckway. It will be a track with bike rental points alongside the Thames, 12 kilometers long and crossing all of the city’s central part. The floating bike path will cost no less than 600 million pounds to construct. While quite expensive, the project will also be profitable: a ride on the Thames Deckway will cost GBP 1.5. The initiative originated from River Cycleway Consortium Ltd., a private company founded by entrepreneur Anna Hill and architect David Nixon.
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Linköping
A farm for a metropolis www.plantagon.com The world’s first vertical farm is nearly finished in the Swedish city of Linkoeping. Behind the project is Plantagon International, a Swedish-American company which specializing in new agricultural technology in urban environments. The construction consists of a multi-level glass greenhouse, inside which containers with seedlings will be placed at different heights. The greenhouse will be equipped with elevators that will slowly transport the plants from the top level down. While in motion, the vegetables and fruit will have time to ripen, so that they can be sent to stores directly from the farm. The project authors and the municipal government are convinced that in the future such greenhouses will appear in every large town, solving the shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables.
VANCOUVER
Warming pipes www.vancouver.ca The Canadian city of Vancouver found an effective use for the heat given off by sewage. The waste water that arrives to the station from neighboring areas gives off thermal energy while cleaned the energy heats up clean water for residential buildings. The mechanism is already providing for 1,100 flats, shops and public institutions. The technology was invented in 2010 with the purpose of heating the Olympic village, and is now used everywhere. It helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent and is part of the Greenest City 2020 program.
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KIRUNA
A city on the move www.kiruna.se
EDMONTON
Useful waste
Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost city, was moved 3 kilometers east. The project, developed by local authorities and supported by the citizens, was named Kiruna Forever. It was meant to save the town from future destruction. Kiruna sits over the world’s largest iron ore mine, which will in the upcoming years swallow part of the land, forming an enormous pit. The only solution is to demolish existing neighborhoods gradually and erect new ones elsewhere. The process is projected to take several decades. The iron mining company LKAB will be one of the main sponsors of the large-scale construction.
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www.edmonton.ca A plant for transforming household waste into biofuels was built in the Canadian city of Edmonton — the Edmonton Wasteto-Biofuels and Chemicals Facility. This technology is being lauded as revolutionary, for it will enable a cardinal change in waste utilization, unburden city dumps and provide the citizens with a more modern and eco-friendly kind fuel. The plant will produce methanol which can be used for motor fuels, solvents and gas supplements. The Edmonton plant, like others, belongs to a Joint Waste Management Center which develops technologies for the reuse of waste, both household and industrial.
BARCELONA
A city getting smart www.smartcity.bcn.cat/en/smart-city-campus Barcelona’s 22@ area, once mostly manufacturing and currently en route to a whole new image, is about to become the center of development for “smart city” technologies. The campus will house Cisco, Telefonica, Albertis, and Agbar, and the innovative solutions developed here will be provided primarily to the Catalan capital. Among the priority directions are transport, energy, economy, and demography. In particular, the Schneider Electric research center that will open there in the summer of 2016 will work on technology that improves cities’ energy efficiency and energy security. The first buildings to open will be not new constructions, but refurbished old factories, including an industrial landmark that suffered from a fire 7 years ago and will cost 6 million Euro to renovate. Most of the funds will be contributed by the large tech companies that are to be housed in the building.
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LIBRARY
Books that help understand cities
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CHARLES MONTGOMERY. HAPPY CITY: TRANSFORMING OUR LIVES THROUGH URBAN DESIGN Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014 anadian journalist Charles Montgomery is trying to answer the core question of urban studies:
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what should a city be like for the citizens to be happy. The examples of the most successful metropolises, like Paris and New York, show that the sensation of happiness only arises where there are firm social connections. The more infrastructural possibilities for forming those connections, the quicker and easier they arrive. Beyond architects and designers, the authorities must be involved. Notably, Montgomery had the idea for the book after meeting the legendary mayor of Bogota Enrice Penalosa, who set off to transform the Colombian capital into the “happy city” fifteen years ago by developing affordable public transportation, public spaces and horizontal connections between citizens. The example proved contagious. BRUCE KATZ AND JENNIFER BRADLEY. THE METROPOLITAN REVOLUTION: HOW CITIES AND METROS ARE FIXING OUR BROKEN POLITICS AND FRAGILE ECONOMY Brookings Institution Press, 2014 ruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley from Brookings Institution have dedicated their work to the part urban agglomerations play in the policy, economy, and social life in the United States. They bring local success stories: mayors, MPs, professional unions, investors and young leaders increasingly
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often refuse to wait for federal authorities to interfere before solving the problems of their territorial formations. They create jobs, invest in infrastructure, introduce hi-tech solutions to manufacture processes and fight social inequality. So, in New York there has been work on diversifying the city’s economy for years, in Miami innovative companies are building links to Brazil and other countries, and Houston has a project helping migrants socialize — find employment and rise up the career ladder. LEONID POLISCHUK. TOGETHER OR APART: SOCIAL CAPITAL IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT Strelka Press, 2014 conomist and professor at the Higher School for Economics Leonid Polischuk explains why crowdfunding or social capital is the key mechanism of modern metropolis development that helps not only solve mundane problems but also define the citizens’ level of self-awareness. The firmer the social links and the more trust between people, the easier it is to solve many tasks that municipal governments often have no attention (or budget) for, be it fixing up a courtyard or helping the homeless. Polischuk shows that this practice is both beneficial for social relationships and quite productive.
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Series “Moscow Urban Forum. The Urbanist’s Library”
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riumph of the City”, a book by Edward Glaeser, starts a book series called “Moscow Urban Forum. The Urbanist’s Library”, the first publishing project of the Moscow Urban Forum. Each year, the Forum brings together Russian and international experts in the field of urbanism. The organisers of the Forum consider it important that their ideas become available to the widest possible range of people interested in urban development.
“Triumph of the City” has already attracted considerable interest from the world’s urban studies community, and Edward Glaeser has for a long time featured among its key experts. This book, along with the subsequent publications in the series, will contribute to the development of Russian urban studies and take its rightful place on the bookshelf of our urbanists, architects, economists, planners and interested citizens.
The partners of the publishing programme are ZAO Inteco and Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO.
RUTHERFORD H. PLATT. RECLAIMING AMERICAN CITIES: THE STRUGGLE FOR PEOPLE, PLACE, AND NATURE SINCE 1900 Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2014 n exhaustive and educational history of the century-old struggle for a humane city. Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Massachusetts, Platt writes on the American experience but poses universal questions: how to make modern city life comfortable and safe and whether it is possible to dispose of total technocracy without sacrificing sustainable development in the metropolis. Once technology served for escaping from the rural lifestyle, and now its task is the opposite — humanizing the urban environment by bringing it closer to nature. The spectrum of possibilities represented in humane urbanism is quite broad: from building affordable housing, beaches and bike paths to creating urban farms.
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ANNA BRONOVITSKAYA, NATALIA BRONOVITSKAYA, NIKOLAI VASILIEV, OLGA KAZAKOVA, MARIANNA MAYEVSKAYA, ALEXANDR MOZHAEV, YELENA OVSYANNIKOVA, MARIA RYAVINA. RUSSIA THE TALL. A HISTORY OF TALL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION IN RUSSIA Tatlin, 2014 he book came out as part of the international 100+ Forum Russia dedicated to tall building construction and held in Ekaterinburg in late September. It is a commonly held belief that skyscrapers are an entirely foreign genre to us, or at least a little-known one. In order to disprove this popular notion, the authors have followed the entire history of high-rise construction in Russia, from Boris Iofan’s design of the Palace of Soviets and the Seven Sisters to Sergei Skuratov’s famous MosFilm Tower. The resulting encyclopedia of tall architecture has much more than height to recommend it.
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DANIEL BROOK. A HISTORY OF FUTURE CITIES Strelka Press, 2014 he new book by American journalist and architecture critic Daniel Brook both studies and unmasks historical experience of westernizing large cities of the East. Next to Shang-
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hai, Mumbai and Dubai, the author has zeroed in on St. Petersburg as well. The main thing in common for these future metropolises that have become experimental platforms for European colonizers — is a national identity forming on the basis of resisting outside pressure. What initially seems to be perks of civilization (modern architecture, cars, technology) eventually enslaves the locals, turning them not into consumers but into unwilling executors of modernization. This is best illustrated by the example of Dubai, where over 90 percent citizens are wealthy migrants pushing the locals into social periphery. This injustice, Brook suggests, can one day lead today’s “cities of the future” to vast socio-political breaks and civilizational isolation. ANDY MERRIFIELD. THE NEW URBAN QUESTION Pluto Press, 2014 he new life agenda for a modern city, thinks Merrifield, has to do less with its structure and more with the change the city’s social image experiences under the influence of a given economic model. This agenda is what the book is about. The author uses the examples of Paris, Detroit and Hong Kong to try and understand how and why a modern city turns from a place of comfortable human habitation into an
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enormous financial holding, a center of unjust distribution of wealth, and consequently of new forms of resistance, such as the social movements of Occupy Wall Street and Los Indignados. O. BREDNIKOVA, O. ZAPOROZHETS. MICRO-URBANISM. A CITY IN DETAIL New Literary Observer, 2014 xplorers of derelict industrial zones, patrons of flea markets, unsung heroes of street art and city courtyard dwellers, newlyweds taking pictures in front of the Christ the Savior Cathedral, passengers of public transportation — these are the protagonists of the book. The city is an endless warren of life’s layers, often studied by urbanists, sociologists, culturologists and economists. However, the notion of micro-urbanism is still marginal to serious research, the authors of this collection admit. The book has no scholarly pretense, full of thoughts, dreams and fantasies instead of complex graphs and statistics. But it certainly places the right emphases and arrives at a crucial albeit unoriginal conclusion: the personal experience of a city’s inhabitants forms its image and ambience no less than architecture, public spaces and other “macro” elements of the urban environment.
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EDWARD GLAESER. TRIUMPH OF the CITY
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arvard economist Edward Glaeser shows in his book that despite the usual notion of cities as dirty, poor, unhealthy, riddled with crime, expensive and polluting, they are in fact the healthiest, greenest and wealthiest (both culturally and economically) places to live. Glaeser uses historical descriptions and personal observations to reveal the hidden clockwork of cities. He shows that Bangalore and the Silicon Valley share similar history, that education plays a vital part in a city’s success, and that new technology really does get people closer to each other.
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The Giant Leap /
Humanity is starting to realize what price it has to pay for transitioning to a new stage of development. It sees the knot of controversial issues to unravel, the list of nearly impossible problems that it is nonetheless to solve in this Century of Cities.
United Kingdom
Canada
Germany Turkey
United States of America
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Brazil
Chile
RSA Argentina
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he arrival of the Century of Cities was “officially heralded” in 2007 in the UNFPA report “State of World Population. Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth”, which revealed the magical statistics, since then reiterated time and time again in various studies and articles, that over 50% of the planet’s population lived in cities. The second wave of urbanization is upon us, and humanity can take another giant leap. As cities grow, particularly in the developing countries (out of 2.5 billion new people who will join the planet by 2050, 1 billion will be in China, India, Nigeria, and Indonesia), so does the scope of the problems. The latest IPCC report shows that
since the 1970s, when the world’s urban population was just a little over 1 billion, the carbon footprint of the construction industry has doubled to 9.18 gigaton of CO2-equivalent in 2010, while buildings consume up to a third of all the energy produced on the planet (32 petawatt/hr). Yet, 2.6 billion urban dwellers live in slums. By 2050, when the global urban population will reach 6.3 bn, per capita emissions will triple. While visions of the future of the global economy are directly connected to cities (25 of the wealthiest cities account for 15 percent of global GDP; the following 75 cities — for another 10 percent), approximately 1 billion urban dwellers are
2,6 billion people on the planet live in slums or have no home at all
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Merchandise Trade Cartographic Visualisation North America Europe
Russia
Middle East & North Africa Africa South & Central Asia East Asia & Pacific
Republic of Korea
Japan
South & Central America, Caribbean
China
U.A.E. India
Singapore
Australia
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below the poverty line. One in five has no access to a normal toilet. 1.5 billion breathe polluted air, and are in part themselves to blame — around 1/4 of the homes in developing countries (and 70 percent in the least developed) are heated with coal or firewood. This is just part of the problems that constantly growing cities need to face, and globalization turns these problems from local to global. This is more than obvious with regard to climate and migration, but of course the connections between cities are strengthening, and their interdependence and ability to influence the global economy and wealth is increasing. The solution to these problems depends on many factors, which represent the drivers of development — utilizing growth potentials. The first difficulty cities encounter on this path is the need to expand horizons and raise the quality of planning. There is a need for development strategies which take into consideration the highly indeterminate future (unstable global economy, climate change), demographic change and the changing needs of the citizens, the capacities and limitations of the mechanisms of municipal management, and the risks for long-term transformation projects. That said, the strategies must be in keeping with the By 2025, the spatial structure of the city, because planning world will or gauging the results spend over $20 of development only trillion a year based on indicators (gross income, investto develop and ment level, per capiconstruct ta square footage etc.) urban leads to problems accumulating for future infrastructure generations to solve. A convincing lesson on the subject is the history of post-Soviet cities, such as Moscow, and their transition from the industrial to the post-industrial phase, as is the history of the American and European cities burdened with issues resulting from auto-oriented development: Beijing to Bogota to Detroit. Urban planning and management encounters the task of actively including the different citizen groups in the search for solutions and experimentation, instead of formally acknowledging their interests. A rigid management structure and planning methodology does not prepare a city for drastic change. At a moment of hardship for the city, a high level of control and the beauty of set strategies and plans can show their unpleasant colors: a lack of flexibility, the city being unable
to respond to a new challenge by creating several solutions and finding the correct one by trial and error. Large cities are the leaders of economic growth in their countries. The quality of life is higher there: per capita GDP in Tokyo, the world’s largest city, is 1.2 of the country’s average, the ratio is even higher in Guangzhou urban area — 2.6, in Manila (3.3), or Mumbai (4). Global competition requires that large cities strive to align with global capital markets that have their own demands. Do the priorities imposed by global economy reflect the citizens’ priorities, at least to some extent? Approximately 1 bn people in developing countries form the so-called “fragile middle class.” To them, economic shifts, including those caused by events abroad, may present unsolvable problems, throwing them back into poverty with everything this entails: the inability to purchase or rent quality housing, pay for transportation, find employment, afford medical care, send a child to school or college. Being the space where collective and individual needs of citizens and businesses meet, cities have often been seen as a mechanism or a model that needs constant treatment, replacement and addition of parts. Yet, a mechanistic approach to infrastructure development prevents a correct evaluation of the remote (both in temporal and geographical distance) consequences of decisions made. By some estimations, by 2025 over
The scale and complexity of a modern city can easily frighten a specialist, not to mention a simple citizen
20 million new urban dwellers are added annually in China alone
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$20 trillion per annum will be spent on infrastructure development and construction. How will the money be spent? Many mistaken infrastructure solutions disregard quite obvious circumstances. Developers build new housing on the cheapest and most available land far away from city centers, while more convenient unoccupied plots cannot be used because of confused ownership. As a result, the available housing does not end up being that cheap, as the price per square meter is supplemented by transportation expenses, as well as the environmental impact of intensified transport use. Road networks are expanding to satisfy the needs of car owners whose numbers increase in rapid progression (in 2002, there were 100 cars per 1,000 people globally, and in 2009 the total grew to 123), which only encourages citizens to buy new cars. The quantity of bottled water consumed is rising, while cities lose tons of water due to low-quality pipelines. When it comes to infrastructure projects with far-reaching planning horizons, or problems that may arise in the far future (such as the rising global sea level), both the complexity of the solution and the price of error rise. What can be the part architects and city planners can play in resolving these problems? These professions have changed much over the recent years, but their members still speak of being unsure how compatible their knowledge, skill and ambition is with the current urban development agendas. “Enough weird architecture”, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2014, and with the country’s population growing by 20 million people yearly, it seems that the issue at hand is not of taste or aesthetics, but that of priorities. Does this mean architects are unneeded? Or could architectural features make projects more effective? Meanwhile, city communitie and activists take over some elements of care for uban environment. Motivated and inventive artists, designers and regular citizens look for things that can be done differently, better, in a more useful or aesthetic way. They come up with utopian projects or tackle household problems. To them, it may be a creative project, social work, or a hobby. They may not see the global scope of the issue, but they are well aware of what they want here and now. They have a significant feature in common with many great politicians, members of international organizations and urban experts. It is the belief that however large cities are, they could be better, and however enormous the problems we are facing, they can be solved. This is what Urban Agenda Magazine is all about.
CULTURAL, ADMINISTRATIVE/POLITICAL, GEOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC “CAGE” COMPARISON BETWEEN ADVANCED AND EMERGING ECONOMIES Cultural
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Ratio of Emerging Average/Advanced Average
Importance of Work* Ethnic Fractionalization Self-description as a Religious Person* Cultural Fractionalization Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Family Importance* Masculinity (vs. Femininity) Trust in Neighbours* Ratio Female to Male Labor Participation Share of Women on Boards Trust in People of Another Religion* Trust in People with Another Nationality* Individualism (vs. Collectivism) Most People Can Be Trusted*
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Administrative Public Confidence in Government* Documents to Trade (Export+Import) Military expenditure** Public spending on education, total** Economic Freedom Index Enabling Trade Index General government final consumption expenditure** Political stability and absence of violence* Health expenditure, public** Rule of law* Ease of Doing Business Rank* Control of corruption* Citizens Fredom Index
Geographic Country is Landlocked Agricultural land (% of land area) Country is an Island Arable land (% of land area) Urban population (% of total) Population density (people per sq. km of land area)
Economic 8.1
Agriculture, value added** Real GDP Growth rate 2003–13 Projected Real GDP Growth 2013–2019 Population ages 0–14 (% of total) Volatility of Real GDP Growth 1993–2013 Volatility of Real GDP Growth 2003–2013 Gini Index Industry, value added** Life Expectancy Services, etc., value added** Human Development Index Economic Complexity Index* Population ages 65 and above** Research and development expenditure** GDP Per Capita (PPP) GDP per Capita (USD, mkt exch rates)
0.33 0.4 0.67
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Differences between emerging and advanced economies extend beyond the obvious economic ones to encompass a variety of cultural, administrative/political, and geographic distinctions. These help to explain challenges faced by advanced economies seeking to tap into faster growth in faraway emerging economies. Notes: The vertical lines between zero and one correspond to the vertical lines between 1 and 3. For example, 1.5 represents an equivalent excess of emerging over advanced as 0.67 repre sents of advanced over emerging. Variables marked with asterisk (*) were transformed using min-max normalization prior to calculating comparisons. ** — % of GDP
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NORMS OF GARBAGE: THE FATE OF A POST-SOVIET CITY FOR MOSCOW AND MANY OTHER CITIES IN THE USSR AND THE EASTERN BLOC, THE PAST QUARTER OF A CENTURY HAD TO DO NOT ONLY WITH THE TRANSITION FROM INDUSTRIAL TO INFORMATION ECONOMY, BUT ALSO WITH ATTEMPTS TO OVERCOME THE TRAUMA OF THE PAST BY EITHER CONCEALING OR REVEALING IT
GRIGORY REVZIN historian, art and architecture critic, journalist, columnist
50 square centimeters was the allotment of culture per Soviet citizen in the shape of cinemas, libraries and clubs
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he anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall is an opportunity to remember the common fate and transformation of postSoviet cities. Berlin was nearly razed down during WWII and then rebuilt virtually from scratch. So it has particularly many marks typical for a Soviet city. But it is also quite different from other Eastern Bloc cities. The central idea for the entirety of German post-war culture, Berlin included, was repentance. In the material world, in urban environment, the idea of repentance takes on the form of emphasizing trauma, Berlin became a city that does not hide its trauma, but displays it for all to see — the tears in its fabric, its special memorials (Eisenman’s Memorial, Libeskind’s museum). At some point, the Berlin Wall turned downtown Berlin into a suburb, causing an inversion of the city’s topography still evident today. This very “un-Soviet” approach of putting emphasis on the horrible events of the past instead of trying to gloss them over made Berlin, and not any other post-Soviet city, the new “European capital” and enabled its transition into a “knowledge economy” city. As for most other post-Soviet cities, including Moscow, their fate had much to do with the problems of the post-industrial period. For Soviet cities were really industrialization cities, and it was an industrialization that came late compared to the West — in the 20th century, not the 19th. This industrialization merged with modernism, as can very well be seen in the industrial buildings. In the 19th century a factory is a “house for the machine”, where today the industrial function can easily be replaced with another (viz. Moscow areas, such as “Red October” or “Vinzavod”). In modernism a factory is a “house-machine”. While a human can move into a “house for the machine”, it is impossible to live in a “house-machine”. The buildings of 1970s factories, made of concrete blocks, can only be demolished and taken away
as the garbage that they are. Such “garbage” is an immense problem for a modern post-industrial city. In the 1970s, half of Moscow’s population were proletariat, while today it is hardly 7 percent. None of the structures made for a workingclass city work — public transportation, healthcare, foodservice, education system. The material implementation of these systems is out of date, often defunct, and becomes, in turn, garbage fit only for disposal. In addition, the development of Soviet cities had two particular features that need to be dealt with today. Firstly, the idea of equality, including territorial equality: there had to be equal amounts of goods provided to each neighborhood. In accordance with construction and city planning norms, there had to be a per capita average of 50 square cm of culture in the form of cinemas, libraries, and Houses of Culture. Such allotment leads to principal decentralization and the smearing out of functions in an even layer throughout the city. The other particularity was that the centers of government under Soviet rule had an unexpectedly medieval structure: the Kremlin with the Red Square in front of it, the emptiness that guards the authority. This leads to a strange city structure with the hub of power surrounded by emptiness and then a homogenized environment lacking any hubs whatsoever. This makes turning such cities into “knowledge economy” cities based on the principle of exchange very, very difficult, because in a homogeneous environment everything is the same and exchange lacks purpose. However, an industrial city leaves much empty space, and that is where life begins in a post-industrial one. Today’s Moscow is covered in such islets where life is attempted in a new way. Some such communities are quite large, covering entire neighborhoods, like Ostozhenka, others consist of just one building, but it will be a tall building, fenced with a gate, a concierge placed at the en-
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60 percent of Moscow’s inhabitants barely ever leave their sleeping suburb homes
trance. These are “palaces” of new life built into the Soviet city, and in case of Moscow, they take over 10 to 12 percent of the space.. Another type of post-Soviet Moscow is developing downtown, and takes up about 12 percent there too — this is much closer to a post-industrial economy, because the historical city center is best suited for this purpose. As it is known that about 60 percent of Moscow’s inhabitants barely ever leave their sleeping suburbs, the conclusion can be reached that 40 percent of the population make active use of 20 percent of the city’s area. The rest of Moscow is still Soviet. These lifestyles are different and they compete actively for importance, power, economic sources, and life goods. They do that following the rules of global economy. Each of the “cities” inside Moscow has its own resource, its own way of managing that resource and its own market. The Soviet city of suburbs came about earlier than all the others, but is the most densely populated. Its joint “income” is much greater than that of the much smaller capitalist city: e. g., almost a third of the city budget is allotted for social payments. The people receiving these payments have things to demand from the city — comfort, ecology, free healthcare. The approx-
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imate 12 percent of more economically active population has other interests — they accept inconvenience and stress but expect opportunities for intensive growth, new jobs, noisy entertainment and memorable experiences.
PUTTING EMPHASIS ON the horrible events of the past instead of trying to gloss them over made Berlin, and not any other post-Soviet city, into the new “European capital” Some post-Soviet cities have managed to overcome the problems they faced while transitioning from industrial to post-industrial economy, while others have so far failed to proceed far enough along this path. Can it be that this has to do with the city’s readiness for conflict and encountering trauma, even in such a slightly exaggerated, emphatically open way as it is done in Berlin? While the desire to provide social comfort and a conflict-less environment retain progress?
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Growing Green Cities Growing green cities: Metropolises could either be the biggest threat for the environment, or the most efficient answer to environmental problems. The successful solution of this controversy lies in a more refined approach to private-public partnership regarding infrastructure.
Michael Heise Michael Heise is Chief Economist at Allianz SE and author of Emerging From the Euro Debt Crisis: Making the Single Currency Work
600 of the world’s major cities already generate more than half of global GDP
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UNICH — The future of the world’s climate will be decided in our cities. Urban areas already account for up to 70% of global CO2 emissions, and that share is likely to increase in the coming decades, as more people — billions more — move to cities, and as urbanization drives global economic growth. Looked at from the standpoint of both climate change and growth, the rise of cities represents a challenge and an opportunity. The nexus between urban expansion and climate protection is infrastructure. Upgrading urban infrastructure can drive economic growth and reduce carbon emissions at the same time. But how will the world’s cities pay for new and greener infrastructure? The good news is that mayors — in developed and developing countries alike — are no longer waiting for national governments to strike a global climate agreement. Not only Copenhagen, London, and Munich, but also Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Shanghai are drawing up their own environmental programs. Such plans are variously ambitious — ranging from wish lists to enforceable targets — but the trend toward sustainable urban living is clear. If cities are to reduce their carbon footprint, they will need massive investments in their infrastructure. Three-quarters of rich countries’ CO2 emissions come from just four types of infrastructure: power generation, residential and commercial buildings, transport, and waste management. Any urban sustainability program must therefore include a shift to renewable energy and combined heat and power stations, more public buses and trains, cleaner private vehicles, better insulation of offices, hospitals, apartment blocks, and other buildings, and smarter management of waste and water — along with many other things. Infrastructure investments are also necessary to cope with continued urbanization: by 2050,
there could be as many people living in urban areas as are alive today. And new infrastructure will be needed to maintain cities’ role as the drivers of economic growth: the world’s 600 major cities already generate more than half of global GDP, and urban areas will contribute disproportionately to future wealth creation. All in all,, around $2 trillion a year will be needed for the next 20 years to keep the world’s cities liveable and to reduce their carbon emissions. Where will this money come from? Only a few cities are rich enough to upgrade their infrastructure on their own. Most cities — especially in developed countries — cannot rely on more transfers from national governments. Public spending on infrastructure has plummeted in Europe and the United States since the 1960s; and, with public budgets currently under strain, it is unlikely to recover. Faced with a growing infrastructure-investment gap, cities will need more private investment. Banks have traditionally financed a large share of infrastructure outlays. However, six years after the start of the financial crisis, banks in many countries are still trying to repair their balance sheets, while new capital and liquidity requirements will make it more expensive for banks to finance long-term lending in the future. Meanwhile, pension funds, insurance companies, and other institutional investors are increasingly investing in infrastructure. Unlike banks, they have long-dated liabilities, for which the long-term, predictable returns from infrastructure investments can be a good match. In an environment of extremely low interest rates and frothy equity markets, infrastructure also looks like an attractive and reasonably safe alternative to stocks and bonds, yielding returns that can ultimately finance the pensions of the West’s aging societies.
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So far, however, institutional investors have invested relatively little in infrastructure, partly owing to shortcomings in the overall investment environment. For example, some governments have retroactively changed their policies for renewables, which has made investors more cautious. Moreover, new capital requirements can make it very expensive for insurers to invest in infrastructure. Furthermore, many institutional investors do not yet have sufficient expertise to venture into infrastructure. And, because infrastructure is not yet a clearly defined asset class, investors often find it difficult to plan, assess, and manage their holdings in this area. These obstacles apply to all infrastructure investments. But urban infrastructure is at a particular disadvantage. For starters, many city officials have limited experience dealing with private investors, which can make it difficult to get fruitful partnerships off the ground. More important, urban infrastructure projects tend to be small, dispersed, and diverse. For most private investors, the effort required to find, evaluate, and manage such projects is far greater than the return that they can expect, which is why institutional investors often prefer large, more easily assessed projects such as wind parks, pipelines, or motorways. If more private money is to flow into urban infrastructure, the institutional setup must change.
Very large cities can establish their own institutions to match infrastructure projects and investors, as Chicago has already done through its Infrastructure Trust. For the rest, governments should create national institutions to support sustainable urban infrastructure investments. Such “Green Cities Platforms” could start by providing consultancy services, matching inves-
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The effort required to find, evaluate, and manage urban infrastructure projects is often far greater than the expected return tors to projects, and serving as forums for knowledge sharing. They would then be well positioned to act as aggregators — packaging, standardizing, and marketing sustainable urban infrastructure projects. At a later point, they could move on to raise money in the capital market and fund sustainable infrastructure alongside other investors. If the barriers to private investment in urban infrastructure could be overcome, the world would benefit from lower CO2 emissions, faster economic growth, and sounder retirement savings. This is a dialogue worth having.
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70 % of global CO₂ emissions come from urban areas due to heating, power, and other energy expenditure
Copyright: Project Syndicate 2014
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Moscow Perspective Presently, the city’s construction sector implements dozens of projects, such as building new roads and social infrastructure, beautifying parks, drafting strategies and spatial development plans. Those projects are part of the long-term change program that will help to make the multimillion megacity yet more livable.
Transport Interchange Nodes With transport nodes connecting the surface public transport routes, the metro, and the railway, the Moscow streets will soon be relieved from cars, while those crossings will also become development drivers for the neighboring areas. Each node means an opportunity for the Muscovites to commute to work and back home faster and with greater comfort, as well as new opportunities for creating business and services where they are needed. The construction program has 273 transport nodes planned altogether, designs for many of them are ready and going through public hearings.
Moscow River Development ???? The Moscow River-adjacent territories cover almost a tenth of the city area in its “old” boundaries. To a great extent, those territories consist of industrial areas, undeveloped green areas, and embankments used for car traffic. Developing them will make the Moscow River one of the main streets of the city and will enable unlocking potential of the river and the space opening onto it to the fullest. The bidding for the Moscow River development strategy was held in the second half of 2014, and the winning team headed by Project Meganom is preparing a detailed concept based on their winning bid.
Zaryadye Park ???? One of the greenest cities in the world, Moscow is going to get even greener. In 2017, the waste ground close to the Red Square will turn into a new park. The park project won an international competition among the best-known global architecture celebrities. Eighty-seven teams competed during the first stage, and at the second stage the winning project was chosen from among six detailed bids — from Gustafson Porter, MVRDV, Turenscape, West 8, TPO Reserve, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The jury awarded the project to the team headed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a US-based studio. Their bid featured typical Russian landscapes intersected and superimposed in the park environment — the north, steppes, forests and ponds.
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Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow f o r Ur ba n D e v e l o pme nt an d Con struction
“Our main priority is to develop the city, to improve quality of life and to make the capital more comfortable both for living and working. Every year, dozens of parks are build, the urban environment gets fixed up, buildings are repaired, and the transport infrastructure is developing at a rate as yet in the world. Since 2011, the volumes of transport construction more than quadrupled, with about 300 km of roads, more than 28 km of new lines and 14 metro stations built, and the Moscow Smaller Ring Railway gets ready for passenger traffic. Notwithstanding the challenging economic conditions, this year we plan to commission 9,000,000 sq. meters of real estate, including 3.1 million sq. meters of housing. We retain the best architects and builders, get advice from experts, and openly discuss all projects with citizens. This is what enabled and will enable Moscow’s dynamic and fast development, making it more and more comfortable and attractive city for both residents and businesses. Four years ago, we committed to polycentric city development, so as not to aggravate the traffic situation. Therefore, we believe it is essential to shift the center of business activity to the city periphery, including the newly added territories. In New Moscow, the administrative and business center in Kommunarka with its area of over 300 hectares is to become such hub; it is planned to create an administrative, and educational, and a healthcare clusters there. At least 3 million sq. meters of real estate will be built, and about 100,000 to 150,000 jobs will be created”.
Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena
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The Luzhniki Stadium is reconstructed together with other Moscow sport venues in preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Built in 1956, the Luzhniki became one of the most important stadiums in the country; it hosted a number of major domestic and global events, including the 1980 Olympics. The arena will be reconstructed carefully, with the historical facade left untouched; however, it will be possible to increase the total seat count, and the entire internal infrastructure will be upgraded. The area of the sports venue, of which the stadium is just a part, will become the new gravity center in the city, a place with the best facilities for sports and fitness.
Moscow Industrial Areas The territories where the city’s industrial facilities were located are a development resource to last for years. The total area of these industrial zones is estimated at 17 percent of the “old” Moscow. Many plants went out of business, while others have to be reorganized and to move to new standards. Innovative and creative start-ups, residential and business quarters, parks and roads can take up the space vacated from industrial zones. Redevelopment of the ZIL industrial area, the “South Port,” the “Serp & Molot” factory are among the most ambitious projects. Architectural and urban competitions are held for industrial area projects in order to choose the best solutions for the city development.
Moscow Smaller Ring Railway Laid down more than a century ago, the Ring Railway was underused in the recent decades. The project started in 2011 will transform this railway into a most essential element of the capital’s transportation system by 2025. Almost three dozen interchange stations will connect the Railway to the metro and the train stations helping to relieve both the Moscow subway and the surface roads. Moreover, the space along the 54-kilometer Railway will find a new momentum for development.
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Drivers of development for global cities: strategies, resources, tools for achieving success in the 21st century /
The challenges the world’s largest cities face are similar but the solutions are usually unique. What are the notions to be considered when choosing development directions, how should key problems be formulated, and what are the professional tools to use for solving them? The answers may be found using studies commissioned by the Forum, expert opinions, new data, and inspiring experiences from various cities and countries.
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A new development cycle for global cities In 2014, the Moscow Urban Forum initiated several studies dedicated to urban development strategy issues. One of them was dedicated to the relationship between global cities and the governments of their countries, i. e ., the dialogue and cooperation between the municipal and the national level of government. Below are the key points of the study. Urban development has a wave-like and cyclical pattern on the international level. The ability to participate in a given “wave” depends on large geopolitical events, the state of the main sectors of the economy, new technology, or even just the whims of municipal and national leaders. Obviously, the number of cities taking part in the new globalization cycle, which began after the 2008–2009 recession, is as large as ever. New global cities keep forming in the world due to various factors. While participation in previous cycles, which ensured the blossoming of such global cities as London, New York and Tokyo, depended on the city’s ability to act as a center of finance, business, information, tourism and commerce, today more significance is accorded to science, medicine, ICT, “green” technology, services, design, and real estate. Modern global cities are complex economic mechanisms for attracting human capital, investors, and entrepreneurs. They must dedicate more attention to issues of comfortable living, cultural recreation, and modernization of the city environment. The 2008–2009 recession revealed the problems of cities where lives depended on a single sector of the economy. Its results also showed the fragility of many investment models in cities aiming to modernize infrastructure, housing and education. It attracted attention to the
matters of sustainable development and territory expansion. It became clear that a toolkit was needed to prevent getting “stuck” on an undesirable development path. Finally, increasing inequality between cities within the same country is a growing concern. In many states, this has caused a wave of pessimism as to the efficacy of the global city model as a whole. The positions of governments on the subject differ, but many national leaders have become more wary of supporting the growth of large urban centers. This adds peculiarity to the new globalization cycle, as the growing economic power of global cities coincides with the increase of nationalism, separatism, and annoyance with migration. The distinguishing features of the new cycle of global city development are: broad competition, new industry trends, consideration and understanding of the strategical situation, and controversy between the “winners’ and “losers’ of globalization. This demands a fresh approach to the choice of connections and partnerships with leaders and institutions within the national government. Only now, the national governments start to understand how this new world works. The relationships between national governments and global cities can vary greatly. Four types of relationship can be distinguished:
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1 Centralized systems: the national government controls much of the state’s expenses and is responsible for most macroeconomic decisions, taxation, infrastructure and migration planning. In such countries, global cities are usually the capitals, where government bodies sit. Examples: London, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo 2 Federative systems impacted greatly by the national government: global cities are ruled de facto by regional authorities responsible for all the decisions affecting the city’s development. Even if a global city is the largest center of such a region (province or state), the elected regional government will usually consist of more representatives of rural areas or smaller cities. Examples: Mumbai, New York, São Paolo, Toronto 3 Federative systems with powerful municipal government: global cities have a great level of autonomy, even if they are fully or partially subject to the sovereignty of the national government. Most of the country is governed through a system of states or provinces (districts), but large and significant cities can receive an equivalent status to a larger administrative unit, in which case they are granted more freedoms and rights. Examples: Hong Kong, Moscow, Shanghai 4 Independent city-states: there are several fully independent or autonomous
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cities in the world that have no national government over them and own their own diplomatic and military apparatus. Example: Singapore The specifics of each global city’s economic development is unique as well, and national governments have different views of the global cities’ success, formed within different economic and political traditions. At least four basic models representing the varying levels of national government intervention and approaches to the economic globalization of cities can be distinguished. That said, in the latest cycle of global economic growth national governments began realizing the importance of change, so that global cities may successfully provide for the needs of their citizens and preserve competitiveness. External factors were often what drove the change, such as financial crises, political scandals, environmental disasters or large-scale sporting events. But in any case, many national states today understand the opportunities and dangers related to shifting centers of economic gravity or integrating large regions, and are therefore looking at new strategies for the efficient development of global cities. These can be nominally divided into six basic tendencies. GLOBAL FINANCIAL COMPETITIVENESS, SUPPORT OF BUSINESS
Modern national governments have not only a better perception of the competitive dynamics between cities, but also the ability to see the effects of errors in regional policy and the outcomes of unequal globalization exposure. Global cities need a quality environment for conducting business.
Their competitiveness will depend in part on the government’s ability to control inflation, increase the efficacy of the public sector, and ensure legal guarantees and transparent operations for the private sector. SUPPORT OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Knowledge-based industries are in a phase of accelerated global integration, so many global cities strive to become hubs of science and technology. National and regional governments play a vital part in the process, determining the placement of innovation development centers and their necessary infrastructure. State research grants and science institute solutions may have very beneficial impact on the innovation and technology environment of global cities.
educational facilities capable of attracting international students. GLOBAL CONNECTION
Global cities must pay close attention to developing systems of internal and external communications. External communications are necessary for efficient operation on an international level. Ports, airports, high-speed railways, logistic platforms, highway networks and every type of digital communications are vital elements for competitiveness in a global city. Globalization brings many changes: quickly growing population whose density needs to be managed, redistribution of functional territories. The successful solution of these problems depends on the quality of internal communications, particularly public transportation.
HOLDING LARGE EVENTS
Holding an international event is a unique and rare chance for a global city. The most significant ones, like the Olympics, draw the entire world’s attention to the city. International business events open up new markets. But in order for events to strengthen a city’s reputation, and not become a major failure (which happens relatively often), the city authorities must be in close cooperation with the national government. This is the only way to ensure the timely completion of infrastructure projects in keeping with technical standards, and form a positive image of the city as a result. OPEN JOB MARKETS
International companies working in global cities require personnel. This means the need for job markets open to foreign talent. Global cities can form in a country that is at least to some extent open to the influx of foreign labor, has universities and
MANAGING POPULATION GROWTH AND GLOBALIZATION EFFECTS
The employment opportunities, cultural diversity and relative political stability of global cities have made them attractive in the extreme. Growing demand for real estate, caused by the influx of workforce and investors, causes in turn new and unexpected problems in providing housing (particularly for young people), territorial management, services of education and healthcare, socio-economic adaptation. A new infrastructure is needed to modernize out-of-date systems of power and water distribution, sanitation systems and law enforcement and emergency response systems. The era of global cities is just beginning. As new sectors are internalized and countries develop, the next 25 years see many new global cities. This means
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National governments and cities globalization High level
Hierarchical structure, institutional dependence; regular government intervention into public policy. The government tries to resist globalization; a global city has few opportunities for flexible policy
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Global city as a development catalyzer; the national government strives to control the uneven distribution of territory; fast strategic reaction to guide economic and territorial development
Singapore
Moscow
Seoul
8% of country’s population 23% of country’s GDP 2.8 GVA ratio* 58th place** 53rd place***
100% of country’s population 100% of country’s GDP 1 GVA ratio* 3rd place** 2nd place***
48% of country’s population 49% of country’s GDP 1.15 GVA ratio* 20th place** 26th place***
Shanghai
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2% of country’s population 4% of country’s GDP 2.1 GVA ratio* 43rd place** 28th place***
Tokyo 28% of country’s population 31% of country’s GDP 2.08 GVA ratio* 6th place** 6th place***
Region-based outlook; federal system, close interaction of public and private sectors; local innovations
Paris 18% of country’s population 30% of country’s GDP 2 GVA ratio* 4th place** 23rd place***
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London 13% of country’s population 22% of country’s GDP 1.75 GVA ratio* 2nd place** 9th place***
Project implementation in private sector; self-organization; business and civic leadership development; selective interaction with other cities and adjoining regions
Hong Kong
Statism (government intervention)
São Paulo
0,5% of country’s population 3% of country’s GDP 5.6 GVA ratio* 4th place** 7th place***
11% of country’s population 20% of country’s GDP 1,8 GVA ratio* 62nd place** 57th place***
Toronto 17% of country’s population 19% of country’s GDP 1.1 GVA ratio* 12th place** 15th place***
Low level
Mumbai
New York
2% of country’s population 7% of country’s GDP 4 GVA ratio* 70th place** 71st place***
6% of country’s population 8% of country’s GDP 1.3 GVA ratio* 1st place** 3rd place***
Globalization (maturity, competitiveness)
that in some form or other, the dialogue between global cities and national states will continue at least for another 50 years. The ability of the state to adapt quickly to the specifics of global cities will play a crucial part. Already formed global cities — London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Toronto — strive to solve the problem
* per capita, compared to the country’s average
of investment deficit, remain approachable and competitive. Their interests mostly go beyond the national economy towards areas where new sources for growth can be found. “Newer” global cities — Moscow, Mumbai, Shanghai, São Paolo — achieve success by offering attractive stimuli: high profitability,
** place in the Global City Competitiveness Index
High level
*** country’s place in the Global Competitiveness Index
good risk management, a basic level of protection, a high level of public services. Considering their previous experience of cyclical rise within the global value chain and unprecedented population growth, they are now attempting to solve quality of life issues in a more structured and systematic way.
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STRATEGIC MASTER PLAN — A TOOL TO MANAGE THE FUTURE The main question for the study made by a large TEAM OF AUTHORS led by Streak KB experts and Streak KB partner Alexei Muratov in time for the Fourth Moscow Urban Forum, was how to insure an efficient process of strategic spatial planning. The experts GAVE their suggestions based on examining the situation in Moscow, and on international experience in making master plans. Strategic master plans present an image of the desired future. They also mark ways of achieving it, by offering the opportunity to arrange priorities and distribute resources. The municipal authorities work on a master plan together with citizens, businessmen and experts. As ideas are collected, current agendas discussed and various development approaches weighed, a joint vision forms of where the city should be moving and what it should become. The strategic document becomes a tool not only of planning but also of communication. This function represents a shift that society is undergoing in the era of information. Broadly speaking, it is a transition from the space of things to the space of relationships. When connections replace things on the forefront, life changes quicker than its entourage. The immaterial environment evolves more actively than the physical. Usual documents, like general plans, do not work in this situation. Their language is understood by specialists only. Something different is needed, more clear, convincing, conceptual. This could be a master plan — a strategy addressed to everyone and prepared by everyone together. A study of the practice of strategic spatial planning in ten metropolises or metropolitan agglomerations (Berlin, Vancouver, Copenhagen, London, Melbourne, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, Chicago, Shanghai) shows that they all face essentially the same problem: the
need to stimulate growth with limited resources. While the main development driver in a blossoming economy is business that takes on many costs of taking over territories, stagnation or decline sees those costs redistributed among many more players. In large urbanized formations, the situation is yet more complex: agglomerations or mega-urban areas, i. e., spatial complexes with stable social, cultural, economic and transportation connections, often include several administrative territorial units. It becomes necessary to create a centralized development management body. This body will initiate the development of various strategies, including those of spatial design. More often than not, this part will be played by regional authorities. The extent to which members of local administrative bodies comprising the region are involved in preparing the strategy can vary. Sometimes, like in Greater Vancouver, representatives of these bodies take direct part in the work; other times, like in London, they are able to coordinate projects; and sometimes, like in Tokyo, they receive the document from above as instructions for further actions. Members of sectoral agencies and departments are involved in designing the strategic master plan as well, and thus the connection is insured between the spatial strategy and the socio-
economic, environmental, and others. These sector representatives can join a project team, as it happens in Tokyo. Elsewhere, like Singapore, the spatial development strategy is coordinated with every necessary governing body. Almost everywhere, except Shanghai, the socioeconomic strategy makes up an inherent component of the master plan. The practices studied show a tendency for further centralization of agglomeration government by either raising them to a higher (super-regional) level, or forming special (super-structural) bodies with extensive governing power, or increasing the size of administrative units. In particular, after the 2007 reform, the development strategy of Greater Copenhagen fell to the jurisdiction of the national Ministry of Environment. According to a law that will go into power in France in 2016, agglomerations with a population over 400,000 will be managed by new institutions, taking over the competences of departmental and regional authorities. In Tokyo, there is growing discussion of the need to unite the 23 municipal units forming the core of the metropolitan area. This trend is largely balanced out by the fact that spatial development strategies are often rather general and are then detailed in territorial or land-use plans similar to the Russian “general plans”, developed for smaller territories. Even
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A master plan is oriented at long-term transformations — 15 years and more. measures or “quick wins” that make the transformations tangible and give a sense of quick improvement
Like any strategy, a master plan is based on certain goals and focused on a limited number of priorities. The priorities are usually no fewer than four and no more than six
A master plan usually has result evaluation tools and requires monitoring and periodic actualization
A master plan is largely oriented at optimizing existing resources and attracting more. It is better suited for working with a pre-formed environment than for creating an absolutely new one
A master plan presupposes an active and diverse dialogue with the numerous stakeholders of urban planning. This makes the document clear and intelligible, understandable to the broad public
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MASTER PLAN A master plan has two starting points. Firstly, values and principles compiled into a general vision. Secondly, an analysis of the socio-economic, geo-political, technological and other contexts helps define the dangers and potentials of development
It pertains both to planning and management issues. Still, the role of the definition of development mechanisms in spatial strategies is constantly increasing
A master plan is a framework document. It defines development directions which are then concretized in other documents. Normally, a master plan is not directive in nature and is not regarded as a law
unitarian Singapore has five “millionstrong districts”, each with its own detailed urban planning documents based on the master plan. This way, the planning system becomes at least bi-leveled: a strategy for the agglomeration and landuse plan for the smaller administrative units. Sometimes, like in Tokyo, the system gains another level — a strategy for an even broader region extending beyond the agglomeration. In order to describe territories and ascribe different characteristics to them, the “environment principle” is normally applied. Territories are divided into zones
A master plan considers various aspects of city life, including the social, economic, environmental, cultural, and other fields
A master plan is not a technical document, but a political one that formulates the vision and intentions of the public government regarding the city’s spatial development
by type of environment. Each zone has its own characteristics (density, height, the principles of forming public spaces etc.). The set of characteristics depends on local professional traditions. E.g., Greater Copenhagen had four zones: the inner city, the suburbs, the green wedges and the miscellaneous. Tokyo has five: the central zone, the city environment, the seaside zone, the natural zone, and the small town zone. It is important that there should not be too many such zones. In the last version of Melbourne’s plan, for instance, their number has been decreased from nine to five. This principle makes it possible to have varied approaches
to different territories when creating a strategy for a large region. Speaking of a strategy as a way to optimize resources, that is normally done by dividing the space into two types of area — stimulation and restriction. In Berlin and Brandenburg this happens on the basis of Walter Christaller’s Central place theory, whereby differentsized centers are determined within an agglomeration, and construction in these centers is either encouraged or limited by way of a regulating mechanism. Greater Vancouver and Greater Copenhagen have areas marked for possible urbanization,
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but the scattering of urban texture is regulated both legally and by limitations on transport construction. There is a special place reserved in strategies for transportation sections. The street and road network as well as non-street (track) transportation lines help connect large-scale areas on the one hand and are the main object of public government funding on the other. They are also a development driver. For example, the light metro project in Greater Paris, activating such subcenters of the agglomeration as the innovation cluster in Saclay, the Defense business district and others. The documents studied are governed by the following
principle: first infrastructural, then capital construction. The principle is best applied to already-developed areas. The model of a compact city, condensing in its nature, triumphs. The model favors non-automotive modes of transportation and stimulates diverse construction which aims to “pack” many typologies and functions into limited spaces. Such a model requires constant revision of the regulatory system, but helps avoid the high costs of new infrastructure. No wonder that management tools have been prevailing over project tools. It can be said that an industrial modernist city demonstrates active expansion in space while preserving relatively unchanged game rules — precepts that define the
legal, technical and regulatory context of economic activity. In a post-industrial city it is the opposite — its area is more or less unchangeable, while dynamics reflect in regulatory mechanisms such as urban planning statutes, rules, norms, etc. For example, the spatial development concept for Greater Copenhagen has remained unchanged for almost 70 years. But the game rules change often. This applies both to the density indicators of development areas, and the proximity of various available objects to public transportation stops. During the economic recession of the 1980, the minimal distance from a stop to a large business complex was decreased, which helped
Based on the experience of ten metropolises, let us see how a master plan can become any of the five tools we defined earlier: coordination, forecasting, engagement, marketing, and policy.
COORDINATION TOOL
Coordinating the work of the management apparatus can increase the efficiency of resource distribution. It is important not only to read the documents issued by the relevant departments, but also to coordinate strategies. The scenario where several representatives from different bodies governing different areas of the city’s life form a united team to work on the strategy, like in Tokyo, seems the most productive. In this case the process of seeking optimal solutions becomes multi-faceted, and the various representatives involved guarantee non-stop feedback between the departments and the creators of the master plan. Raising managerial
competence is another reason why this is important: economists learn spatial thinking, while designers account for socio-economic realities in their maps and blueprints. Regular interaction with lower-standing levels of government, communication with municipal and communal mayors leaves us connected to reality and with properly aligned priorities. Take Greater Copenhagen, where strategy preparation begins precisely with this. The developers meet with members of local government bodies to determine the problems that must be considered. Municipalities, in turn, can adjust their work to the general development plans. Greater Vancouver, too, has a good feedback system, where mayors must
report to Metro Vancouver on the way the city planning documents they are preparing will benefit the realization of regional strategies. Such reports, by the way, are helpful not only between different government levels, but also between departments. FORECASTING TOOL
An integrated statistical interactive database contains massive amounts of regularly updated data and provides quick access to necessary information. One of the difficulties of strategic planning is that information often goes out of date before the document goes live. That is why continuous information support should be given special consideration. Copenhagen’s Plansystem DK is a good example.
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attract additional investment to the area. When the situation improved, the rule was revisited and made more strict. Flexible game rules combined with a relatively immobile spatial framework stimulate the use of parametric modeling tools. Such tools as the Meplan software used in the strategic planning of Greater London, help connect density indicators with transport flow intensity markers, and also trace the impact different uses of particular territories may have on the way the entire metropolis functions. Another outcome of intensifying predeveloped territories is the rise of the significance of the communicative
It is also important to evaluate statistical data in its dynamic form and compare it with information from other fields, when, say, information on the social infrastructure is “superimposed” on demographic predictions? Such “stereoscopic” work was done, for example, when preparing the development strategy for the Ile-de-France region (SDRIF) . ENGAGEMENT TOOL
Engaging the citizens at an early stage provides the fullest possible inclusion of public opinion in the strategy development and makes the resulting strategy more easily accepted. Many questions get preempted as the citizens feel involved in the document. Notably, in most cases discussion with citizens of the way the city should be and discussion of the document per se are separated and take place at different stages. Normally, the former happens at the earliest stage of working, while the
component in preparing and realizing the strategy, and other urban planning documents as well. Differently from development “out there in the fields”, here the interests of people already living and working in the city must be considered and compromises reached. Besides, the more new forms of communication develop and the more necessary it becomes to divide the functioning costs between society and government, the more the citizens are asked to take part in developing strategies. In addition, the legitimacy of the documents themselves and of political institutions is enforced when there is a constant productive dialogue between the population and the administration. No wonder that the authorities in Chicago
and Greater Vancouver spent over three years consulting with the general public when working on their strategies.
latter occurs after one of the strategy’s editions is published.
the participation of President Sarcozy. Naturally, in countries where English is not the official language, it is important at least to summarize the document in English. They do this in Berlin-Brandenburg.
Another key factor is how accessible and clear the contents of the strategy are to the broad public. Many cities purposely publish abridged versions (Paris, Copenhagen), or enliven the document with interesting stories and examples of the way previous strategies helped the city develop (Singapore, Tokyo, Chicago) . MARKETING TOOL
Using the master plan as a marketing tool means quality and varied communication. Various expositions, press publications, television reports and online resources play a very important part. So, in Melbourne, the plan has its own Facebook, Twitter and Google pages, and even a YouTube channel. It also matters in whose name the document is published and whose initiative it was to create it. In the case of Greater Paris, the project gained broad recognition largely due to
The legitimacy of a municipal government and the transparency and verifiability of its long-term tasks and goals are a good sign for investors. Therefore, a strategy can attract resources. This process can be supported by a certain emphasis on marketing territories. The active PR campaign for Greater Paris, strengthened by the participation of President Nicolas Sarcozy and international star architects, attracted both public and business attention to the initiative, and therefore to urban projects in general.
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POLICY TOOL
A way to enforce the authority of the municipal government is publishing a master plan in the name of someone or at least positioning a political leader as the ideologist and driver of the process. This is what happened in London, when Boris Johnson listened to the voices of the electorate and shifted the emphasis in the city’s development towards creating a more equal and humane environment. Johnson’s success in turning the British capital into “the most comfortable global city” has been duly noted by the citizens, as evidenced by his consistently high ratings. In the fall of 2014, London’s mayor was almost twice as popular as that of the Conservative Party of which he is a member, and of its leader, PM David Cameron.
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN POTENTIAL INDEX AND POPULATION GROWTH Index
Cities grouped by size more than 750,000
from 4 to 5 from 5 to 6 from 6 to 7
500,000 750,000
250,000 500,000 Murmansk
Arkhangelsk
Bryansk Kaluga
Kostroma
Ryazan Belgorod
Lipetsk
Tambov Ulyanovsk
Krasnodar
Volgograd
Cheboksary Kazan
Perm
Samara Chelyabinsk
Stavropol
Yakutsk
Ekaterinburg Tyumen Kurgan
Astrakhan Makhachkala
Population (2002 2012), %
Omsk
Tomsk Novosibirsk
Irkutsk
Ulan-Ude
decline increase
WHERE IT IS NICE TO LIVE IN RUSSIA: looking for leader cities A study by experts of the Higher School of Urban Studies DEMONSTRATES that not only large cities have to fight for high quality of living, and even small cities have something to teach us. The over-concentration of resources in the capital city is treated as an increasingly serious problem. Moscow has the highest wages, the maximum diversity of jobs, the best social support for citizens, the most
innovative enterprises and institutes, the most important theaters and museums. Moscow’s per capita GRP (gross regional product), $47,000 in 2012 by purchasing power parity, is comparable to cities
in the developed world, not to Russian regional capitals. This causes colossal centripetal migration flows. Such overconcentration is a powerful “suction tube”, attracting people from all over the
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country to the capital, and effectively overloading the city’s transportation system and environment.. Obviously, Moscow’s problems cannot be solved within its borders, in the existing “center-periphery” duality. In order to understand the processes in Russia’s peripheral cities, a study was commissioned specially for this year’s Forum: “The population struggle: human potential and urban environment.” The study was meant to show the current state and development potential of Russia’s cities, to find a cohort of cities where life quality is comparable to Moscow, and to understand which factors influence the success of these cities or lack thereof. “Within the center-periphery approach, our country may be said to contain three “Russias’ with varying levels and speeds of social modernization”, says economist Natalia Zubarevich. “Russia-1 contains cities with populations over 0.5 million; Russia-2 consists of cities with 50,000–250,000 people (cities with populations between 250,000–500,000 are between groups 1 and 2); Russia-3 is smaller towns, settlements, and rural areas. More than half of the large cities are similar in demographic characteristics, level of economic development and most social indicators. The only ones that differ are resource exporting cities living on supplying oil, gas and other natural resources, as well as several cities receiving significant financial aid from the federal budget either for large-scale events (Sochi, Vladivostok), or as part of special support programs (Grozny, Kazan)”. In order to differentiate between cities that have no outstanding distinguishing features in their economies, cultures and national management climate, the study proposed an approach that combines the methods of sociological research and econometric analysis. Such a study in its “human dimension” required comparing the results of citizens’ surveys to ones collected from statistical data, and collated by city. The study included an evaluation of the human potential in Russian cities based on statistics; a sociological population survey in 8 cities;
analysis of population migration as an indicator of attractiveness and success of Russian cities based on statistics; and a review of the internet and social networks in Russian cities as a factor determining the development of human potential in the populations. The Human Development Index (HDI) was calculated using the UNDP-developed methodology. The formula includes indicators of life expectancy, education (literacy and gross enrollment) and income (per capita GRP by PPP). Following a review of statistical data, the authors selected 5 key indicators that best represented human development levels in each given city:: the number of students per 1,000 citizens (indexed by the average United State Exam grade of day students, weighed per number of students in all of city’s colleges), the rate of higher education (complete and incomplete) per 1,000, the overall mortality rate per 1,000 citizens, the rate of mortality per 1,000 live-born babies, the average wages (indexed per regional price of the basket of consumer goods and services). These indicators helped calculate the HDI for all 61 cities in Russia with populations over 250,000. One of the most interesting results of the study showed a group of leading cities with high HDI rates. This group includes Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Cheboksary, and Belgorod. The studies also revealed HDI-outsiders among cities, including Omsk, Kurgan, Kaluga, and Volgograd. The populations there are notably diminishing. In order to test the theory that cities with high HDI satisfy the citizens regardless of their size, a sociological survey was carried out in 8 cities: Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Voronezh, Tomsk, Tyumen, and Krasnodar. The data was collected via an internet panel. The total sample size was 5,400 respondents. The questionnaire was supposed to reveal the citizens’ satisfaction with the urban environment in general and its elements in particular (the way the city looks, the quality and price of utilities, ecology, transportation etc.) The study showed a high correlation between the citizens’ satisfaction with the city and its HDI.
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Belgorod: the secrets of a successful city
f o r u m
B
elgorod is one of Russia’s most successful cities. Compared to other cities in the Central Federal District, Belgorod has consistently extremely high relative migration growth. Between 2005 and 2013, for example, the city’s permanent population increased by 10%, from 340,000 to 373,000. The Belgorod district has the highest life expectancy among Russia’s regions (except Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Northern Caucasus republics). The expected lifespan in Belgorod itself exceeds 71 years. The experts chose Belgorod to study separately as an interesting management case. The research showed several efficient development tools in use in Belgorod. Since 2007, they have been realizing a socio-economic strategy for the city’s development until 2025. Its primary targets are not growing industry or introducing capital construction objects, but growing the city’s human potential, investing in the citizens. The municipal and regional longterm planning documents have similar goals and have been realized stage by stage over the past decade. A system of indices has been designed for the evaluation of the strategy’s efficiency: the HDI, an integral indicator of social well-being, a welfare index, and seven KPIs (health, intellectual potential, safety, social well-being, economic and civic development, infrastructure development).
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Sydney’s economic strategy: from global competition to night-life Beyond defining the desirable benchmarks by 2030, the economic block of Sydney’s development strategy determines lines of work by district and by Sector, even as specific as “night-life”.
I
n 2007–2008, a comprehensive development strategy for Sydney began taking shape. Public hearings, phone and on-line surveys, and other tools of engagement had approximately 300,000 people involved in discussing the future of Australia’s largest city. Eventually, ten main development directions were determined, goals for the near and far future set, benchmarks defined, etc. The plan was named Sustainable Sydney 2030. In December 2013, an economic development strategy for the next decade was presented, based on the priorities set in Sustainable Sydney 2030. In 2011–2012, Sydney’s economy amounted to approximately 7 percent of the GNP ($101 bn out of $1,018 bn). 39 percent of working Sydneysiders were involved in the financial and business Industry clusters in the City of Sydney services sectors; 14 perLocal Government cent — in creative and digArea (LGA) Creative Industries ital industries; 18 percent — Digital Industries in commerce, services, and Education & tourism. Spatially, the stratKnowledge Industries egy distinguishes between Financial Industries 10 formed zones of business development: the Central Business District where over half of all the citizens work, and which accounts for about three quarters of the gross product; and nine “villages” — urban areas with visible differences both in terms of their
economic specialization and of their “genius loci”. While the financial sector and global business are mostly centered in the CBD, other areas have a higher concentration of creative industries or knowledge economy companies. In fact, these are naturally formed inner-city clusters. The strategy defines several key criteria to a city’s economic success. Firstly, global competitiveness (expressed, e. g., in the presence of transnational corporations selecting Sydney for their regional headquarters; the advancement in particular fields; the increase of economic migration — a high count of international employees, students, migrant workers). Secondly, sustainability and diversification (jobs available in different areas of the economy for citizens with different levels of education and work experience. A measurable goal indicator is the number of job positions — 465,000, which means almost 100,000 new jobs compared to 2006, and about 30,000 compared to 2013. Besides, it is estimated that urban economy overall may grow by 2.8% compared to 2012, to reach $166 billion GRP. For this purpose, several key development trends must be considered, as per the strategy. Like many other ideas in the strategy, these trends are taken from The City of Sydney Economy in 2030: a foresight study, by Deloitte Access Economics commissioned by the city administration. Among these trends are changes in global economy structure (emerging Asian economies), aging populations, further encroachment of IT on business management and customer relations, climate change results. Inside the city, business growth is restrained by transportation problems, high cost of business (in part due to high commercial rent), shortage of affordable housing, lack of accessible
39 percent of working Sydneysiders are involved in the financial and business services sectors
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spaces for artistic industries (inexpensive and conducive to innovation-provoking social and cultural exchange). In view of this, the strategy selects three key priorities for the city’s economic activity: • to improve competitiveness — making the city more open to business and tourists, and more attractive to current residents and guests; • to increase productivity of work and resource use — developing infrastructure, removing obstacles from the movement paths of capital, products, services, knowledge, and people (literally as well, by decreasing the time spent on commutes); • to create new opportunities — encouraging regional, national and global connections, and inter-field cooperation to empower both pre-existing field clusters and new emerging businesses. For each of these priorities, separate work directions have been suggested. For example, it is thought that the emerging economies of China and India are becoming the main factor on the a macro-regional level. For Sydney, it means both risks (to do with dependence on less stable economies) and opportunities (Chinese and Indian companies may be attracted by the high level of services in the Australian financial sector; Chinese and Indian youth may be interested in the quality of edu-
cation, etc.). In order to make these opportunities a reality and avoid the incidental risks, the city must become attractive and energetic, find efficient use for the real estate assets, diversify its economy, etc. For each priority, about 20 directions of work and about as many “action plans have been formed with the active participation of members of the business community (who were involved in discussing the strategy in its entirety). They include programs of development for individual business fields and areas, and general themes such as sustainability or forging Asian connections. An interesting example of an “action plan” could be the “night economy” — a set of problems to do with the city’s life after dark, i. e., between 6 p. m. and 6 a. m. The nighttime economic relations add up to a turnaround of no less than $15 billion. Sydney’s night life gives it the attractive image of a fun, safe, interesting city. This development direction has even been separated into another strategy guide — “Open Sydney. Future directions for Sydney at night. Draft strategy and action plan 2012–2030.” The document describes the broadest possible scope of actions: from developing the system of city navigation and public lavatories, to initiating new cultural projects, such as 24-hour libraries, and regulating alcohol sales.
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Moscow and the river: four roads to the future /
LIKE MANY EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN CITIES, MOSCOW IS BEGINNING TO CARE FOR ITS RIVER SPACES. FROM THE OUTSET, A COMPETITION/CONSULTATION WAS ANNOUNCED FOR THE STRATEGIC PLANNING OF ALL THE RIVERSIDE AREAS, COMPRISING ALMOST A TENTH OF THE ENTIRE CITY AND EVERY TYPE OF TERRITORY: NATURAL PARKS TO DERELICT INDUSTRIAL ZONES, RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS TO KREMLIN-ADJACENT EMBANKMENTS.
T
he river is one of the main elements of many a city, and many cities today find themselves needing to reconsider their relationships with it. In the mid-20th century rivers served industrial functions in many places, primarily as channels of freight transportation towards ports or riverside fa-
cilities. Modern changes in logistics and the switch from industrial to post-industrial economy relieve the river of these functions. What remains are expansive spaces that often occupy the very center of the city and hinder its development instead of helping it. Yet the potential of the river is vast.
HORIZONS
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PLANNING ORGANIZATION South Tushino
Balance of permeable and impermeable areas, %
Impermeable
3 2 2
Public Housing Manufacturing Railways and light rail sustem
Oktyabrskoe Pole Khoroshevskoe
Presnensky
25 18
10 400 hectares Tverskoy
7
Serebryany Bor
12 9
4 18
Gagarinsky
Permeable Greenspace Undeveloped land Streets and roads Public Housing
Moscow River (18%)
Kanatchikovo Nagatinsky Zaton
1,860 hectares
Pechatniki Lyublino
Territories 5,287 hectares
Maryino Brateevo
Permeable (51%) 3,253 hectares Impermeable (31%)
Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Ar c hite ct of the City of Mos c ow:
“Designing a building, suggesting an architectural style was not the task at hand. But we do understand that in the Moscow River the city is to receive a new central street, which can then house new exciting objects.”
Moscow, too, started handling this problem. The Moscow River passes through the entire city, running across quite a few diverse territories. Recreational areas in Strogino or the Sparrow Hills; industrial zones in the Southern Port (spanning almost 900 hectares) and by the former ZIL automotive plant; the Moscow-City business district with its skyscrapers; the city center, where embankments serve the cars and are barely accessible on foot. However, despite sharing a name with its river, the Russian capital has nearly forgotten it. Its banks in the center are encased in granite, but cars occupy them; and it is mostly visitors on the amusement boats gliding along its surface.. The suburbs have beaches and riverside parks but even these those territories still to uncover have their full potential. The shortage of bridges annoys drivers, for whom the river is merely a source of vexation. In 2014, Moscow announced a tender for a longterm (to the year 2035) plan of development for the riverside territories. The goal of this exercise is to formulate a strategy that will help develop the city areas along the riverbanks, including all kinds of development — architectural, social, economical, and environmental. The area covered by the tender is
about 10,000 ha, and it is not often that a spatial strategy of such scope gets developed for a city. The competitors had to consider and offer solutions to such problems as lack of pedestrian areas, overload of vehicles on the embankments, lack of access to water, shortage of bridges (there are only 36 bridges on the 76 of river inside the city limits), skewed historic panoramas, underused transport potential, potential of industrial and green zones, and more. After the first stage with almost 50 entries, six teams were chosen, led by architecture firms Ostozhenka, Project Meganom, Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos, Maxwan and Atrium, SWA Group, and Turenscape International Limited. In addition to the architects, each team featured experts on transportation, ecology and economics. The winner, Project Meganom, based their concept on the idea of ports, perceived as “magnets and transfer points built into a carefully designed system of pedestrian and transport connections, supporting functions, modern environmental technologies and urban partnership programs”. These ports are to become a new axis of development for the entire city. The project authors intend to develop public and pedestrian spaces, as well as systems
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TRANSPORT FACILITIES
IV
South Tushino
Walking distance from metro and railway stations (800 m) Metro stations Railway stations
Oktyabrskoe Pole
Boundary of the territory in question Khoroshevskoe
Tverskoy
Presnensky
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
Serebryany Bor
Gagarinsky
Kanatchikovo
Pechatniki
Nagatinsky Zaton
Lyublino Maryino
Brateevo
ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION South Tushino
Environmental Role Plants and factories Landfills on the riversides Oktyabrskoe Pole
Habitat forming Neutral Negative impact High level of pollution in riverbed silt
Khoroshevskoe Tverskoy Presnensky
Serebryany Bor
High pollution level
Low pollution level
Gagarinsky
Maximum pollution level
Kanatchikovo
Nagatinsky Zaton
Pechatniki Lyublino
Maryino Brateevo
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of public ground and river transportation to connect the ports. Great importance is placed on restoring the river’s ecological balance and “returning to nature.” In particular, floating green islands are proposed by the northern bank of the Moscow River, which would use special plants to catch surface litter and filter the water. Another brilliant detail of the project is a wide promenade to be set up on the natural green carpet in the vicinity of the Vodootvodny Canal. Here, too, special plants will filter the water and help the citizens feel closer to nature in the very heart of Moscow’s stone. An exercise park will open in Strogino, as well as a kind of an exhibition of Russia’s sustainable architecture opportunities, which will take the form of six “green buildings” erected in six different zones of the park. For the Mnevniki neighborhood, Meganom has a vision of an “ideal city” with restricted car traffic and emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle paths, and, in addi-
Along the northern bank of the Moscow River — floating green islands will use special plants to catch surface litter and filter the water
tion, it is to become a parliamentary center to which both the parliament and several ministries and departments will relocate. The new “iconic” parliament building will become the visual center of the area. The space will be as open as possible, and will have a metro station and a port for its transport centers. The former ZIL factory area will undergo a trifold reconstruction. The first direction, Z, will have to do with commerce and culture. The second, I, will in-
The Project Meganom’s design envisages a radical change for one of the city’s embankments. A water-level platform along the old embankment and plant life both in summer and in winter will turn this area into a park
A specific problem presented itself to the bidders in the form of segments of the river already possessed of buildings, recognized city structure, and event dominants — such as Moscow-City and ZIL. Subjecting these areas, too, to the new logic of the river’s development required much determination
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volve an innovation hub with offices for large research companies and small startups. The L direction will take over the current backwater and feature something in the style of Hamburg’s HafenCity with riverside housing, coffee shops, restaurants, and entertainment.
islands which would clean city waste and rainwater and prevent noise pollution coming from the highway. These same methods are suggested for the renovation of the former ZIL factory area, including for example purifying swamps and green plants which would restore the land by phyto-recultiva-
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Turenscape, a bidder from China, used the opportunity to suggest that, instead of being one among many components of the city’s infrastructure, the river should become its main element and comprise many other areas of the city. This way, according totheir “Bends of Life” project, Moscow would transform into a fully-fledged river city. The project also concentrates on natural methods of restoring environmental balance. An important element in the struggle for the area’s environmental quality will be a human-oriented transportation network with restricted speed; in addition, such cultural elements as ski and skate paths and cable cars will be developed. Some things from Turenscape’s project that could be incorporated in the refurbishment of the Strogino floodplain are bioswales, inner rivers, ponds on swampy areas, and a system of floating
tion and clean the water. Yet another elegant idea — and an homage to New York’s High Line park — is the suggestion that existing railroad tracks be preserved and turned into pedestrian paths spreading towards various open spaces. The current Larger City area could be turned into “Moscow’s Soho” and the transportation rerouted via Year 1905 Street and Mantulinskaya Street, so that the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment can be free for pedestrian traffic. Turenscape suggest that an amphitheater be created in this area, and parking spaces made under the bridge spans between the commercial and exhibition centers. U.S. — based SWA Group had an idea of a transition from centralized to local management, developing local small businesses and forming new jobs. Alternatively, the creators of the future development
Strogino, one of the few areas in Moscow with a strong connection to the river and river-based fun (from ice fishing in winter to bathing in summer). Many of the projects had this large district turning into a pastoral “intracity suburb”
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plan of Moscow’s riverside territories may be interested in building a light rail system within the riverside area, using existing piers as stops. SWA Group believe that this would draw the necessary attention to the quality of water and the state of the riverbed, and also enable the most efficient possible use of the Moscow River for the development of the entire city. A notable element of this project in the Strogino floodplain is a floating island with a theater, coffee shop, bio-station, and pier, which can only be reached by water using a boat rented from the Great Promenade. Regarding the reconstruction of the Larger City, SWA Group had the curious suggestion that a green boulevard be created over the Filevskaya metro line to weave together the fabric of the city and continue the pedestrian embankment network right up to Strogino. For the former ZIL
area they proposed that the old riverbed be filled with water, placing islands with residential neighborhoods on the surface, and that the existing highrise warehouse building be turned into a theater and conceptually dominate the entire area. Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos, based in Spain, came up with concept of creating “linear flow centers” where functional zones (administrative buildings, quality housing and hotels, culture and sports objects, and public spaces) would mix instead of separating and form sustainable links. They also plan for new trams, a light rail system, and a new metro line. Among the group’s more unusual solutions — the industrial buildings of the ZIL would be restored and adapted for business and social functions. Particular emphasis is placed on the suggestion that industrial elements be pre-
Turning the Moscow River into public spaces demands diverse approaches in different segments: some, the competitors believe, must feature wooden decks and granite promenades, while others will benefit from direct water access and reeds
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served in the design of facades and public spaces, which would create a special ambience in the neighborhood. “Ostozhenka” had a curious idea of opening the beds of the current tributaries of the Moscow River in order to give the city “a hundred rivers.” Another outstanding solution is sending multi-functional barges coursing on the river (beach barge, restaurant barge, pool barge). Additional proposals include the use of alternative means of transportation: cable cars and a mini-metro. The solution for
refurbishing the Strogino floodplain features something as yet unseen in Moscow, i. e., the creation of camping sites. Several radical ideas worth examining were brought on the table by the Dutch firm Maxwan Architects + Urbanists and the Russian company Atrium. For one, they suggest paying attention to the streets leading to the river, improving the existing bridges, turning the Garden Ring into real gardens, restoring the natural riverbank in some places and creating wet meadows.
The existing methods of reforming embankments in Moscow are not very varied as yet. Several of the competitors suggested entire sets of approaches and designed every conceivable type of embankment
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Arab Hoballah: “Cities should have more responsibility for managing resources” /
Building new and maintaining existing infrastructure is one of the greatest concerns for cities, both a noticeable expense and an important development resource. However, decisions on this matter may turn out to be quite costly, not for individual cities, but for the entire planet.
At some point, it was nation states’ responsibility to build and to maintain infrastructure. Now, we are talking about giving more responsibility to cities. Why is this change necessary? We have seen the increase for spaces they are in charge of due to the fact that cities have been growing a lot, have now more population and more resources to manage. This therefore increases the need to plan better the growth of the city and the flow of resources. However, the main infrastructure will remain an important responsibility of na-
tional governments, because cities are not isolated, they constitute part of a region, of an ecosystem and a network of cities. Hence the need to rely on the national government for major infrastructure and to coordinate with central government. Mayors should have more responsibility for managing the flow and use of resources needed for consumption and production patterns of the citizens, so they could build, for example, a bus or a metro line, improve cities’ distribution systems, such as water, or ways to collect and treat wastes. Cities are closer to
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the citizens, the former understand better what the latter need.
Arab Hoballah serves as the Chief of Sustainable Consumption and Production/ SCP in UNEP, and prior to that spent 14 years working in the UNEP Regional Seas programme as Deputy Director of the Blue Plan and then Deputy Coordinator of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)
40% of the global energy use is consumed by the building sector
At the same time, taxation systems may leave cities without proper financial resources, which may cause a confrontation between local and national levels of government. The issue of taxation is a very sensitive one, and national government should lead by example, showing that the taxes collected are used effectively on a national level to provide and ensure necessary core infrastructure and services — supporting healthcare, schools, roads, and transport networks. We have a similar problem on the global scale: when wealthier countries promote restrictions on CO2 emissions worldwide and on developing countries too, but at the same time outsource their polluting industries. First, people have to understand that no matter if they are poor or rich, we do live on the same planet, with its limited resources. We are all on the same boat, and if the boat sinks we are all going down. In general, wealthy developed countries still leverage their growth and comfort on resources from developing and poor countries, whereas the developing countries have increasing needs to satisfy in response to the demand of a growing population. Obviously, such trend cannot continue for long. Developed countries should assume responsibility and lead by example in changing their unsustainable production and consumption patterns, and at the same time enable the developing countries to access clean technologies rather than exporting obsolete or polluting technologies. Second, it is important to understand that changes need time and that a transition period should be carefully considered. Today, manufacturing of many products is moving to the developing countries. And some of the developing countries are very happy with that, because it creates jobs and wealth locally and nationally but at the same time it creates pollution and environmental problems. The developed countries should support the developing countries to adopt clean technologies. This is already happening in various regions where European countries, Japan, Korea and others are providing such support to the developing countries; still, to result in
a transformative change, such practices need to be scaled up quickly. It is not only technologies that are outsourced, but also ideals of living. Yes, this is one of the most serious problems for me. We have a small proportion of population in Europe, United States, Russia, China, which has a certain awareness of impacts of current consumption and production patterns on the environment and depletion of resources. However, unfortunately, this remains at a too low level compared to the challenges and such changes take time. And this is further complicated by the globalized world that promotes the overconsumption and wasteful way of life of developed countries and wealthy to middle class consumers around the world. And here comes the crucial role of national and local governments in explaining why such patterns are not sustainable and mainly to show the way by leading by example and inducing, encouraging, enabling actions towards such change, in particular through resource efficiency.
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How does this work? We have to be patient and also persuasive. We have to have good arguments. You cannot go to a consumer and say “don’t buy a car, take a metro or a bus’ if there is no adequate, accessible and reliable infrastructure for people who wish to switch to greener consumption patterns. So there should be a good public transport system — reliable and ubiquitous, and you should not build a new highway before you have a good metro line. Moreover, national and local authorities and governments, who purchase enormous amounts of products for their needs, should lead by example by applying sustainability criteria to their procurement processes and regulations, so as to induce change in the supply industry and influence people to start slowly adapting to the changing trend. You stand for an approach that includes ideas of “production,” “consumption,” and “lifecycle.” Why do cities have to change the way they deal with infrastructure? Now we understand better the consequences of our consumption and production patterns and what do people need. Here comes the issue of production and consumption from life cycle perspective. We know how much water and food people need, how much waste people produce in relation to their level of development and income. It is, therefore, easier to better plan the growth of a city from a resource needs perspective. And we can make sure that all the resources that are coming to the city have right infrastructure and how efficient the
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services and networks are. And by “importing” so many resources to a city in reply to the needs and demand, it is essential to limit as much as possible the production of waste, by applying the circular economy approach, reusing and recycling resources to avoid creating other problems. Mayors should understand from an economic perspective, as would do a company executive, how much it is important to use resources as efficiently as possible. For example, from a research undertaken in Mediterranean cities, North and South, we discovered that almost all cities are losing between 30 to 60 percent of their precious water due to mismanagement of water demand. And, generally, rather than facing water distribution systems directly, parallel system are creating leaving the inefficient ones operational; sometimes creating in parallel another system of water distribution without solving the problem with the first one, since the issues of water demand and consumption patterns were not adequately considered. The same happens when it comes to energy, where many countries and cities develop new sources, including renewable energy, without improving efficiency of existing systems. There again the roles of national government and city Mayors are essential. To that end, they should work with consumer associations, NGOs, universities and private sector to find the best way for a city to become much more resource efficient, saving therefore important material and financial resources that could then be re-invested in new infrastructure and services. How can we cut production without negative effects for economy? Of course, I’m not saying that we should stop production. But it should not continue business-asusual. What we should do is to convince concerned actors that they can have, per example, buildings of the same quality but that will consume less energy and less water, will need less air cooling in summer and less heating in winter. When it comes to highways we should re-consider them too — type of material, their process throughout the supply chain,, and how we use land, energy, water, chemicals, how we transport materials and so on. If you look at this from life-cycle prospective you will realize much savings can be made, that you can invest more in education, healthcare, new infrastructure. For the government, the hardest part here is, probably, collaborating with business, as no one wants to risk losing taxpayers and employers. You talk about possible confrontation between government and business. It happens when legislation that is put by government or city authorities is not well understood by private sector, especially when
The repercussions of global climate change have only recently become possible to predict with some certainty, and it is still impossible to trust any of the prognoses fully. And yet, even today some infrastructure development projects take into account the possible risks caused by climate change, or even address them directly, while others simply ignore the unpleasant future scenarios. Meanwhile, it is urban infrastructure that will have to take on increased loads to do with worsening weather conditions, as well as population growth, climate-based migration, food shortages etc. What should be considered today to avoid wasted efforts and funds tomorrow? CITY MAYORS: URBAN POPULATION GROWTH Country or area
Urban Agglomeration
Population (millions)
Argentina
Buenos Aires
15.18
Bangladesh
Dhaka
17.60
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
12.90
São Paulo
21.07
Beijing
20.38
Chongqing
13.33
17.38
Guangzhou, Guangdong
12.46
17.57
Shanghai
23.74
Shenzhen
10.75
China
16.96 27.37 14.17 23.44 27.71
30.75 12.67
Tianjin
11.21
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kinshasa
11.59
Egypt
Al-Qahirah (Cairo)
18.77
France
Paris
10.84
India
Delhi
25.70
Kolkata (Calcutta)
14.86
Mumbai (Bombay)
21.04
Indonesia
Jakarta
10.32
Japan
Kinki M.M.A. (Osaka)
20.24
Tokyo
38.00
Mexico
Ciudad de México (Mexico City)
21.00
23.86
Nigeria
Lagos
13.12
24.24
Pakistan
Karachi
16.62
Peru
Lima
9.90
Philippines
Manila
12.95
Republic of Korea
Seoul
9.77
Russian Federation
Moskva (Moscow)
12.17
Turkey
Istanbul
14.16
United Kingdom
London
10.31
United States of America
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana 12.31 New York-Newark
Asia and Africa
2015
14.66 20.00 24.50 11.80 36.06 19.09 27.80 13.81 19.98 37.19
24.84 12.22 16.76 9.96 12.20 16.69 11.47 13.26
18.59
2030
19.89
population decline
By 2030, the population of the world’s larger cities will almost double, particularly in Asian and African cities. The UN experts revisit their population forecasts regularly, and here is some data from the 2014 revision of World Urbanization Prospects. Data: Cities and climate change: global report on human settlements, UN-Habitat, 2011
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CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE
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CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE
m o s c o w u r b a n
City population City 1 5population million 5 10 1 5million million 105 10 million or more million
f o r u m
10 million or more Hazard risk score Hazard risk score 2
0
4 2
0
6 4
8 6
10 8
10
The urban population is growing fastest in those countries that may be most affected by climate change — not only due to more frequent natural disasters, but also as a result of generally underdeveloped infrastructure and lower governance effectiveness
Data: What a Waste: Daniel Hoornweg and Perinaz Bhada-Tata. WHAT A WASTE A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, 2012
CHANGE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BETWEEN 2003 AND THE 2080S CHANGE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BETWEEN 2003 AND THE 2080S
no data no data +25 +25
+10 +10
+5
0 +5
5 0
5
10 10
15 15
25 25
Global warming will affect agriculture: in some countries its efficiency will rise, in others it will fall. Changes in the structure of local agricultural markets will cause changes in the directions of food import and export. Consequently, the logistic infrastructure, too, will have to undergo changes. The growth or decline of agriculture efficiency (in 2080 as compared
to 2003, considering the positive effect on plants from the increase of CO₂ in the atmosphere) . Data: Cline W., Global Warming and Agriculture, 2007
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it comes to taxation. And when the business sector has lost sense of common interest and is focused on shortterm benefits. In fact, this is not a confrontation between governments and private sector but a conflict between short-term benefits and long-term gains. And to reach long-term gains, there should be consultations and collaborations involving different stakeholders — consumer associations, NGOs, scientists, government, business — a multi-stakeholders consultation process that would turn confrontation into alliance. And again, this won’t happen unless the government leads by example. When a government tells people “go and use public transport and buy green products” but, at the same time, buys big and polluting cars for governmental needs — that won’t encourage anyone to go for a change towards sustainability. How big is the change that we need? What is known now very clearly is that the building sector consumes 40% of the global energy use, which is enormous. If we apply efficiency throughout the sector, we could save a lot. At the same time, the building sector according to the 4th IPCC report is one of the most important and interesting “low-hanging fruit” — if we are looking for changes that can come quickly and make a lot of difference — we should change the way the buildings are constructed and the way the sector operates. However, despite these evident facts, little positive progress happens mainly because there are too many stakeholders who not consult with each other, and do not attempt to work together for a common goal, improving resource efficiency, mainly energy, in the building sector. To respond to construction and industry needs, we expect some 140 billions tons of global extraction of natural resources per year if consumption stays at current developed country rates. Buildings are consuming 60% of the world electricity — just imagine how much we could save and invest somewhere else if we could make our buildings save 20% or 30% of power they consume. At the same time, building sector is a very important economic driver — it accounts for 10 to 30 percent of economy. If we can make sure that national and local governments, as well as business sectors and consumers, invest more in energy efficiency, in green buildings, green and clean technologies, in green jobs — in resource-efficient hard and soft infrastructure — it could have enormous effect for the whole world by reducing impacts of the environment and the planet’s limited natural resources and by unlocking badly needed financial and other resources on the path towards sustainable development and poverty eradication, primarily by promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns at all levels.
WATER RESOURCES AVAILABILITY Water access may be greatly complicated by the outcome of global warming. Compared to the average accessibility between 1961 and 1990, water will be in great deficit in several regions, including Europe, by 2050 (as described in the IPCC scenario A1)
Change in water availability compared with avarage 1961 1990 (%) 2050 based on IPCC scenario A1 more than 20
20 to 0
0 to 20
20 and more
no data
Data: Nigel W. A rnell, Climate change and global water resources: SRES emissions and socio-economic scenarios. Global Environmental Change, Volume 14, Issue 1, April 2004
WASTE SURGE In the 2012 study What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, World Bank experts attempted to summarize waste collection data and made predictions for 2025
Country
Municipal Solid Waste Generation per Capita
Country
(kg/capita/day) Argentina Australia Brazil Canada China Egypt France Germany Iceland India Indonesia
Total 161 countries
1990 2008
1.22 (2001) 1.85 2.23 (1999) 2.10 1.03 (2001) 1.60 2.33 (1990) 2.20 1.02 (2004) 1.70 1.37 (2000) 1.80 1.92 (2006) 2.00 2.11 (2006) 2.05 1.56 (2006) 1.70 0.34 (2006) 0.70 0.52 (2008) 0.85
Municipal Solid Waste Generation per Capita (kg/capita/day)
Japan Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Portugal Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Singapore Turkey United Kingdom United States
1.71 (2005) 1.70 1.24 (2006) 1.75 0.56 (2008) 0.80 0.84 (2009) 1.05 2.21 (2006) 2.15 0.93 (2000) 1.25 1.30 (1997) 1.70 1.49 (2008) 1.80 1.77 (2006) 2.00 1.79 (2006) 1.85 2.58 (2006) 2.30
Municipal Solid Waste Generation (kg/day) 3 532 255 6 069 705
2025
Data: What a Waste: Daniel Hoornweg and Perinaz Bhada-Tata. What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, 2012
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ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY FUEL BP’s annually published report for 2014, BP Energy Outlook 2035, contains the following data
North America
S & C America
Europe & Eurasia
Middle East
Africa
Asia Pacific
Total Energy Consumption by fuel
m o s c o w u r b a n
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2035
2035
2035
2035
2035
2035
2035
Liquids
Natural Gas
Coal
Nuclear Energy
Hydroelectricity
f o r u m
Renewables
Data: BP Energy Outlook 2035, 2014
PRIVATE 4 WHEELER OWNERSHIP 4-wheeler ownership (vehicles/1000 population)
The OECD IFT Transport Outlook 2013 attempts to estimate the growth of the global park of personal vehicles by 2050. The result depends on many variables: GDP growth, fuel prices, new road construction etc. We quote only the most aggressive scenario. How much will energy consumption increase? BP’s Energy Outlook 2035 gave the following data in 2014
1000
2010 2025
944.80
900 800 700
661.13
681.63
637.33
592.13
600
508.19
537.90
500
433.76
430.79
421.12
400
300.30
300 178.47
200
121.67
100
122.78
135.01 21.71
0 North America
EEA + Turkey
OECD + Pacific
Transition
Middle East
Latin America
Africa
Data: OECD/International Transport Forum (2013), ITF Transport Outlook 2013: Funding Transport, OECD Publishing/ITF
29.21 Asia
27.96 China and India
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CASES
Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS), Singapore
Energy-efficient schools, Paris
Kings Cross Station, London
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he reason for Singapore to introduce a new deep tunnel sewerage system was the double resource deficit the island experiences: freshwater and land. A sort of a waste highway has been developed, which is a pipeline 48 km long and 6 m wide. Using a trenchless method, it was placed 25–50 m underground to collect all of Singapore’s sewage. The force of gravitation gets the masses to arrive independently at two purification stations (another to be added in the future). The Changi station is the newest and most advanced. It has the capacity to clean 800,000 cubic meters of wastewater daily. Its technologies match all global standards. After several stages of purification, part of the water is sent into the Singapore Strait, while the rest goes to the NEWater factory, located on the station’s roof. This is a local brand of additionally purified water that has been tested to show better quality than water from most local natural sources. Most of it, however, is used for industrial purposes, covering a third of the island’s need. Another benefit of the new system is that the country is able gradually to let go of less powerful and more densely spaced purification structures, which frees land resources.
aris’ commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by municipal buildings has led to the development of a new legal tool — the energy efficiency contract. Such a contract is formed between the municipality and an energysaving company (a non-profit organization with expertise in resource saving). The company pays for the introduction of necessary technology and is reimbursed from the budget. However, should the expected efficiency not be reached, it will be this company that gets fined. The company must examine each building, install new equipment, train the staff. The scheme is currently being tested on 100 schools (secondary, primary and pre-school buildings comprise a quarter of all municipal real estate). The contracts are valid for 20 years, with the nearest target being a decrease in emissions by 30% by 2020 as compared to 2004 (for all buildings in the contract, not each one individually). The efficiency of the contractor’s work is evaluated annually and may be adjusted for extreme weather conditions. The energy-saving company has taken on the additional responsibility of holding seminars to introduce the subject of energy efficiency to the school personnel and students. However, the intermediary indicators regarding the 45 schools that started the process in 2012 are already showing the goal as achieved. By 2016, half of the local municipal schools must be involved in the program, that is, 300 institutions with all of their buildings.
he reconstruction of London’s Kings Cross station was conceived in 1998 and completed by the 2012 Olympics. The historic landing platforms and facades (the station originally opened in 1852) were restored, an additional track was laid, part of the surrounding territory was beautified (offices and housing already built there), the use of existing spaces optimized (an entire building relinquished to the Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design), the southern entrance area layout redesigned. The key and most noticeable innovation was the erection of a western vestibule that took much of the pressure off the local transportation hub. Kings Cross receives intercity trains from four directions, across from it is another station — St Pancras, with three intercity and one international line, right next to it is a subway transfer station servicing six lines, and a good few bus lines stop here to boot. The new vestibule and other improvements let King Cross serve up to 50 million passengers, decreasing their transfer time by 1.5 minutes on average. Like most of the aforementioned changes, the vestibule was developed by John McAslan + Partners and is a semicircle of 7,500 square meters with ticket offices and several shops, planted neatly by the scrupulously restored historic facade.
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A yellow metro line, Sao Paolo
New Pulkovo terminal, St. Petersburg
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
S
T
I
ão Paolo got its metro in the early 1970s, but its active development began in the 21st century. Among the new additions is the yellow #4 line. The number has nothing to do with time of appearance, as the local subway map features six lines already and eight connected lines of electric city trains. The yellow line was planned initially, but only now its construction has become strategically important. It crosses four other lines and becomes the connecting link of the subway system, simultaneously making the downtown accessible for suburban workers and decreasing the amount of motor vehicles above ground. The project was initiated in the 1990s, however, the high costs determined by the multiple transfer hubs prevented it from being financed for a long time. After consultations, the idea of financing the project in the basis of public-private partnership was born. The overall cost of the project was $1,262 million, out of which a quarter ($340 million) was paid by banks and a concessionary consortium of 5 companies, including several foreign participants. The latter become the operators of a line each including the responsibility of equipment upkeep, personnel training etc. In return, they receive the full price of transfer from a passenger on their line, 50 percent from a transfer passenger, and reimbursement from the state budget for those who are exempt from fees. The contract is for 30 years; the first train went into operation in 2010; out of the 11 planned stations, 7 are already working. 14 trains are on the line now, which means a capacity of up to 60 thousand passengers per hour.
he new terminal of the international airport in St. Petersburg was built without scandal or delay. It is concessioned — in 2009 a consortium consisting of VTB Capital, Fraport AG and Copelouzos received the right to control Pulkovo for 30 years. Acting as their local agent — the company Northern Capital Gateway which was responsible for the realization of the project by British architect Nicholas Grimshaw, selected in 2007. The English project is based on rather long spaces between columns made possible by the complex corrugated shape of the lower layer of the roof. Encased in golden metal and sliced with light slits, the folds become an impressive wrapper for the complex body of the airport. Reducing the number of columns makes the space more flexible and increases the passenger flow, which should reach 22 million per annum in the long-term perspective, and the first four months of operations (after the launch in March 2014) had the management talking of 14.4 million within the first year. The terminal receives both international and local flights; its floor area is 111,000 square meters; it has 88 check-in stands, 110 passport control booths, and 8 jet bridges. It will eventually partner with Pulkovo-1, which is closed for reconstruction until early 2015, and once that happens, there will be 14 jet bridges overall. The new terminal was launched together with an hotel, a business center and several parking lots. The costs overall were 1.2 billion Euro. The payback period of the concession is unclear yet, as additional infrastructural costs are expected. On the other hand, the terminal’s commercial areas have been bringing in good proceeds (approximately 20 percent of all revenue).
n 2015, San Francisco University, which controls one of the city’s main hospitals, is to open a new branch, where the patients will have uniquely comfortable spaces. 81,600 square meters will hold three departments: children (183 beds), women (36 beds), and oncology (70 beds). 122,000 patients are expected at the outpatients clinic within the first year, about 1,000 surgeries will be performed, 2,600–2,700 babies will be delivered. The building was designed not only in accordance with special functional requirements, such as sterility, seismic resistance etc., but also following modern notions of progressive architecture. It is, therefore, a candidate for the golden certificate of the LEED environmental standard. This includes not only technological solutions, but also gardens on the roof for the patients to enjoy a walk in. Much attention has been dedicated to spaces where the patients can meet with visitors, and a special budget was allocated to placing artwork throughout the hospital. In order to build this as efficiently as possible and minimize risks, the Integrated Center for Design and Construction was established in 2009. It is a temporary institution which unites about 100 representatives of the companies involved in the project: clientside coordinators, architects, engineers, constructors etc. By working on the basis of an integrated construction system (BIM) and sharing an office, the Center saved approximately $1.5 billion.
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Alex Ely: “The great thing about housing is that its delivery can be the objective of the many rather than the few” /
Housing construction is a problem not just for overpopulated and quickly growing cities, but for every city. Will the citizens be able to live comfortably WHATEVER of their income, will they be able to get to work and leisure quickly, will they enjoy their neighborhood — these are questions that need to be answered again and again at each stage of the city’s development.
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What should city authorities aim for regarding housing? Is housing an economic problem, a problem of city development, or a social problem? Housing forms the fabric of our cities, it is part of a city’s infrastructure and, therefore, needs to be planned strategically and considered collectively. The great thing about housing is that its delivery can be the objective of the many rather than the few. Developers will of course see it as a commercial enterprise, and the more enlightened developers will see the value of investing in good design and placemaking because of the good returns they get on that investment. We should not, however, see commercial developers as the only solution to meeting housing demand. Government needs to make sure that we are able to provide housing for all. Housing is a right but not everyone can afford a commercially marketed product. In the UK we have charities, housing associations and local authorities who will provide low cost housing for the poorest in society. If we want our cities to function successfully, to enable different forms of trade and business, to support a variety of cultural opportunities, education and research then they need to accommodate a diverse population, rich and poor, and with different household structures. I would much rather see neighbourhoods cater to a mix than see our cities as a series of ghet tos. Too often, we see gated developments for the rich, isolated and poor quality blocks for the poor, families pushed out to the suburbs. Great cities create space of diversity where difference between people is privileged. Housing problems are very often discussed in terms of numbers — square meters and how much do they cost to be build and later on the market. Is that enough? We can’t treat housing purely as a means of accommodation. Certainly in terms of planning and making sure that society is housed we need the numbers, we need to calculate provision on the basis of square meters and estimate the number of houses required to match population growth. But well-designed housing creates places and it enables communities to form and cities to function. To this end, it is essential that city authorities develop plans for growth and strategically map out where new housing should go. Market forces will choose the easiest sites to develop that deliver the highest returns, it is why so many American cities sprawl endlessly. Tracts and tracts of housing that are remote from places of work or leisure and result in a dependancy on the car. If we want our cities to be more sustainable we need joined-up thinking where new housing is planned near infrastructure, near business and culture. This can
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only come from a city authority either by creating master plans or planning policies that shape future development. Do you know how these problems are approached in other cities? The Netherlands has a very proactive approach to planning. City authorities will identify suitable areas for new development and commission a master plan before any developer gets involved. The masterplan will determine the type and quantum of development as well as the expected quality. This removes financial speculation on land that is blighting many cities, including my home town of London where developers compete to put more and more development on smaller and smaller plots of land. London is good at citywide planning, however. The London Plan, produced by the Mayor of London, sets out a vision for long-term growth, it drives our thinking about public infrastructure and city transport, sets targets for sustainability and promoting economic growth and sets quality standards that new development must meet.
Alex Ely is an architect, planner and author of the Mayor of London’s Housing Design Guide and numerous other publications. Alex is the founder of Mæ Architects and has been responsible for a wide range of award-winning schemes including housing projects, healthcare, and cultural buildings
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What is the role of architects in the process? Architects can expand their terms of engagement. We think strategically and holistically and can offer as much to city legislators in helping them set visions for city growth or write policies that influence quality or we can create masterplans that are focused on placemaking rather than just housing units. Modernist planning lost sight of how to design places for people. Large developments of standardised multi-apartment focused on functionality at the expense of culture and community. Architects need to think as much about the spaces they create between their buildings as the buildings themselves. At Mae Architects we plan new housing around streets and landscaped public spaces, we design in spaces for community use or retail, for business or other uses. Every new housing development is treated as a piece of a city.
meant that commercial developers have been able to sell poor quality and small homes for very high prices. Undersized homes also cause social problems, particularly putting pressure on families living in cramped and unhealthy homes. The Mayor of London recognised the need to set policies that would require developers to meet quality standards. We were commissioned to identify what those requirements should be including minimum dwelling sizes. Before it could be adopted as policy it was published for consultation. There were many mixed feelings about the need for a London Design Guide amongst developers but now it has been implemented developers seem comfortable meeting the requirements.
But it did not work well enough recently in London — that’s why there was In the Agar Grove project, a need for the housing architect Alex Ely and guide you developed? his colleagues perceive Housing in London had the entire block as a development area, gradually got smaller and not separate buildings smaller and often of poor design quality. We have a dysfunctional housing market where demand far exceeds supply. This has
In the Guide 6 key issues are identified. How did you develop them? We decided that the guide had to be as much about the design of the neighbourhood as the housing itself. It therefore has chapters that deal with urban layout, issues of density and car parking, public space and landscape as well as environmental design and the design of the homes. We conducted the research in our practice. This included a very wide literature review of pub-
Public spaces must form a part of housing complexes not merely for marketing reasons, but because they raise the quality of life citywide
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lications that evidence what makes good housing. We also had to develop new empirical evidence to come up wit the space standards and this was developed through a spatial planning exercise looking at what is needed in the home for different family structures. Working with the Mayor’s office we held a num ber of consultation workshops with specialists who deal with issues ranging from disability and access needs, as well as specialists in energy efficient design. Furthermore, we worked with cost consultants to determine the likely impact on development viability. Once we had a draft document, it had to be formally published for wider consultation. Because the guide was to be adopted as policy it has to go through a process of public consultation. We have nearly 200 formal responses that we had to evaluate. The majority feedback was positive and following a few adjustments to the requirements in the guide, to address some of the main concerns raised, it was formally adopted. The guide has been adopted as policy for London through ‘The London Plan.” This means that for a developer to get planning permission to build any new housing scheme their designs have to demonstrate how they meet the requirements set out in the guide. Are there any examples of housing projects that perfectly fit this document? In our own work we have always seen the Housing Design Guide as mechanism for advancing our design rather than a legislative tool that constrains us. We have some great projects, such as our Agar Grove development, that promote all the ideas in the guide. It is a development of 500 new home in North London. It is planned around a series of public spaces and landscaped gardens. Housing is in a range of buildings from family houses laid out in terraces, duplexes in low rise four storey blocks to apartments in a new eighteen storey tower. The buildings will be built to Passivehaus standard, which achieves the environmental design objectives of the guide. The guide has been amazingly influential and is working well. However, it only covers general needs housing, and it would be great to develop it to cover specialist housing such as student accommodation or elderly person and extra care housing.
Each housing project means forming a complete fragment of a city
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LONDON:
How to build a house The Housing Design Guide suggests that architects and developers think of the city as a whole, not of individual buildings p r a c t i c e
The management demands that the logic of the city’s development be adhered to. Developers are required to distinguish between types of streets and follow their hierarchy (ceremonial, noisy, quiet, etc.), note monuments and new buildings by famous architects. The designers are asked to take care not so much of outstanding aesthetic qualities as high quality materials and thought-out details. The Guide has seven themes: 1) interaction with the context, 2) diversity of housing types, 3) design of shared circulation areas within the building, 4) design of living areas with all the necessary space and function, 5) protecting the dweller’s emotional comfort (noise reduction, natural light, tall enough ceilings etc.),
6) sustainable development and adaptation to climate change, 7) managing the design process. Each theme features several “priorities”. In some cases they are phrased as general rec-ommendations (“all main entrances to houses should be visible from the public realm and clearly identified”), in others more specific. Later each priority is given full elaboration: the ideology behind it is explained and concrete solutions to particular problems are offered. Many of the Guide’s suggestions have to do with other documents the reader is encouraged to read (such as the Secured by Design guide by the London Police). The final theme, Managing the Design Process, has to do with achieving the previously described results, offering approaches for the architect’s interaction with the clients, attracting consultants, and planning the process.
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Resources for growth Affordable housing is a global-scale problem facing every city and state in the world. It is particularly difficult in the developing countries where dozens of millions lack a roof over their heads. A study conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute shows there may be a solution to the problem.
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y 2025 approximately 1,6 billion people worldwide will be faced with the problem of housing affordability, in other words, one in three people on the planet. About $15 trillion may be needed to fix the situation by 2025, using up to 1% of global GDP annually, and up to 10% national GDP in the poorest countries. These are the gloomy figures offered by the experts at the McKinsey Global Institute in their October 2014 report, “A blueprint for addressing the global affordable housing challenge”. However, the report is actually dedicated to the ways the
affordable housing problem can be solved. Four “levers” can help cut down housing prices almost by half. First, though, there is a need for definitions: what is affordable housing and of what particular kind of housing is there a shortage? The McKinsey experts define affordable housing as such that: • costs its owners 30–40 percent of their income (with the rest going to food, healthcare, transportation, education etc.); • follows the minimal requirements accepted in the given society (normally to do with square foot-
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age, availability of certain amenities such as electricity, sewage, gas, et al., proximity to work, school, hospitals etc.); • can be afforded by citizens whose income is no higher than 80 percent of the median income for the area. Having studied the situation in 2,400 cities worldwide (all of them with populations higher than 200,000), the experts determined that 96 million families in the world are barely able to afford housing, while 235 million families live in substandard conditions compared to modern requirements. For example, in 2012 in the world’s wealthiest and most expensive city — New York — approximately 1.5 million families could not pay as much for housing as the market demanded. The average price for a nominal apartment in the city was then $21,000. There were around 750 thousand families living in New York at the time who could afford to pay double the price, and another 1.5 million were comfortable paying for an “average” place. However, nearly half of the city’s inhabitants could pay no more than $15,000. The difference between what the market demands and what New Yorkers can afford is $18 billion a year. City growth exacerbates the problem further. The world’s 20 largest cities will need to house 36 million families by 2025: Tokyo needs to build 169,000 apartments annually, while Moscow needs a mere 85,000. Beijing requires the most construction: 418,000 apartments per annum. At the same time, a lack of affordable housing leads to many unpleasant effects that hinder the ultimate development of the city, i. e., an overall low quality of life: shortage of money for proper nutrition or medicine, time spent traveling to work from remote regions of the city, a high level of crime, etc. Millions of city dwellers find themselves cut off from productive urban life, including its economic aspect. Cities spend large amounts of money solving this problem, because commercial developers usually believe that affordable housing is not economically efficient. However, the authors of the report believe that supply and demand can be brought much closer together by combining two approaches — finding additional resources to solve the housing affordability problem in the short-term perspective, and readjusting the housing market in the long-term. Primarily they refer to existing options for lowering housing prices, which they have divided into four groups. Together, these tools can lower housing prices by 22–48 percent compared to the market price of a nominal average unit, meaning that housing will become affordable to those who make 52–78 percent of the median.
Making land resources more accessible Land costs can comprise up to 78 percent of the housing prices (as is the case in San Francisco, compared to 25–60 percent in Mumbai and about 40 percent in Rio de Janeiro). As a result, the housing that becomes “affordable” is often that in the suburbs, lacking the necessary conditions for normal life. Developing the transportation system and the territories made accessible by transport, lowering high administrative barriers, sensibly zoning the city territory, using “forgotten” lots of land, tax stimulation, surveying — these are tools that help release land resources and significantly lower the prices of housing. Modern technology in development and construction The global views on industrial housing construction are not too favorable, the Soviet and Eastern-European experience having earned it a bad rap. And yet, combined with modern methods of quality and cost control, industrial construction can lower financial costs by 30 percent and nearly halve the time expended. In addition, modern model homes are no longer as monotone as they are usually thought to be. The consumer view of industrial construction may be changed with clever work with public spaces, a city environment saturated with services, the state and the developers working with the consumers’ expectations. Modern technology in management and maintenance Energy efficient and resource-saving houses and an optimized market for management and maintenance services can lower housing prices by hefty percentages. Take the EU, where maintenance and utility payments comprise up to a third of the annual housing price. Financial tools In developing countries, mortgage rates are several times higher than in wealthy countries, and they are lower across the board for well-off families than for poor ones. In other words, the existing financial system is incapable of helping those most in need of help. The state of the financial service market in this field is affected greatly by the overall state of the economy, particularly, the inflation rate, which is why the experts believe the foremost need to be for stable economic growth and transparent well-developed legal tools. By lowering the initial cost of loans and developing the banking system, housing loans can be made more accessible. Then the government can explore other tools as well, such as subsidizing tenants or renters.
1,5 million people in New York, the planet’s wealthiest city, cannot afford to pay for quality housing what the market demands
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50% of housing prices can be saved if land is managed properly, and modern technologies are used in building construction and maintenance
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Cooperative housing, Coin Street, London
T Via Verde housing complex, New York
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he project of the Via Verde housing complex (Spanish for Green Street) is an experiment run by social housing developers, New York municipality, and the architectural community. Its history goes back to 2004, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg initiated a program called New Housing Marketplace. The idea was for the city to co-invest with private businesses into building affordable housing, adding a dollar from the budget to each $3.41 from private investors. This way, $19.4 billion would be spent over a decade to finance the construction or conservation of 165,000 housing units (apartments, townhouses etc.) in five boroughs, including South Bronx where the “Green Street” is located. The designer and developer for the project were selected in 2006 during an unprecedented competition, the likes of which had never taken place in the New York affordable market segment before. It was organized by the local branch of the American Institute of Architects
and the New York City Housing Authority. The consultations involved several stages of selection, consultation with local inhabitants, and public hearings. The winning project was by Dattner Architects partnered with the British Grimshaw Architects. They used the least convenient corner of the area to place a 20-story tower with several adjoining sections of different heights (6–13 stories), and the widest part of the plot is surrounded with townhouses. The overall livable area of the complex is 25,700 square meters comprising 222 housing units, 71 of which were for sale. Another 1,000 square meters on ground level has been given over to commerce and services. The project was awarded the golden certificate of the LEED environmental standard because of its enforced thermal insulation, solar batteries on the roof, quality glazing, the use of pergolas on the facade for shade, and the dual orientation of the apartments. It includes a system for collecting water for technical purposes. The most noticeable of the environmental features are the gardens on the complex roofs, connected with staircases and featuring a small amphitheater.
he inhabitants of several London districts centered on Coin Street have been diligently and persistently forming the image and policy of the area and caring for its economic well-being for the past 37 years. Albeit with municipal support, but mostly independently using bank credit, grants, and the area’s income, the cooperative they established and named Coin City Community Builders has turned a depressive neighborhood on the southern bank of the Thames into a blossoming one. It all began in 1977 with mass protests, when the citizens opposed the plans of developers to erect on land that had previously been defunct for 30 years over 90,000 square meters of office space and a very tall European hotel. Instead, they suggested that housing be built (to replace what had been there before until WWII bombings), the embankment tidied up, spaces for workshops and stores be created. The campaign to preserve the land lasted for 7 years non-stop. Eventually, in 1981, the Greater London Council switched from supporting the developers to siding with the tenacious citizens. The protest suddenly morphed into a series of public hearings, which lasted another several years. In 1984, the Council bought the land back from the developers and added to it several city-owned plots. The resulting lot was purchased by the Coin Street Community Builders cooperative, established for that very
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transaction. £1,000,000 bought 5.5 hectares. The money was borrowed from banks and returned gradually, sometimes by assigning the purchased land various temporary functions like parking lots etc. Almost immediately, the construction of cooperative condominiums began. Today the area includes four cooperative “blocks”: traditional (but modern in their architecture) low-rise blocks, a garden, a riverside promenade, a social support center, a creative cluster where a wharf used to be, and a multifunctional complex with shops, workshops, offices and housing in the reconstructed space of another wharf. In the late 2000s, a new community center was built as well. The cooperative’s board must consist of local inhabitants, all of the income goes to developing the area and may not be used for anything else. The cooperative is responsible for the upkeep of the entire territory, including public spaces, all of which were created out of nothing, gradually acquiring paving, benches, navigation. Today the area attracts not only locals, but also many tourists. The company also forms a pool of commercial space renters, carries out training sessions for cooperative housing management etc. The managers are also in charge of interacting with the authorities of the two districts the local neighborhoods belong to in accordance with the city’s administrative division. Notably, by the late 2000’s the citizens made their peace with highrise buildings on their territory, although not hotels. A small housing tower is already under construction, and there is a project for the empty lot adjoining one of the key local sites — the National Theater building. The project includes lots of ideas for the public good: a swimming pool, gyms, space for the Rambert Dance Company, an office block and a 43-story housing tower, whose erection had to be disputed in court. This time the project was opposed by heritage protectors. The tower will indeed have serious impact on the city’s downtown riverside skyline, and threatens to ruin the view of Westminster, which lays across the river and includes 11 architectural monuments.
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Microfinancing in India
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n 2008, on the eve of the global recession provoked by the US credit bubble, a company was founded in India to provide micro loans for housing. Today, the Micro Housing Finance Corporation works in 15 cities across the state, and over the 6 years of its existence it has even managed to acquire competition. Almost half of the country’s urban population lives in slums, and such projects fulfill not just commercial, but also social functions which are of the utmost importance. The Micro Housing Finance Corporation provides long-term loans with a 12–14 percent interest rate. Unlike usual banks, they do not require of a potential borrower official paperwork proving guaranteed income, which is normally the barrier no more that 3 percent potential housing purchasers in the country manage to overcome. This complements the fact that, per global analysts, the country lacks approximately 19 million housing units, of which 90 percent — in the affordable housing sector. Instead of studying paperwork, the Micro Housing Finance Corporation places great importance on interviewing the candidate and learning their
current living conditions. Normally these are small business owners connected to a particular area: a hair salon, a fish stall, a tea shop. Some taxi drivers and teachers apply as well. Over the years, 5,000 loans have been granted, and so far, not one of them was not repaid or had overdue payments. The maximum repayment term is 15 years, the maximum loan is 1,000,000 rupees, and the borrower must be capable of paying independently at least 20 percent of the cost of the housing for which the loan is granted. Everyone must also take out life insurance. Naturally, housing can be purchased only in projects accredited by the company, mostly large multi-block economy class complexes with 30–45 sqm apartments. The company’s website offers 20 locations in Mumbai, for example. Among them the new Dream City, where besides a large amount of housing, a hospital, a school, and a community center are to be built. The complex is located near an electric train station. There are also simpler and cheaper projects, for the demands of the slum-escapees are usually modest.
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Quality of architecture /
What part does architecture play in solving the problems of modern cities? Sometimes it seems To be a minor part as the problems are too complex for any architectural improvement beyond The most insignificant ones. We asked four architects several questions on the subject: Boris Levyant and Sergei Tchoban from Russia, François Decoster from France and Romil Sheth from India.
Sergei Tchoban, managing partner of the architectural lab SPEECH, leader of the Berlin office of the firm nps tchoban voss.
Boris Levyant, director of ABD Architects which, has been working in the Russian market since 1991. Over the years the firm has completed hundreds of projects.
Romil Sheth, RMA Architects. RMA Architects practice was established in India in 1990. Today it has design offices in Mumbai and Boston, as well as a research unit.
François Decoster, architect, teacher and co-founder of L’AUC, French practice with focus on urban planning, public space design and architecture.
Question 1:
They say a bad architect’s work can ruin even a beneficial situation, yet It is unlikely a good architect will manage to save a hopeless project. Do you agree?
Sergei Tchoban The architect is always re-
sponsible for the end result, even if the project has historically been complex and the architect was not involved in it all the way, from concept to construction. The architect needs to build such a relationship with the client and other stakeholders that their opin-
ion will be heard. Whether an architect is good or bad has much to do with how successfully they can predict two things. One is the notion of the building’s scale, the user’s perception of it (the inhabitant, the renter, the visitor). The other is what the building will look like a while after construction — 10, 15, or
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20 years. The rest has to do with how fashionable and inventive the solution is, and that fades into the background relatively quickly.
sion then the outcome becomes more controllable — at least this is what the architect should strive for.
Romil Sheth These issues become even more
chitects — we never do alone. Responsibility is shared between the whole system of actors. And when you are designing a project, you are integrating many-many parameters. The process of design is precisely the process through which you answer all these parameters so that the result which is your project — becomes more than just a sum of all these answers. Design is about solving a very complex equation and putting it into something that is autonomous from all these parameters.
prescient when working on larger scale projects where multiple constituents, often with vested interests are involved in the decision-making process. In these situations the architect needs to act both as a mediator and as an educator who absorbs the complexities of political processes around them but also helps all stakeholders involved understand the implications and trade-offs. If they are successful in getting the different constituents engaged and vested in the vi-
Question 2:
plex projects normally involve many architects, but at different stages. Fortunately or not, it is rare for a single architect to be working on a project from the initial sketch to the completed construction. Usually one architect prepares the concept, and then they try to “push” them out and get a “cheaper” one to develop design documentation. Of course, the greatest quality losses at the construction stage occur due to errors or imprecisions in the documentation. Often they won’t even let the architect onto the site. This is an option recorded even in the city development codex. How can the architect avoid being lost among all the parties involved, when everyone — the contractor, the bank, the officials — believes themselves to be in the lead? Much depends on charisma, willpower, and willingness to risk one’s health and time.
Romil Sheth Architects as urban designers
should get involved in the conceptual framing of the project if the process allows it. In some cases, architects can also function as activists by identifying and critically analyzing urban conditions to create awareness and generate public interest in address-
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François Decoster What we do as ar-
A large-scale project. At what stage should the architect come into play?
Boris Levyant Practice shows that com-
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The most difficult part is to use multiple narratives to build something that’s cohesive
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ing these situations and to create a potential project. Understanding the nuances of complex urban conditions and actively engaging the community in the process is important to understand each other better, and facilitate weaving in multiple ideas to create a cohesive vision.
François Decoster One way to answer
that question would be to say: as soon as possible. Say, you have one meeting room with people wearing dark suits and ties, deciding that your building should have two levels more. And another room with people wearing grey suits with less expensive ties, deciding that you should take into account the preservation of this view, and saying “No, this building cannot be so tall”. And in yet another room — don’t know what dress architects should wear, — they will be sitting around the table trying to design a great project. If these three rooms are separated then the decisions are always contradicting, and it’s always a kind of a fight. Which is good, every project has to be a bit of a fight, but if you put these people all in the same room from the beginning, I think, you could have more intelligence within the project.
Every project has to be a fight
Question 3:
How much is a project influenced by external factors such as legislation, policy, and economy?
Sergei Tchoban A project is quite radi-
cally influenced by the way the dialogue goes between the architect, the client, and the authorities.
Initiating and directing the quality of this dialogue is the architect’s responsibility. But it all depends on how deep the architect wants to engage into certain
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processes. It is very easy to remove oneself from questions that do not pertain directly, saying “I have nothing to do with this, I have designed the facade, the rest is none of my business”. This is the slippery slope to losing the deciding vote. Now, if the architect gets involved in the processes in a qualified manner and manages to build a dialogue whose tone and contents are comfortable for all parties, then they will be able to complete the process all the while remaining in charge of the ever-changing situation dynamic.
Boris Levyant The architect today is left to
face all of the difficulties of the present and the future alone. If we are invited into a project where, say, a constructivist building needs to be demolished and replaced with something else — there is the moment
of truth. What does the architect have to say against it? They can either immediately agree to destroy a part of our culture and history, or not. Normally we try to avoid such jobs, as much as it hurts and as little work as there may be. Unfortunately, architects are yet to gain collective protection, as the existing regulatory institutions are unprofessional, accidental and have virtually outlived their usefulness.
Romil Sheth Overall, architects need to have
a strong conviction about their overall ideas but also have the patience to deal with external forces and work with them. The Hathigaon project that we developed went through multiple government changes and at every juncture we had to figure out how to convince the incoming officials about the validity of the project, its costs, and final vision.
Sometimes projects for a competition are prepared in accordance with the expected jury
Question 4:
What part play in the situation? What should be like?
Sergei Tchoban Competition choice in-
volves the same taste definitions as urban architectural policy. It is a composite evaluation that consists of the personal standing of the architect taking part in the competition, their previous work, and the extent to which these perceptions match the task at hand. One can present any sort of idea, but the one that will win is the one most compatible with the views, expectations and opinions of the jury members. There is even a practice of preparing projects for competitive bidding in accordance with the expected jury. The only format allowing to minimize this tail of subjectivity, of which I am a proponent, is that of the anonymous competition.
Romil Sheth Competitions are a great way
to take architectural discourse to another level and provide opportunities for the younger generation to get engaged in working on larger projects. It is critical to develop a process that takes into account
the time and commitment involved in developing strong ideas and to create a jury of peers that provide a professional view point. The other aspect that is important to develop is the understanding of a good idea and to balance it against budgetary and financial implications so that its not just the lowest bidder that gets selected.
François Decoster Sometimes we re-
member competitions even though nothing was built afterwards. Competitions are part of the cultural aspect of architecture. But I think competitions should not be applied to all kinds if projects. Sometimes in France we have to make competitions for very small projects. And you have 5 plastic models, 25 boards printed on glossy paper, all these reports by technical commissions, then juries… It takes hundreds of hours and a lot of resources to choose a small project for 30 housing units. I find this disproportional.
Question 5:
How can the quality of architecture be affected by press, critics, education, democracy mechanisms, and other factors?
Sergei Tchoban
Criticism in the press can put a damper on the reputation and practice of an architect, particularly one dealing with budget projects and large-scale public and cultural objects. It is impossible for an architect to ignore crit-
icism, but they must take a constructive position. One must know how to argue one’s opinion and project solutions, how to keep up a dialogue with society via the same media. With regard to commercial architecture, the deciding factor is the real es-
Sometimes journalists seem to be interested in names and budgets, not the quality of the architectural solutions
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tate’s market success: how quickly the apartments in the building were sold out or the rooms in the office center rented out. People vote with their feet and wallets, and that is the most independent method of critical evaluation, although it, too, is not perfect.
Boris Levyant The media, overall, plays
a very significant part. Sometimes the knowledge level of the journalists following tender bidding is doubtful as they seem to be more interested in names and budgets than the goals and tasks of the competition. As for architectural criticism, it is among the greatest problems both in Russia in general and Moscow in particular — there is virtually no professional architectural criticism! I do feel, though that there is something positive to an underdeveloped feedback mechanism. At least we save money and energy on passing public hearings and eventually building something.
Romil Sheth Contemporary architects that
are working within the Indian context need to be acutely aware of the urban conditions they are operating within and the impact of their architectural interventions. Given the rapid changes in urbaniza-
tion that cities and towns in India are going through, it is critical to instill in architects an understanding and sensitivity to the larger systems and processes of the city. The other aspect is the understanding of infrastructure (including social and cultural) that needs to support this. Lastly, it is very important for municipal agencies to evolve to look at cities as complex entities that have different needs in different places and cannot be structured through generic planning or zoning regulations.
François Decoster Everytime we have
been involved in big competitions with public exhibitions afterwards we found that very rewarding. That was the case for the Greater Paris competition — people came massively to see what architects had done and had to say about the future of Greater Paris. When we did the bid for Big Moscow there was also an exhibition in the Gorky Park. I think the communication or interaction with the public is always very rewarding, very important and can make projects more relevant. What you learn from confrontation or exchange with other people, be they ordinary citizens or specialists, it changes your way of thinking.
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It’s important to use local cultural practices and traditions to create the contemporary society
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Question 6:
What are the future challenges for architects? What problems may arise?
Sergei Tchoban In my view, two serious
problems in Russia require close attention and resolution. One is a lack of our own manufacturing base. Architects are deprived of the ability to build out of quality affordable construction and decor materials. It is vital today to develop a construction base that would enable us to lower the costs of construction (extremely important for affordable housing), create new jobs, and finally raise the quality of architecture. The other issue is the need to reappraise standards, not just architectural, but development as well, and even the rules of land allotment for construction.
Romil Sheth The biggest challenge that architects in India face is reconciling the burgeoning social and economic disparity and addressing the challenge of rapidly developing second and third tier cities. As social aspirations evolve, it becomes critical for architects to be able to negotiate between the public and private spheres and create soft thresholds that allow for a more nuanced edge conditions between different domains. Developers and architects need to work together to understand local cultural practices and traditions and to be able to cre-
ate a contemporary and modern vision that strives and develops within the Indian context as opposed to simply importing external models from different countries.
François Decoster The biggest threat
is probably overtechnicisation of the process of making architecture. Many people who decide to make buildings do not integrate the word “architecture” into their equation. More and more I have the feeling that we are paid to decorate preconceived objects and not to think about these objects. Rem Koolhaas in his text from 1995 which was called “The Generic City” made a quite accurate description of what we have today around us. It’s a question of where society places architecture and what importance society gives to architecture. Basically, most people consider architecture to be an important thing in their culture, but the market somehow splits everything into small responsibilities, small processes. It’s just about the kind of industrial process of producing square meters with a certain look. This senseless replication, repetition, I think it belongs to the past. And for the future, let’s make architecture.
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new wave of urban activism as a development driver: looking for “flexible city” / The “tactical” and “spontaneous” urbanism of city activists is not merely a cultural phenomenon, and it is not limited to criticizing existing systems of city management. Rather, it is a laboratory of new ideas with a time of reaction to changes in context and the citizens’ new needs.
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t has been over a century — some researchers date it back to Baron Haussmann’s Paris renovation — that city development has been perceived as connected to the demands of social progress. Understandably, in the late 20th century civic activists, unhappy with accelerated urbanization’s failure to bring the expected results, started influencing the theory and practice of urban development. And in the beginning of the 21st century, we are witnessing an incredible burst of a new kind of activism. Thousands of small projects worldwide by artists, designers, social workers, members of various subcultures,
and even architects who have left the boundaries of professional practice. The content of those demonstrate the interest of their authors for the city in general and its nature, rather than the desire to solve a given practical problem. The 2008 recession made many people look around for new ideas in urban development, and the blossoming of urban activism was quite well-timed. Terms like “spontaneous / tactical / informal / guerrilla / participative” urbanism appeared. The term “sudden-urbanism” was coined by Dutch experts in urban marketing Jeroen Beekmans and Joop de Boer
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who started their blog Pop-Up City in 2008: “By using the phrase ‘pop-up city’ we are trying to capture the ability of urban structures to pop up suddenly and then disappear, move or change just as easily as soon as the situation changes.” The same year, English curator Scott Burnham and designers from the Dutch company Droog Design held a mini-festival of street art in Amsterdam, called Urban Play. The projects that artists, designers and architects submitted to the festival, illustrated the key curatorial idea: “Instead of taking the usual approach towards urban design, in which objects and areas are created to prevent alteration and intervention by the public, what if we created a series of urban design which invited it”. Above: 250,000 Euro cents laid out in a city square as part of the 2008 Urban Play project. Below: “Urban Interventions” was among the first attempts to collect of street activist projects
In 2010, Gestalten, a German publisher, printed an album called “Urban Interventions” — possibly, the first collection of “spontaneous,” “tactical” and similar interventions into urban spaces. The compilers clearly stated that they meant primarily artistic practices — “evolving from graffiti and street art, urban interventions are […] an intelligent and critical commentary on the planning, use, and commercialization of public space”. The organizers of a two-year interdisciplinary seminar at University College Ghent approached the problem in a similar way. The participants were required to offer an artistic interpretation of “urban cracks” — spaces where there are tears in the logic of the city development, forgotten or abandoned spaces. This can mean not just physical spaces, but also, social practices which, too, can develop cracks or rifts. The discussion of possibilities open to urban interventions reached a new level in 2012, when the US pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale was dedicated to “tactical urbanism”. The exhibition was called “Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good”. The team of curators collected over a hundred projects from the US in the pavilion. The curators, led by American art critic Cathy Lang Ho, managed to show the variety of the “spontaneous”– both in terms of topics (from informal farmers’ markets with educational programs for children to swings hanging from bridge posts), and in terms of measures, tools and approaches. Many initiatives presented in Venice in 2012 had by then already accrued global renown and been reproduced in many other cities. Much like graffiti once,
“Urban interventions” IS a subtle and critical commentary on the ways public spaces are planned, used and commercialized
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Above: Hong Kong is Water project was presented at the Uneven Growth exhibition at MoMA New York. Below: one of the hundreds of mini-parks participating in PARK (ing) Day
urban activism is becoming a universal, global language, a cultural code. But, again like graffiti, a message formed in this language targets local community. This unique and culturally unusual combination lends broad distribution to many ideas of “spontaneous” urbanism. A nice example is the PARK (ing) Day project. In 2005, designers from a small firm in San Francisco rented a parking space and turned it into a park fragment by spreading a lawn and installing a bench and a potted tree. By 2014, there were already 332 miniparks popping up on the same day worldwide — Singapore to Dublin, Johannesburg to Alaska — and each park is unique. In November 2014, an exhibition opened at MoMA New York called Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities and dedicated to urban interventions in the world’s largest metropolises. Teams of curators worked on the exhibition from Mumbai, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos, Hong Kong, and Istanbul. “Spontaneity,” or natural, instinctive behavior, can be seen as the result of the interaction between the
inhabitant of a modern city, member of the middle class with relatively high demands, and the specific environment of the megacity. On the one hand — high speed of life, saturation with events; on the other — multiplying spaces devoid of identities (malls, subway stations, airports, hotels, chain restaurants). This is the fictitious city described in the mid-1990s by French philosopher Marc Auge. The “tactical,” i. e., partly chaotic, is dictated by the variety of human needs to which we seek satisfaction in the city. Another French philosopher, Henri Lefebvre (who has regained immense popularity in the recent years along with his contemporary and confederate Jane Jacobs), wrote about this in the late 1960s, mentioning, inter alia, that “social needs include the need for safety and openness, for stability and adventure, the predictable and the sudden, the similar and the different, isolation and encounter, independence (even loneliness) and interaction…” The potential of combining the spontaneous and the tactical in a modern city is great. It includes the possibility to move from the concept of sustainable development (which is possible in the relatively foreseeable reality) to that of elastic, flexible development. A resilient, flexible city which is constantly changing and adjusting — this notion of a city seems more adequate to many today than the modernist one from the industrial development era, when social progress seemed not only a necessary good, but also an achievable goal.
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Fruit map, London
“What bus is this?”, Porto Alegre
The Better Block, Dallas
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or his graduation project in 2009, King’s College alum Vahakn Matossian created a map of London on which he began marking fruit trees growing in the city. He wanted to teach citizens to harvest in public spaces and show them the great amount and diversity of trees growing in the city. Apples, pears, strawberries, blackberries, and other fruit grow right in the streets of London, of which most citizens are unaware as they purchase expensive imported fruit at supermarkets. The fruit of the city’s trees are often left unharvested and go to waste. The Fruit City website marks fruit-bearing trees; the map is constantly updated and added to by the users themselves. In addition to the map, the website features information about the trees, their descriptions, various harvesting tips, and unexpected recipes for fruit pies, jams, or, for example, cherry wine.
ost bus stops in Brazil lack any sort of timetable and even a list of the buses stopping there, which has long been very inconvenient for locals and made traversing the city near impossible for tourists. The government was unable to solve the problem for financial and organizational reasons, so the citizens decided to address the nationwide issue themselves. The Porto Alegreans came up with a project called “Which bus stops here?” Stickers with the question were posted on city stops, calling on people who knew the schedule of the stop to fill in the blanks. The idea was so successful it quickly caught on in other cities as well. The project was supported by the design firm All Sights, which made recognizable stickers, which were published on the website and freely available for the citizens print out as many as needed, stick them on familiar bus stops and fill them in. After a video was published on Facebook sharing the project, it only took the initiative several days to spread to 20 cities, including small towns and large cities. Over this time, Brazilians printed and posted approximately 6,000 tourists. The overwhelmingly successful project solved a problem for the locals while simultaneously making travel easier for tourists.
omparing the thriving street life in Europe and the desolate streets of Dallas, Texas, activists Jason Roberts and Andrew Howard used locals’ help to turn an empty street into the city’s best block with bike paths, cafés, newsstands, and other useful services. The oneday action served to show the citizens can fix shortage of infrastructure and public spaces by themselves if they come up with ideas and work together to realize them. Jason and Andrew got locals involved: chefs, artists, architects and homemakers — and each was able to contribute. The people spent a day marking bicycle paths with crayons and duct tape, putting out potted plants in the street and baking homemade pastries. The event showed the citizens capable of improving their block independently, and also made neighbors connect and get to know each other better. Local authorities thought the Best Block project to be a financially profitable event, and matching events have appeared in 32 American cities in the past two years.
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Pipes in Pink, Surat
Citizens’ Little Helpers, Paris
New Old Light, Athens
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n India, locals are used to seeing storm water pipes stacked in the streets. During sewage replacement works, gray pipes can spend a long time sitting in the middle of the street, adding nothing to its dubious charms. Indian design group Urfun Lab came up with an easy way to improve the situation in the city of Surat, when they stacked the pipes in two layers and covered both sides of each in colored cellophane. At once, the concrete structures became a colorful kaleidoscope, decorating the city and becoming a leisure spot for many citizens who use them as benches. “We are used to looking at cities in bird’s eye view, whereby a lot of small details are overlooked or lost,” said one of the members of Urfun Lab, “Inverting this approach we looked at the city from the ground up, making a small-scale installation. Storm water pipes are a common sight throughout the city and are eyesores till they get buried. All we did is cover them with colored cellophane paper with a handful of Urfun Lab volunteers on a Sunday morning in the city of Surat where urban art is still an unimaginable phenomenon.”
abrique Hacktion is a union of three French designers who have decided to improve the urban environment. They add small improvements to existing objects in the city to make their use more convenient. To make their objects, they apply digital and traditional technologies. Some parts are 3D-printed, others are made using common woodworking tools. The designers create items that give the city a new appearance. Public gardens have moveable chairs for visitors, but none of the chairs have a little table for a book or a cup of coffee. Fabrique Hacktion attached a small wooden plank between the chairs, which can serve as a convenient table. They also made coat pegs attached to stone walls in parks, so that one can hang one’s coat on a hook instead of throwing it on the ground; simple newspaper holders in the metro; city navigation stickers pointing toward the nearest bike parking; and other useful improvements.
magine the City NGO and Beforelight Studio collected 150 unused lamps from people living in Athens to light up one of the city’s darkest streets. The project aimed mainly to turn an unlit street into a friendly and safe space. The group of volunteers arranged a temporary workshop in an abandoned store in the same street where they collected and refurbished old lamps brought from people’s homes. The project united the local community and introduced neighbors to each other. The locals were delighted to have someone notice their street, and were ready and willing to participate. Afterwards, street artists joined the action and painted cozy apartment interiors on the building facades in the street. The event was broadcast online and gained wide renown and acclaim. Not only was there a great wave of positive feedback, but the project also enabled a dialogue between the municipal authorities and the citizens, as the officials gained new insight into the citizens’ ability to intervene in the city’s image. This soon led to artists being able to have a photography exhibition in the next street over.
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David Barrie: “We must stop seeing people as inert stupid mass” In the age of internet and social entrepreneurship, urban development may be based not only on development regulations and business plans, but also on initiatives of urban communities and individuals. The urban space must become a space where any citizen may create and launch their own “app.”
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David Barrie is the chief consultant at David Barrie & Associates. The company offers consultng services in economic development and creative economy, and specializes on developing and realizing projects and programs that aid the growth of large and small cities alike
eveloped countries show growing interest in two trends: rapidly developing social networks, for one, and secondly, business management tools that let one both make money and focus on solving socially important tasks. The fact that these trends exist demands a new approach to the policy of managing and planning cities. The traditional approach to city regeneration and construction makes development and urban improvement commissions into a sort of a military game. After the government distributes financial resources, the planning process begins. Experts and businesses work together to determine priorities, sources of financing and the required return on investment. As a result, urban development becomes part of a complex bureaucratic process, a closed system of forming ideas, evaluations and plans. This approach has led to excess wariness and paralyzed will, caused by the need to analyze eve-
rything and conceal it from the media, contractors, clients, and society. This vicious circle is the direct opposite to the ethos of open systems which today governs the work of innovative companies, the growth of internet and social networks, as well as social entrepreneurship. The rise of social entrepreneurship has already changed the views on urban space development in Great Britain. The key points of the change are: the priority of human relations, the importance of redistributing social as well as financial capital, and the need to transition from discussing spaces to discussing the services they offer. In such a system, urban spaces are thought of as places that make social processes possible without forcing them. Historically, the demand for a space has depended on several factors, including its physical accessibility, social potential, comfort and image. Many of these remain relevant to this day. This is what makes the traditional approach to urban design attractive and explains why people are drawn to new urban spaces designed according to these factors, such as Millennium Park in Chicago or London’s South Bank.
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Historically, however, what made a place were social connections, i. e., people. Today, the development of social networks takes away from the importance of physical factors and puts up new demands for urban spaces, like the demand to be more flexible than before. As a result, the information age requires that we stop seeing people as inert stupid mass. Physical urban space will either lose its relevance or become a place with functional possibilities like mobile apps that let everyone perform each their own tasks. There is nothing new to designing places in a city where the ability to communicate and the social importance of business or human relations would reach its peak. However, an approach that enables the development of social initiatives is not yet widespread enough. This, undoubtedly, has to do with the multitude of risks: the need to pay rent or find a self-supporting model of work, essentially because
social business is viewed not as a full-scale producer of goods, but as a tool to solve those problems the market hasn’t been able to. As well as the unfailing desire of developers, architects and builders to create a basis for economical growth, not a flexible environment for the gradual development of entrepreneurial networks and productive communities. However, if the goal of urban development projects is public wellbeing, then the projects must be a result of trusting relationships between citizens, implementers, renters, and service providers, be they government structures or businesses. If the goal of urban development projects is to create sustainable communities brimming with potential, then cities must use human capital to maximum efficiency. If the key element of economical growth is innovation, then instead of protectionism and opacity, standard procedures must lead to open interaction between communities.
Svyat Murunov: “Today, it is communities — not business or government — that are interested in people” Russian city administration systems are not focused on citizens’ needs for comfort, productive social interaction, and self-fulfillment. The situation can only be changed through informal urban communities.
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ussian cities need a restart. The sharp transition in the 90s from the industrial to the market period resulted in several forceful contradictions. A city now has two parties, each pursuing their respective goals and solving their own issues. Those partie are — the naturally conservative government and business that views the city as a resource and treats everyone as either customers or competitors. The two parties are closely interrelat-
ed, and our analysis of over half of Russia’s cities of different scope and size shows that municipal parliaments consist of 90% businessmen or their representatives. But in this case there is nobody in the city to represent the interests of the citizens. In fact, informal urban communities, which think humanely and are sufficiently organized, are the only candidate for a third party. Indeed, a city is a hierarchy of various levels of community: local (a yard,
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a street, or a block), municipal (gathered around common interests or social problems), virtual (online). However, modern Russian cities have very low representation of local communities. We rarely know our neighbors, have no experience of working with them and no ability to delegate competences, resources or choices to each other. There are scattered informal communities (about 10–15 percent of citizens are involved in those), and the most copious among them are virtual (the number of members of a virtual community can be 10 times greater than the actual population of the city). Since 2012, I have been constantly monitoring and surveying the leaders of various urban communities around the country. Among the issues that matter to them are city environment, culture, education, the future of the city. Communities reveal an interest in people, not power or wealth. There are somewhere in the range of 150 types of informal urban societies. Their main topics are: social problems (ecology, animal rights), creativity (various subcultures), hobbies (cycling, cars, cinema), professional activity (designers, architects, IT professionals), public spaces (protecting parks, library clubs, museum societies), global technology (geocaching). Our study of urban communities in the country showed that the types of communities are the same in each city. They are, in fact, global ideas and cultural codes: bicycles, anti-cafes, coworking spaces, ecology etc. On the one hand, this is good, communities in different cities can quickly forge connections. On the other hand, a lack of unique local communities can essentially erase the identity of the city. Luckily, there are still poets, artists, musicians, and architects in every city, for creative communities are the ones attempting to rethink local history and redevelop it. However, each community places interest in humans above all in its system of values; it is the desire to represent its value system, make city life more exciting, solve acute problems, protect or reveal identities that makes the difference between urban communities and business or government. This is what makes communities integral participants in urban development. However, more often than not, the
government sees them primarily as competitors and tries to manipulate them (e. g., hire the activists, create similar but controlled societies, or direct their work by controlling the resources they need). Meanwhile, in cities where the government recognizes the communities as partners and key assets in city development, quality events multiply, interesting projects arise, cultural and educational institutions whose curricula had not changed for decades receive a new start. A culture of dialogue and co-creativity forms in such a city, new forms of business appear, and active citizens no longer leave. The positive experience suggests what needs to be done next. Each party is to reconsider the part it plays in the city. Business must form associations and take part in development projects while involving urban communities and authorities in the discussion, instead of merely using the space as its own resource. The authorities should realize that their role in the city is not exclusive and form the necessary conditions for other partners to appear; start an open conversation regarding the city’s problems; transition to a quality dialog with business and the communities. In the meantime, the communities need to form a network, discuss joint values, learn to lead joint projects, and suggest a joint vision of the future of the city’s growth. The next stage will see the new urban development institutions superimposed over the existing ones use actual joint projects to change the direction in which the city is growing and engage the rest of the citizens in any formal or informal social action. It is crucial that social capital be rethought, humans with their skills, competences, social connections, leisure, dreams and goals admitted to be the main asset of the city and the state; and the economic, social and political processes should readjusted accordingly. A city is not walls or roads; it is primarily human communities. Government and business must accept communities as a proper partner in urban development.
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Svyat Murunov, Regional Development Director at the Archpolis Center for Territorial Initiatives, head of the KBR Communications Agency (design, branding, urban events, urban web projects), researcher of urban communities in Russia
5% of citizens are involved in some way in the work of informal urban communities
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Alexander Auzan: “Cultural processes take long time but their results are large-scale and sustainable” Can culture go beyond being just a way to satisfy the leisure needs of citizens and become a tool of development — manageable, goal-oriented development?
Alexander Auzan is the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, President of the Social Contract National Project Institute, author of over a hundred scholarly works including four monographs, and has many years of practical experience consulting national and regional governments
Can we speak of the cultural climate as we do of the investment climate? How can we study culture in this sense? How do we make it into a driver of development, including economic growth? This is possible if we think of culture as an environment for the creation and upkeep of certain values shared more or less by the entire society. Culturologists and sociologists began conducting quantitative studies of values for their own purposes 3–4 decades ago, but economists have only been interested in this for 10–15 years. They have come to understand that many processes may not have other explanations. Previous hypotheses explained many processes in national development through political factors, technical factors, GDP levels — all these were disproved when enough research data had been acquired. It turned out that these factors do not explain everything, and the idea arose that there is a factor that had been missed. Nobody knows what it is, but many, including me, believe it to be culture. We now have rather long measurement sequences started in the 60s by Geert Hofstede and contin-
ued by other scholars. They formulated the characteristics of the values and behavioral attitudes of culture, meaning not the industry producing services via museums, theaters and clubs, but a space for the creation of meaning. And now that we have dynamic measurements of values and behavioral settings and are studying the differences between countries, it is naturally tempting to see how economic and cultural dynamics correlate. And they do correlate quite closely! In the case of successful modernizations, all of them show the same cultural dynamics during an economic boost. A very complex question: why does culture change? Is it as a result of economic shifts, or does economic development happen because of shifts in culture? This issue demands thorough and balanced study. “People get good jobs because they are dressed well, or they are well-dressed because they have a good job.” Yes. We need to immerse ourselves into the contents of behavioral attitudes, measure them and understand what it is they are helping. Besides, we need to see what causes a slowdown. How it works, this lock, this path dependence problem, which keeps countries on certain trajectories. Some
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believe that the slowing down is due to rather accidental reasons. A certain choice of rules regarding taxes, a separation between the royal family and the parliament — to us, all these are remote events in history. But culture grasps them and keeps them, even once these old institutions are long gone. As Finnish researcher Marco Sternberg says, we want 18th century institutions to solve 21st century problems. The culture we live in demands that we sometimes remember even 16th century events, because it formed back when they were powerful and affected the life of the city. On the other hand, a leap happens when elements are found in this cultural image which can be re-used. Conservatives say that anything new is something old, well forgotten. I would rephrase this to say that anything new is something old, well re-used. Newness cannot really appear from nowhere. Traditional elements can be found and made into the spring of development. The Koreans, for example, have done this by making their traditional clan structures the basis of industrial organizations called chaebols, and this way they have lowered transaction costs, formed trust networks etc. What could Moscow use and how? We have an approximate image of Russia and a much dimmer one of Moscow. We have data from global and European value studies representing countries, but we are aware that a city, particularly a capital, always differs from a country. On the national level, we understand that modern Russians have certain features which are good for economic development: our people like learning and are good at it, they are creative enough. Comparative studies show this, but the best proof is that we are exporting brain power. We are quite competitive in terms of creative capital. Particular characteristics determine the fact that we are capable of making a spaceship, an atomic bomb, a hydro turbine, but not a viable automobile. This is probably a cultural characteristic, a sort of a “cross-eyed Lefty” effect where we can shoe a flea but are unready for mass production. But this is also an issue of specialization in the global economy, because unique products, test series, small batches, and creative industries are also in demand. This may not bring Russia colossal success worldwide, but may be considered a first stage. What we already have puts us in this position, but how shall we proceed from here? Asia is not the only place to have succeeded in modernization, so there’s no need to consider it a regional phenomenon. Take the boom that happened in late 20th-early 21st century in the Catholic regions: Ireland, Poland, Southern Germany.
It definitely had cultural prerequisites, and we can even say what they were. Analysis shows that this is the after-effect of the Second Vatican Council of 1962, which reinterpreted such values as labor, wealth and poverty. Poverty ceased to be sanctified, labor ceased to be a curse, and wealth ceased to be unworthy. Thirty years later, this showed results. Yes, cultural processes take long, but their results are large-scale and sustainable. We know institutions that can effect changes in values: besides family and church they are school, prison, and the army. And, of course, the media, including internet. The media environment is difficult to control. So what remains is school, prison, and the army? School, prison, and the army are easiest to control, and they are the tools of every modernization. I think that their differences lie in the specific weight of each tool. I prefer a modernization that bases itself on schooling than that based on prison and army. In my view, a bad university is better than a good prison or a good army. How can the city take part in this? It is not responsible for the army, and rarely for prisons. But it can surely affect schools. Yes, but not only that. According to sociology surveys and studies, a Muscovite spends almost half of the time at home. We do not know for certain what goes on there, but we can guess that the simplest ways of interacting with the world from there are TV and the internet. Then, what is the goal of the city? Not to replace television and internet, but to compete with them; get the person out to the theater, the museum, the library. Now, television and internet arrive to one’s doorstep, whereas these other options present financial barriers, transportation — money and time that can be spent differently. Or functional barriers when they arrive and see not what they wished to see. Or are unable to find what they wanted to see, and go back to television and the web. Once we understand the nature and specifics of the barriers, we can do something. If the barrier cannot be lowered, then motivation can be increased. One would come to the library and get not just a book, but also a film, a discussion, a game. There is a problem with theaters: while in popular theaters one knows what to expect, it is easy to get lost among Moscow’s numerous theaters.There is a need for a system of navigation, ratings. How is the theater better than
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What is the goal of the city? Not to replace television and internet, but to compete with them; get the person out to the THEATER, the museum, the library
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television? The theater is a place for socialization, it creates social capital, trust networks, which have significant impact on economy growth, particularly in transformation economies. If the progress of some countries has to do with changes in their v alue structures, can something be said about cultures approaching indistinguishability? Or that globalization erases the unique, special character of every country? It is true that the value structures of states that have been through the modernization push have approached those of the western world in certain regards. But can we re-
The theater is a place for socialization, it creates social capital and trust networks, which have significant impact on economy growth
fer to this as “westernization”? I do not believe so. Firstly, we understand that very serious distinctions remain which lay the ground for success mechanisms and are therefore reproduced. Clearly, the Japanese are still very much unlike the Americans or the Dutch. Besides, new modernizations also try to use cultural specifics. Take Malaysia, which currently has the best dynamics and seems to be creating the first successful model of economic growth in the Muslim world. In its capital, they have based the development on the idea of Muslim Heaven. We can say that there is some common ground where there need to be shifts, such as lowering the government distance, increasing individualism and the value of self-realization. But there is also a unique part, and there will always be that unique national part in the success formula, when your own culture, tradition, behavioral norms provide a springboard. Once found, this will reproduce and preserve itself.
RICHARD HSU: “TRADITION NEEDS INNOVATION AS WELL” Glocalization is the cultural process of mixing global and local culture. It may have both positive and negative impact, but collision or productive conflict is among the main development tools in culture. Can we really think of culture as a driver of city development? And is it necessary for culture to be global to be a driving force? I think it is all about the idea of energy. I think it is actually even better than culture because what does culture create? What is the major KPI of culture? It’s inspiration. Inspiration sometimes is no use, if the next day you do not do something. But I think we can almost measure how much energy different culture programs create. How many tweets? How much social media? How many people get together to discuss? What is the conversation level of that topic? This brings another concept — of an eco-system, which is the next level of human capital. Human is just individual. But within an eco-system it causes “1 + 1 = 11 effect.” So, I put diversity next to it and also the disruption of that, because I think culture without innovation is also terrible; because it goes like “m-m-m-m-m-
m”… the same noise. Culture without innovation becomes a daily routine. Well, some people would call this tradition, which needs to be preserved. I do believe that a tradition also needs innovation or a new way of looking at it. Is that what happens when a part of global culture comes to a city — a contemporary art museum, or an Apple store? Does it force innovation, or it just brings daily life from another part of the world? In some way, what you are asking is: do we want to be local or do we want to be global? My general thinking is that you have to be both; because if you are not local, internationals do not want to speak to you. You don’t contribute anything. It is about your self-DNA, your self-identity, and your self-pride. And that’s why, for example, Thai-
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land… When they did their research on Thai campaign, tourism, investment, it was called A Study of Thainess. What is the quality of being Thai? What is the quality of Russia for Russians? We know China lags behind in innovation, so they look at Silicon Valley, they look at Tel Aviv. They are looking at new models, new systems. But, at the same time, there are people in China very quietly doing crazy innovation things. And those we call the local heroes. It is your job to know the local heroes. Who are they? How are they thinking differently? They are change-makers but not politically — they are just amazing thinkers. For me, that’s one of the most exciting of new culture. How does it work in the city where you live — in Shanghai? The government’s creative industry is terrible. So that’s why we are so interested in local heroes. They are amazing contributors to the ecosystem. Very often it has to do with the cost of real estate. The more expensive it is, the tougher is for the creative industry. The lower the rent, the more creative people you get in the city. So as a driver, a city governor, a city real estate developer should take a percentage of the real estate to give it to creative industry. This is the greatest help, not money. Money will spoil them. The space will change them. And a very important factor is pride. If you’re proud of your nationality, your creative industry will be great. If you’re not very proud, if you’re still copying the West. This is unfortunate. This is one factor which you should look at: the confidence and pride. In Japan, when they became proud, that’s when they were going crazy. And also cities, and I think, Moscow too needs a little disruption. A little bit of a new paradigm, a new school. You know, culture is of the things that separates people from people. This is where class, historically, was one of the big separators. Wouldn’t it be better if culture united people, levelled their contradictions? Be like a pacifier for babies? I don’t think so. If people are too comfortable, they don’t think anymore. Culture in the West is always shocking,
surprising, magical. It should not be newspaper. It needs to be provocative. I think that’s what art has been: art has been about new way of looking at things. Yes, I like the classic ballet, but how many modern dance companies are doing that? Art is that makes everybody awake. People need that. I call this idea “the 10 percent change.” It is not to change the system to much, but just give me 10 percent space to make changes. There’s no risk in 10 per cent change. We are respectful to the history, we are respectful to the legacy, but give me 10 percent, because that 10 percent is maybe your life in the future. Maybe that 10 percent is for the new generations. Listen to the young people’s opinion, have a few young people in the government. Have a few schools with the new thinking. But at some point they’re becoming 20, 30, 40 percent… And that’s scary. There is a temptation to lock these 10 percent in some places, some institutions and tell them: “Sit there, don’t go further. You are our 10 percent, and be 10, please”. Yes, yes. Be happy! Be happy with that. Be happy because we let you exist. But I think innovation is powerful. Very few government, companies, can be so confident that they don’t need innovation. Innovation in culture, innovation in education, innovation in government, innovation in economy, innovation in industries. Some journalist asked me — “Can identity be about one person?” And I said: “Why? Why do you want the identity of such a great city, big city, diverse city, many people city to be represented by one person?” What if it is represented by 30 people? By your leaders, by your handicapped, educators, businesses, innovators, artists, dancers. Because then you can say: “Wow, this is Moscow!” Because nowadays a logo is not fixed anymore. It is a mutating, changing logo, because no one is happy with just one thing, everybody has many faces! So, I think, the idea of inclusiveness for everybody is wonderful. For one, it is — good for votes, secondly, it — is good for innovation.
u r b a n f o r u m
Born in Shanghai, Richard Hsu has lived, learned, worked in a number of cities — New York, Paris, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong. An expert in architecture, city planning, culture, communication, retail and education, Hsu consults private and public organizations on design, culture, city planning and innovation.
10% innovators in a whole country or city is enough for the future to differ from the present, believes Richard Hsu.
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What MOSCOW IS made of The Mechanics of Moscow. An urban environment study is a complex sociological and statistical study of the city At the district level, performed by the Moscow Institute for Social and Cultural Programs for Moscow’s municipal Department of Culture. The first part of the study, including a survey of 12,379 people FROM every neighborhood of the city, was carried out in late 2013, and most of 2014 was SPENT analyzing the results.
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ost urban studies to date have concentrated on the administrative district level, which is the main administrative division of the city. However, the South-Western administrative district, not even the largest of the 12, has 1.3 million inhabitants, which is more than in 99 percent of Russian cities. Data collected in a million-strong city could hardly serve as the basis for administrative decisions on the problems of particular territories. When the project was just starting, the researchers formulated three key questions: how life works in a metropolis, how current changes affect the city environment, and, most importantly, how comfortable is the city environment for day-to-day life. In order to understand this, the Institute collected not just sociological data, but also statistics, and ana-
lyzed them together as a cohesive set of information about the city. This approach revealed previously unnoticed regularities. The experts decided to forgo the seemingly obvious tool of rating the neighborhoods best to worst, as different areas of the city play different parts and cannot be measured on a single scale. The third methodological base point was the idea that all urban processes are interconnected. Although the Department of Culture wcommissioned this study, the researchers strove for a multi-dimensional portrayal of the life of the city. For sociological data, 12,379 individuals were surveyed in 146 municipal districts. The statistics was collected from three sources: official opensource data, state authority data provided by request, and geopositioning data from Google, Yan-
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dex, and OpenStreetMap. The resulting database of more than 100 data parameters that subsequently boiled down to 15 key factors, including level of involvement in the district’s cultural life, level of crime and subjective perceptions of safety (which rarely coincide), sense of community (how ready neighbors are to interact with each other and unite for joint purposes), etc. The next stage was cluster analysis, which helped break the neighborhoods down into groups similar in terms of urban environment development. Their borders differ radically from the usual administrative and territorial division of the city. We can say for certain that the city needs all types of territories: the central areas oversaturated with culture and business, the remote suburbs whose inhabitants stay away from the center for months at a time, the “local centers” that one day will be capable to attract some of the public from downtown. All of these areas are necessary, but their specific features need to be taken into account when planning their development. This regard for specific features in each neighborhood is what the Moscow Institute for Social and Cultural Programs teaches cultural institution personnel at their regular seminars with directors of community centers, exhibition halls, libraries and parks. Seminar participants are supposed to plan for area development using cultural tools, and find solutions using the data provided by the study, which teaches them to use fact, not conjecture, for administrative decisions. Some of the practice tasks are later transformed into actual area development programs.
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URBAN ENVIRONMENT TYPES: DISTRICT GROUPS Local centers
NAO
Office and tourist areas
NEAO
Comfortable Moscow Family districts Periphery
EАО
NWAO
Young Moscow
u r b a n
Transitional territories
CAO
Neighboring Excluded territories (Eastern district)
WAO SEAO
SWAO NMAO
m o s c o w
SAO
f o r u m
ТАО
ZelAO 200% of actual size
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IV MO S CO W UR B AN F ORUM i n n u m b e r s
22 20 Foreign delegations
mayors of global cities and heads of administration of Russian cities
5000
p a r t i c i p a n t s online audience over
3,5 mln p e o p l e
45 countries and 77 Russian cities 70 foreign speakers 22 sessions in main program 4 plenary sessions 3 special events more than 450 journalists
p a r t n e r c i t y o f t h e f o r u m
s i n g a p o r e
WORKBOOK: materials from sessions and conferences
IV MOSCOW URBAN DRIVERS FORUM OF CITY DECEMBER 2014
DEVELOPMENT
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Plenary session
Metropolis and state: cooperating for growth Global metropolises attract flows of migration and finance, their populations grow, as do their territories. However, growth that is poorly controlled leads to more complex problems. The priority of growth is replaced with development priorities: quality of life, comfortable environment, socio-economic stability. n their rapid development, global cities can be noticeably ahead of the countries they are in. Can the growth goals of countries and cities be united, and how can metropolises have more positive input into regional development? The participants of the first discussion at the Fourth Moscow Urban Forum agreed that to achieve this, the main goals must be those of development, not of formal growth, be it of populations or territories. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin began the session by describing the issue of interaction between large urbanized centers and national states. Moscow is a center whose development benefits the country as a whole, he said: the capital’s largest projects invite national-scale companies to participate; the city represents a pan-Russian logistical center, a “gate” for investment in Russia. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov agreed. Today the Mayor’s team is faced with the task of making the capital comfortable not only for its inhabitants, but for all Russians and foreign visitors
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Session curated by: Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design
Participants: Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister, Russian Federation;
Mikhail Men, Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities, Russian Federation;
Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow; Ser Luck Teo, Mayor of Singapore’s North-
Eastern district and Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Singapore;
Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv, Israel; Snehal Ambekar, Mayor of Mumbai, India; Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Governor of
Bangkok, Thailand;
Antanas Mockus, president of the Corpovisionarios urban development research and consulting center, Mayor of Bogota (1995-1997, 2001-2003), Colombia; Paul Chan, Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China;
Greg Clark, Senior Fellow, ULI Europe, expert
on evaluating urban development for intergovernmental organizations, Great Britain.
as well. Moscow is already changing dramatically, the quality of life increasing noticeably. Singapore, a city and state in one, said its Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck, builds its development on a combination of different drivers, with a simple principle at the basis — every citizen of Singapore must have a home and a job. At the beginning of the journey, in the middle of the past century, there was a shortage of both. But when in the 1960s accelerated housing construction began, most of it tall buildings, the state allowed most citizens to receive their own apartment. Subsidies for purchasing housing are offered to employed citizens, and the level of unemployment in the city-state is less than 2 percent. Singapore supports small and medium entrepreneurs, supports high-tech startups and R&D hubs, and all this makes the economy more diverse, stable, and future-oriented. Sports infrastructure, such as running paths, stadiums and numerous parks, contributes to the high level of living and comfort. Tel Aviv, per Mayor Ron Huldai, manages to be one of the world’s most innovative cities despite being relatively small. The city is attempting to become the second most attractive place for high-tech business startups, after Silicon Valley. For this purpose, it must become attractive for creatives by planning smartly, allocating recreation zones,
POSITION
Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow
“
Moscow today is a successful global city which competes for foreign investment and compares itself to other global metropolises. The main city projects (developing the metro, building roads, modernizing healthcare) involve the input of hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals nationwide. Every ruble invested in Moscow benefits Russian business in other regions. Millions of Russian citizens arrive in Moscow each year, looking for education, high-tech medical care, jobs or leisure. Moscow is a large transportation hub, carrying 40–80 percent of all of the country’s cargo and passengers. About a third of all scientific institutions, and about 80 percent of all financial flows and tools are centered in Moscow. It is with this exact synergy that Moscow helps the rest of the state realize vast global projects. There are many models of cooperation between municipal and national governments in the world. We in Moscow strictly follow federal legislation, yet are autonomous enough in managing our budget, making operational decisions and selecting particular urban development projects. The key to success, however, is to have the municipal and national levels of government coordinated and cooperating constructively. It is important to base decisions on the people’s needs, strive to solve their particular problems, and place their interests above all — this is the art of managing a city.”
Left to right: Kievskaya metro station is among Moscow’s most heavily loaded. In Kuala Lumpur, humane public spaces complement skyscrapers. Although Mumbai is India’s wealthiest city, approximately half of its citizens live in slums
establishing cultural institutions and even developing gastronomy. Besides a beneficial urban environment, a business environment is necessary as well. Tel Aviv has lowered income tax for startups, is opening co-working spaces for small companies and entrepreneurs, and supports innovation by using the new ideas in various municipal services: like the DigiTel smartphone application, which has become an important channel of feedback for the citizens. Snehal Ambekar, Mayor of Mumbai, shared some difficulties of a different nature which her city is facing. Almost half of its citizens live in slums, many are employed in informal economy sectors. Yet in terms of development Mumbai is far ahead of many other cities in the country and the municipal government in coordination with nationwide programs is attempting to equalize this misbalance. This is necessary in order to avoid the situation where the physical growth of the city exceeds its socio-economic
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percent of all taxes collected in Thailand whose population is 66 million, are paid by citizens and companies in the state capital Bangkok, population 8 million
state, as followed from the speech of Bangkok’s Governor Sukhumbhand Paripatra. Bangkok is the country’s largest economic hub, paying 70 percent of all tax collected in Thailand and obviously attracting many members of middle class from neighboring provinces. The national budget supports the capital, but the extent of the support is decreasing annually, while the city’s expenses are growing. For Bangkok, the transition from growth to development is based on three areas where visible change must be achieved: transport and communications, social welfare and city environment. Economic growth must be transformed into social progress, Antanas Mockus, president
of Corporación Visionarios por Colombia (Corpovisonarios) and former Mayor of Bogota, insisted. Therefore, public spaces and communications must be developed. Among other things, this will show the world the high quality of management in the city, which will help at a difficult time, for the government will be able to borrow funds from the global market. Paul Chan, Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, agreed: Hong Kong is renowned as the financial center of the entirety of Asia, which is something the government appreciates greatly and supports the development of the financial sector. This sector of the economy
does not, however, create many jobs, and fails to ensure harmonious development, despite the impressive figures of economic growth. The city therefore strives to diversify the economy, using, among other things, innovations and new technologies. The international study “Global Cities and National States: A New Course for Partnership in the 21st Century”, prepared specially for the Forum, revealed the full spectrum of challenges facing large-scale cities. Over 40 interviews with experts and representatives of municipal and global governments showed that the issue of cooperation between the municipal and national levels of authority is becoming increasingly topical. Large cities must grow and develop to benefit the country, but at the same time they have to satisfy the needs of their citizens, account for economic cycles, be efficient in global competition, and create new opportunities for tourists, investors, and citizens.
x You can find the session video аnd discussion papers at the Forum’s website: www.mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#primary
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
Read more about the research on the relationship between global cities and states in our magazine: “A new development cycle for global cities”, p. 30
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City ratings: Means to set goals There are dozens of city-related ratings and studies in the world: rankings of business climate, life quality, expensiveness, attractiveness for tourists. How much do ratings really affect the decisions made by companies, employees, or tourists? Do they have any potential for city development? arious city ratings interest journalists, city authorities, citizens, investors, transnational corporations. However, the Forum’s participants agreed that the purpose of a rating was not in the figures but rather in the ideas those figures might inspire. Among Russia’s cities, Moscow was the first to care about its rating, said Dmitry Grishankov, General Director of International Group of rating agencies Expert RA. Moscow was ranked world’s fourth city by frequency of mentions in global ratings, of which there we’re 200, explained Greg Clark, Senior Fellow at ULI Europe, expert
V
Session curated by: PwC
Participants: Sergei Lyovkin, Head of Moscow’s Department of Urban Development;
on evaluating urban development for intergovernmental organizations. The Russian capital gets rated high on such markers as transport infrastructure, technology, financial sector, attractiveness for investors, number of global corporations, and job availability. It is doing worse in the areas of ecology, using state-of-the-art technology for city administration, and tourist appeal. However, according to Greg Clark, lower grades given by taters do not always represent reality. Sometimes, it means that competing cities develop faster, or the rating methodology changes, or not all data is available. To solve the latter problem, it makes sense for the city to develop its own tools for collecting and presenting data. Among Moscow’s obvious achievements of the recent achievements,
becoming increasingly business-friendly, but outside observers do not know that yet. This was revealed in a study conducted in partnership with PwC. It appears that the business climate in the Russian capital is perceived differently by those experts and companies already working there than by those yet to gain such experience. The topic of image improvement was picked up by Andres Mendoza Peña, co-author of the project Global Cities Index and Emerging Cities Outlook, A. T. Kearney: Moscow has unique cultural heritage, which it should promote actively, supporting the image of an open, progressively-minded megacity. It is important to share success, and ratings are both advertising for a city and exchanging experience with others. Mary Jane Crisanto Ortega, Vice-President of the
which have affected its place in the ratings, Hazem Galal, Leader for PwC’s Cities and Local Government Sector, mentioned changes in labor market regulation, development in park and public space infrastructure, and new opportunities for small and medium business. Eugeny Dridze, Moscow’s Deputy Department Head for Foreign Economic Activity and International Relations, said that the capital is
Moscow strives to be a city that welcomes tourists from abroad
Eugeny Dridze, Moscow’s Deputy Department Head for Foreign Economic Activity and International Relations; Hazem Galal, Partner and Global Leader for PwC’s Cities and Local Government Sector, Qatar;
Martin Powell, Global Head
of Urban Development at Siemens AG’s Crystal expert consulting center, expert in sustainable urban development, UK;
Greg Clark, Senior Fellow at ULI Europe, expert on evaluating urban development for intergovernmental organizations, UK; Mary Jane Crisanto Ortega, Vice-President of the Global Executive Committee of ICLEI, the Philippines;
Andres Mendoza Peña, co-author of the project Global Cities Index and Emerging Cities Outlook, A. T. Kearney, USA; Angelica Winkler, Deputy head of Urban Development department and head of the Mobility Strategies division in the City of Vienna, Austria;
Denis Sokolov, head of Research Department for the Russian office of Cushman & Wakefield;
Vasily Auzan, Programme Committee Chair at the IV Moscow Urban Forum, Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design.
Global Executive Committee of ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), added that, in addition to ratings, city associations may also be a tool here: by becoming a part of such a network, Moscow could evaluate itself and let other cities know of its projects.
POSITION
Sergei Lyovkin, Head of Moscow’s Department of Urban Development
“
Three years ago we began following Moscow’s position in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking for Dealing with Construction Permits. We have been following the major global rankings for nearly two years. It is pleasing that Moscow exceeds the success of other cities in many respects. Yet, I ask myself: where will we be in 3, 5, 6 years? We must evaluate what we do in terms of urban development in comparison with other cities, and what kind of dynamics can be observed. We must understand that investments made into urban planning today will yield results in rankings several years later, like a delayed effect: today we build a subway, 3–4 years from now, the area becomes comfortable and accessible. The same goes for other indicators: housing, vehicle ownership, per capita investment. What the government puts into national programs today will have synergetic effect on the capital’s rank in several years. We asked for an additional analysis of Moscow based on 16 indicators as compared to 11 cities already successful today: London, Berlin, New York etc. The ranking showed us in the top three, four, or five on different marks, but the most valuable thing we saw was that the principles on which we are basing Moscow’s urban planning policy are correct, and the dynamics on many counts is higher than such leaders as, say, Beijing.”
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/#rate
2
Moscow’s place, trailing only Beijing in many indicators, in the PwC rating of cities “From Moscow to São Paulo”
PwC’s first “Moscow to São Paolo” study dedicated to cities in E7 countries (Moscow, Beijing, Mexico, São Paolo, Istanbul, Mumbai, Jakarta) was prepared for the 2013 Forum. A new study was presented in 2014.
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Older citizens: hidden potential and new possibilities Populations getting older is a typical trend for many of the world’s countries and cities. Moscow has 3 million pensioners, a quarter of its population. Demographic changes lead to changing demands to the urban environment — the elderly have their own needs and expectations of the city in terms of work, housing, leisure, and consumption. ccording to forecasts, there will be 2 billion people over the age of 60 in the world by 2050. The share of older citizens in the OECD member states between 1995–2008 grew at a 1.5 faster rate than the
A
seniors. Naturally, the city spaces need to be adapted to their needs. Matthias Hollwich, Principal of HWKN, spoke about the solutions found in the USA, including elderly-adapted apartments (with transformer rooms,
spaces and sharing their experience with the younger generations. Today, the project is expanding actively and even beginning to profit its participants and the city. Mayor of Ankara Melih Gökçek spoke about the
upcoming two decades the number of elderly people in Russia would increase by approximately 9 million, and, therefore, the systems of healthcare and social welfare should already be working on developing the infrastructure.
POSITION
Elena Zelentsova, First Deputy Head of Moscow’s culture Department
21 percent of World’s population, approximately 2 billion people, will be over 60 years old by 2050, according to 2013 UN calculations
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
“ overall population. Increase in older populations strains the budget and social welfare system, and the question arises of what else the city can offer the Session curated by: RANEPA by the President of the Russian Federation
Participants: Elena Zelentsova, First Deputy Head of the Culture Department of Moscow; Melih Gökçek, Mayor of Ankara, Turkey;
Emi Kiyota, President of IBASHO, USA; Matthias Hollwich, Principal of HWKN architectural firm, USA; Dmitry Rogozin, Head of the Centre for Federative Research Methodology at the RANEPA Institute for Social Analysis and Prediction;
Anatoly Vishnevsky, Director of the HSE Institute of Demography; Pavel Stepantsov, Senior
Researcher at the RANEPA Center for Social Studies;
Anton Smolkin, Head of the RANEPA Department of Philosophy and Sociology;
Sean Walker, correspondent for
The Guardian.
bathrooms and kitchens, special handrails etc.) and public spaces that attract people from various generations and are equally accessible. However, this is just the first step, for the elderly themselves have something to offer the city. According to Dmitry Rogozin, Head of the Centre for Federative Research Methodology at the RANEPA Institute for Social Analysis and Prediction, studies have shown that almost a third of older Russians are ready for a new education. Age as a social asset was the subject of the presentation by Emi Kiyota, President of IBASHO: creating public spaces like cafè’s by involving the elderly themselves. She used a project started in Japan after a natural disaster to show how the seniors can improve not only their own lives, but also the lives of local communities by taking active part in the work of educational and cultural projects and public
Developed spaces allow urban residents of different ages to communicate with each other
extensive experience the city had accumulated of re-socializing the elderly and the specialized centers established for the purpose, providing household, medical and social aid, guided tours and classes such as art or computers. About 40,000 people approached these centers in 2014. Pavel Stepantsov, Senior Researcher at the RANEPA Center for Social Studies, noted that in order to overcome the social exclusion of the elderly, an infrastructure aimed at varied ages and abilities had to be developed. No wonder that the quantity of people unhappy with public transportation in Moscow is 1.5 times greater among respondents over the age of 55. Anatoly Vishnevsky, Director of the HSE Institute of Demography, added on the subject that in the
The Moscow Institute of Social and Cultural Programs carried out several studies dedicated to the lifestyle of the elderly. By retirement age, involvement in cultural life decreases by 20 percent for financial, spatial and purely physical reasons. We want to overcome these obstacles. The Moscow Culture portal has a section for people aged 50+: what can be interesting, how to spend the time. There are computer literacy courses at libraries and cultural centers. Older people are actively learning these technologies. The ZIL cultural center is currently launching a project for veteran workers of the ZIL factory living in the neighborhood. They will co-write a play together with young playwrights, which will then be acted by professional actors. The question they are trying to answer is “What do we want to tell the future generations? What do we want to accomplish today?” When discussing a better quality of life for the elderly people, we realize that we want this not just for the elderly, but for the young as well: if the older generation is living comfortably, young people will also plan their retirement in that city.”
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/#old
On Moscow’s new approach to developing healthcare infrastructure, see: “New Healthcare: Global Trends and Model for Moscow,” p. 104
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Megacity Infrastructure and Redevelopment: New Technologies and Approaches Quality of life in a city and its attractiveness to business are largely determined by the level of infrastructure development. Large megacities, where metro and sewage systems from the previous century coexist with futuristic IT, face both difficult and fascinating tasks. nfrastructure determines lives of citizens, affects city’s attractiveness to business and, therefore, its development. Large cities today face the need to raise the efficiency of traditional infrastructure, by, for example, switching to modern technologу, increasing resource efficiency, or developing new types of infrastructure which form entirely new urban landscapes, environments and forms of social interactions. New-generation infrastructure demands new approaches to planning and management; it becomes multifunctional and intellectual, able to be flexible in its reaction to current changes and responsive to longterm goals, friendly towards humans and the natural environment. Paola Viganò, expert in complex territory development, believes that the main challenges for infrastructure development are closing the gap
I
Session curated by: Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, Center for Urban Studies
Participants: Petr Biryukov, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Utilities and Amenities, Moscow; Paola Viganò, head of the PhD program in Urbanism at Università IUAV, an expert in land integrated development, Italy;
Weiwen Huang, Director of the Shenzhen Center for Design, urban planning expert, China; Pablo Allard, architect, urban planner, dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile;
Liu Zhi, Deputy Secretary-General, Beijing Municipal Government, China;
Vadim Yuryev, head of the Mocow Traffic
Control Center;
Eva Castro, head of Landscape Urbanism Unit for Architectural Association and Plasma studio, China;
Alexei Novikov, founder and president
of Habidatum, Russia;
Golsa Fouladinejad, Vice President of Energy & Sustainability Services at SchneiderElectric Russia & CIS; Dan Hill, Executive Director for Urban Innovations, Future Cities Catapult, United Kingdom.
between the poor and the wealthy, ensuring the citizens’ mobility and solving the environmental crisis. Pedestrian islets connected by corridors considering the movement trajectories of the citizens in fact create car-less territories in Brussels. In Antwerp, outsider areas disappear as parks form by railroads, former industrial zones are beautified and new social infrastructure goes into place. Weiwen Huang, Director of the Shenzhen Center for Design, spoke of the “multiground city” strategy developed in Shenzhen (whose population grew from 320,000 to 13 million over 35 years), which ensures cohabitation with nature. It features bicycle and pedestrian paths, suspended roads which save many square feet underneath, new routes for intracity railroads, and buildings on piles over parks. Pablo Allard, dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Universidad del Desarrollo, shared the Latin American experience, where one of the main problems for megacities was the gap between the poor and the wealthy, including in urban spaces, and infrastructure development played a vital part in solving this problem. Infrastructure must create new opportunities for those with limited ones: they are opening libraries, schools and houses of culture in the favelas. Infrastructure can also involve newer, more economic and environmental technologies, like biogas forming during sewage purification which can be used for heating. New-generation infrastructure can connect agencies, providers and consumers. In Santiagode-Chile, 100,000 Twitter users are subscribed to public transportation news, and the system is improved mainly based on their notes. On the subject of technology, Vadim Yuryev, head of the Mocow Traffic Control Center, spoke on Moscow’s inventions as regards an intellectual transportation system. Traffic light controls that adjust automatically based on the flow of traffic; video content analytics
POSITION
Petr Biryukov, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Utilities and Amenities, Moscow
“
The Russian capital’s government is currently investing unprecedented effort into making the city comfortable. Not a single project is implemented without regard for the citizens” opinions with two active web portals, Our City and Active Citizen. We have changed the system of housing administration so that a single managing company is responsible for everything happening within the neighborhood — from road upkeep to house maintenance. Over the past 4 years, approximately 23,000 yards have been brought up to the ideal standard. Over 100,000 staircases have been renovated. Virtually every foot of road surface has been repaired, despite the fact that in a year we get about 70 days of subzero temperatures. 88 pedestrian spaces amounting to 100 kilometers overall have been created. 200 kilometers of bicycle paths have been lain, bicycle parking spaces made, 130 existing parks beautified and new ones established, like the total area of the Botanical Garden, Ostankino and VDNKh, and three vast parks in New Moscow. The city has about 1,000 buildings with worldclass architectural illumination. Do we have enough resources? We had decided to cut the level of energy resource consumption by 20 percent before the year 2020. In four years, we’ve reached 18 percent savings. Our heat and water consumption capacities are double the actual consumption. Gas capacity exceeds consumption by 25 percent, electric power — by 20 percent. A new and unique project was started recently, My Street — it can only be realized with the input of urbanists, architects, and designers: in the upcoming five years we plan to bring road surfaces, concrete paving and outlooks to a new standard, restore facades, renew illumination, and create leisure infrastructure in landscaped areas. All this needs to come under a coherent architectural and artistic project. We have invited renowned artists, designers and architects to work on it.”
that can determine how complex a potential incident is so that the operator could engage special services; screens with traffic and route information; photo and video cameras, which lower the amount
Shenzhen is an example of extremely rapid urbanization. It now needs to change the character of its development
of accidents by 25 percent — all are being gradually introduced in the city. Intelligent systems of urban governance will play an increasing part in the life of a city, as the citizen’s mobility grows, and the infrastructure will therefore fall under considerable strain. Alexei Novikov, president of Habidatum, noted that this strain can be studied using infrastructure which
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7times a year Moscow experiences subzero temperatures, which causes strain on every kind of urban infrastructure
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
A new sewage system in Singapore, increased energy efficiency in Paris schools, subway in São Paolo — examples of urban infrastructure projects from different countries on p. 54
helps analyze “spontaneous data” generated by the people themselves: cellphone signals, social network posts, credit card transactions. The infrastructure of the future may be self-adjusting, developing on the basis of the collection, processing and analyzing Big Data.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#infro
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Mega-events and the City: Defining the Scale of Opportunity The full scope of any meaningful mega-event — Olympics, championship, global expo, economic summit — is fully felt primarily by the receiving city. Large-scale construction, new infrastructure, influx of tourists, media attention — the event can stimulate development, but the strain can be excessive. n the scale of a city Olympics, world championships, global expos or economic summits equal a minimum of several years’ construction and colossal investment. What can cities receiving such forums expect; do the remaining buildings justify themselves; how can the profit be appraised; what can be done to maximize beneficial effects? Oleg Bocharov, Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of Moscow, believes that a city is in regular need of mega-events; the Olympics cannot be held biannually, but over 2013, Moscow alone used its existing expo infrastructure to hold
О
565 conventions and around 270 vast industrial expos, with the overall number of participants approaching one million. Unfortunately, these events were not built into a unified succession, but this problem can be solved by the recently created Moscow Convention Bureau, and then the city will be capable of regularly attracting global-scale megaevents, of which there are about 40 worldwide. Damon Lavelle, Principal of the London office of the Populous architectural bureau, spoke about the way the London Olympics launched the development of several districts in the city. There is a clear plan for the use of sporting venues, with housing built nearby and a new transportation infrastructure uniting five of London’s
Left to right: the Fisht Stadium in Sochi’s Olympic Park; the Olympic Park train station; the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister David Cameron reviewing a model of the Stadium
areas into a single system. A megaevent is perhaps the only tool to attract financing to solve issues on such a scale. Elena Trubina, Professor of Social Theory in the Institute of Social and Political Studies at Ural Federal University, was skeptical of megaevents as drivers of development, because, in her view, the euphoria passes, the weight of the expenses eventually lands on the local population, and the newly erected objects remain empty more often
than not in the experience of Russian cities. Evgeny Otnelchenko, Partner at PwC Russia, agreed that it is not easy to evaluate the efficiency of mega-events, among other reasons because the issue is not limited to direct economic profit (tourism and attracted investment) or even indirect profit (made
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24 Session curated by: The Moscow Convention Bureau
POSITION
Participants:
Andrei Bochkaryov,
Oleg Bocharov, Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of Moscow;
Head of the Department of Construction of Moscow
“
by transportation, local small businesses etc.). There are things that cannot be appraised financially, such as popularizing exercise, growth of intellectual capital and new construction and maintenance technologies. Scott McQuire, Founding member of the Research Unit for Public Cultures at Melbourne University,
We have carefully analyzed the work of our colleagues who hosted the Football World Cup in Brazil, so that we can avoid mistakes and take into account useful experience. Any mega-event like the Olympics or a World Cup, serves the long-term goals of the nation and the state. In order to prevent sporting venues from becoming a heavy load on the budget, their functionality must be expanded. We are already building broad-functionality stadiums which can in the long run become self-sustaining. For example, after the Grebnoy Channel was fully refurbished for the World Rowing Championship and one of the World Cup stages, it has become self-sustainable on top of contributing colossal infrastructure. It is vital to consider at every stage the interests of different groups and the diversity of tasks, and cause this to be a boost for development and intangible assets. It is common knowledge that a dollar invested in building an object puts five dollars into the economy in adjoining sectors. The Luzhniki Stadium will become the core of the 2018 Football World Cup. Most of our time planning the object is spent not as much preparing for the World Cup, as discussing its future life and income. The construction of any object has multiplicative impact on the development of the region and the state. Our colleagues in Kazan are reporting a doubling in the rate of tourism after the Universiade. Sochi citizens are noticing the beneficial effect of the better transportation infrastructure. Each of our actions must have a long-term effect. We are working on this and so far, happy with the results. We believe that the World Cup will be both a beautiful event and a long-term development investment.”
sporting venues are planned to be constructed in Moscow in three years: stadiums, swimming pools, sports and recreation centers etc.
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Andrei Bochkaryov, Head of Moscow’s
Department of Construction;
Damon Lavelle, Principal of the London office of the Populous architectural bureau, expert in the design and planning of sports infrastructure, UK; Scott McQuire, Founding member of the Research Unit for Public Cultures, Melbourne University, Australia
Waldemar Weiss, Vice President of NAI Becar; Evgeny Otnelchenko, PwC Russia, Partner; Elena Trubina, Professor of Social Theory in the Institute of Social and Political Studies at Ural Federal University in Ekaterinburg, Russia, author of “City in Theory”. Dan Hill, Executive Director of Futures and Best Practice for the Future Cities Catapult, UK; Igor Prudnikov, CEO IP Agency; Dmitry Sivaev, Independent expert in the field
of urban economics;
noted the value of mega-events in terms of social communication, whereby they get people together and lead to communal feelings, which ultimately causes social capital to grow. This task can be achieved in the urban environment by placing large screens to broadcast the event. The screens placed in Sydney for the Olympics are still used by the city to broadcast various events, conferences and concerts.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#mega
Developing infrastructure for sports and business events in a city affects its position on international rankings. See City ratings: a competition tool or a way to establish goals, p. 86
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Ecological Approaches as Drivers of Economic Growth Most of the world’s cities are familiar with environmental problems. Clear air, water and soil are necessities, yet environmental strategies are often seen as hindering economic growth. How economically successful are sustainable development strategies, and could “green” economy become a growth driver? limate change, pollution and other environmental problems have become a leading challenge for the global population, threatening the wellbeing of millions. Solutions to these problems will demand significant effort and expense, but a “green” economy can become a development driver instead of an obstacle. Cristiana Fragola, Regional Director for Europe at C40, brought up the fact that by 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will be living in big cities, and therefore directly affected by environmental problems. Today’s cities must promptly
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Session curated by: MGIMO
Participants: Anton Kulbachevsky, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Moscow; Peter Daw, expert in cleaner production and renewable energy, Siemens, UK;
Arab Hoballah, Head of Sustainable
Consumption and Production, UNEP, France;
Ben Smith, Head of Design, Planning, Economy
and Sustainable Development (Europe, Middle East, Africa), AECOM, UK;
Cristiana Fragola, Regional Director for
Europe at C40, Italy;
Natalia Korablina, Deputy Head of the Department of Housing, Utilities and Amenities of Moscow; Boris Revich, Professor, Chief, Laboratory of Forecasting the Quality of the Environment and Human Health, Institute of Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences; Constantine Trofimenko, Director
of the Center for Traffic Problems at the Institute of Economics and transport policy, HSE;
Anna Kurbatova, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Director of the Institute for Development; Evgeniy Kolbovsky, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor of Lomonosov Moscow State University;
Alexander Ginzburg, Deputy Director,
Doctor of Science (Phys. — Math.) at A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, Council Member of Moscow City Public Chamber;
Michael Yulkin, CEO of Climate Change Global Services (CCGS LLC).
address transportation, energy and waste. A resourcesaving strategy may benefit cities greatly, said Arab Hoballah, Chief of Sustainable Consumption and Production,
POSITION
Anton Kulbachevsky, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Moscow
“
Our department commissioned an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions in Moscow. Emissions were calculated for the year 2013, broken down by sources, and compared to 1990. The input of stationary sources has diminished, because we have managed to get rid of most hazardous industries over that period. However, transport-caused emissions have increased, and we are taking active counter measures: paid parking downtown, restriction of entry by pollution class. As of September 2015, entry will be restricted beyond the MKAD (Moscow Ring Road) to vehicles classified under Euro 2, and into the central part of the city for those under Euro 3. Since 2013, Moscow has been the only subject in the Russian Federation whose gas stations offer only Euro 4-class and higher in motor fuel (diesel and petrol). With that, Moscow’s vehicle count grew by 800 thousand units between 2007–2013, while emissions rose only 2 percent. This proves the efficiency of our efforts to solve the transportation problem. Moscow has been a member of the C40 since 2006, we take part in the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) for Transparency on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Our eco-monitoring service works in real time. We exchange atmosphere status updates with international organizations. Russia has taken on obligations for lowering emissions by 2020. This means a serious battle for each percent, and the measures we take are global in scope.”
UNEP. 15 years ago 200 cities in developed and developing countries used 30–60 percent more water than they do now. Today’s habits are different, and it is becoming possible to invest money and effort into other areas. If fewer resources are imported, existing ones are put to a better use, and the problem of waste utilization is solved, cities will gain new opportunities. Peter Daw, expert in cleaner production and renewable energy, Siemens, illustrated the financial effect of “green” projects using real examples. A cable car in Medellin, Colombia, more environmental than a usual highway, solved problems beyond transportation — neighborhoods that were no longer isolated from the center saw a decrease in crime, economic activity rose by 40 percent. Introducing high-speed transportation in Johannesburg decreased carbon emissions by 1.6 million tons; the new jobs that were formed gave a boost to the economy. After an entire district in India lost power for two days in 2012, a program was launched to regulate the load on the existing power networks; power outages decreased by 15 percent. Ben Smith, Head of Design, Planning, Economy and Sustainable Development
Metrocable project in Medellín (Colombia) changed not only commuting patterns of many citizens, but their entire way of life
for AECOM, emphasized the importance of risk assessment, and not just climate and environment risks, but also risks involving technology, threats on the population’s health et al. Notably, such studies show that the risks in urban development and business are similar, so they can be collaborated on. Boris Revich, Professor in Chief at the Laboratory of Forecasting the Quality of the Environment and Human Health, Institute of Economic Forecasting, RAS, shared the experience of withstanding extreme situations. Moscow’s government learned a lesson from the anomalous heatwave in Moscow of 2010, from which 11,000 perished. They have come up with a sectoral plan of interaction between the Department of Natural Resources, the media (flyers, booklets, information on digital screens on transportation), social centers and volunteer medics. x You can find the session video аnd discussion papers at the Forum’s website:: www.mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/#eko
1,6 million fewer tons of CO2 have been emitted into the atmosphere in Johannesburg after the introduction of high-speed transportation
Can modern urban infrastructure be environmental? See the reply of Arab Hoballah, Head of Sustainable Consumption and Production, UNEP, in his interview, p. 48
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The Campus as City: The New Role of Social Infrastructure in the City University campuses, too, are becoming development drivers by attracting new knowledge, people and financing into the city. We must reevaluate the relation between educational institutions and cities so that we can optimize expenses, modernize maintenance models for buildings and infrastructure, and integrate campuses into the life of the city as efficiently as possible. niversity campuses are rapidly turning into urban development drivers. They are where knowledge is exchanged, innovative entrepreneurs converge, modern technology accumulates, small startups blossom into serious companies, and whole new industries are born. New technologies and new forms of social life lead to the formation of new buildings and spaces in the city. According to Sharon Haar, Professor and Chair of the Architecture programme of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of Michigan, author of “The City as Campus”, while once
U
universities enjoyed both intellectual and physical autonomy, today they often find themselves amid densely populated urban areas, which can greatly aid the development of those areas. Thus, the Silicon Valley or the Stanford Research Park have influenced suburb planning and transport infrastructure, as well as investment influx. Yaroslav Kuzminov, Rector of the Higher School of Economics, spoke of the new experience
connection levels between the buildings, built into the city’s districts with all buildings mutually accessible within half an hour or less. HSE is convinced that if it settles in the Northeastern part, within the Boulevard Ring, it will contribute a new quality of environment to this so far underdeveloped area, with pedestrian zones, galleries, clubs, restaurants, youth hotels, sporting venues, open lecture halls and libraries, and educational
Session curated by: YasnoCommunications Agency, Moscow
Participants: Yaroslav Kuzminov, Rector of the Higher School of Economics, Member of the Moscow City Duma; Sharon Haar, Professor and Chair of the Architecture programme of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of Michigan, author of “The City as Campus”, USA; Hui Wang, Founding Partner of Urbanus
Architecture & Design, expert in integrated urban development, China;
Patrick Cheenne, Director of Economic
Development of the Paris-Saclay Development Authority (EPPS) research centre and business cluster, France;
Tatiana Klyachko, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Humanitarian Development of Metropolises;
Andrey Chernikhov, First Vice President of the International Academy of Architecture, Creative Manager at LLC Andrey Chernikhov Architectural Studio, Moscow;
Viktor Sidnev, Coordinating Director of the Troitsky Innovation Cluster;
Damian KUDRYAVTSEV, Founder of YasnoCommunications Agency, Moscow.
of a university in the megacity. Half of the universities in Moscow today inhabit buildings scattered all over town. An HSE student studying downtown and living in the dorms in Odintsovo spends exactly one year out of the six years of his studies on the commute. Given the cost of land in Moscow, it is impossible for universities to go the route of compact development. Instead, there will be campuses with higher
The main building of Lomonosov Moscow State University
programming for the locals. A similar situation took place in Paris, said Patrick Cheenne, Director of Economic Development of the Paris-Saclay Development Authority (EPPS) research centre and business cluster. The Paris-Saclay project lays 20 kilometers away from Paris and is to unite the pre-existing educational facilities, industrial cluster
and research centers of the area into a joint system. A connection point or gravity center has formed at the renovated university building where people flock to events in their thousands. State investment follows science into the area. China, too, is gradually renouncing the concept of separating universities from urban centers. New models are in development now, such as a campus placed in a rural suburb, which turns the territory into part of the city, as Hui Wang, Founding Partner of Urbanus Architecture & Design said. This very successful model helped the farmers adapt to a new social system and to urban conditions. Andrey Chernikhov, First Vice President of the International Academy of Architecture, Creative Manager at LLC Andrey Chernikhov Architectural Studio, added another aspect of the university’s interaction with the city in the situation of mass higher education: students can have direct impact on the social, economic and cultural changes taking place in the city. For example, children’s educational programs led by students could turn the university into a hub of interaction between generations and social capital growth.
x You can find the session video аnd discussion papers at the Forum’s website: www.mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/#soc
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year out of six studying at the Higher School of Economics is spent commuting between the different campuses in town
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Read about the way public spaces, including university campuses, aid the accumulation of social capital, in Public Space in the City: an Opportunity for Developing Social Capital, p. 94
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PUBLIC SPACE IN THE CITY: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPING SOCIAL CAPITAL Developing public spaces is among the major projects in Moscow in the latter years: pedestrian areas, refurbishment of parks, beautification of recreation areas. Public spaces accumulate social capital and develop informal connections; the growth of social capital, in turn, has a positive impact on people’s involvement in the city’s life. ublic spaces in a modern megacity are a way to improve human interaction, accumulate social capital, and summarize social links between citizens, institutions, the state, and society. The test run of creating public space in the modern understanding of the word in Moscow was Gorky Park. The Muscovites welcomed the new ways of human
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SESSION CURATED BY: Moscow Institute for Social and Cultural Programmes
PARTICIPANTS: Sergey Kapkov, Moscow Government Minister, Head of the Department of Culture of Moscow; Sergey Zuev, Rector of the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences, Director of School of Public Policy of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA); Alex Ely, Partner at MAE Architects, author of
“The Mayor of London’s Housing Design Guide”, UK;
Olga Zakharova, Director of the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Recreation;
Dan Hill, Executive Director of Futures and
Best Practice for the Future Cities Catapult, expert on urban planning innovations UK;
Sergey Georgievsky, Partner at the Center of territorial initiatives «Arhpolis», Director for the development of the Nikola Lenivets Art Park;
Marina Lyulchuk, Director of the Joint Directorate “Mosgorpark”; Ekaterina Pronicheva, First Deputy
Director of JSC VDNKH;
Pavel Nefedov, researcher of the history of VDNKH;
Ekaterina Girshina, Director of social and
cultural projects, Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design;
Elena Melville, Director of the ZIL cultural centre;
Sofia Trotsenko, founder of the WINZAVOD
Center for Contemporary Art and “Territory of Design” project;
Vladimir Rayewskiy, TV presenter at Moscow-24.
POSITION
SERGEY KAPKOV, MOSCOW GOVERNMENT MINISTER, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE OF MOSCOW
“
We believe that public spaces are incredibly important in the development of such a megacity as Moscow. Today, 75 percent of Muscovites visit at least one city park at least once monthly. These are the new urban professionals, those who pay taxes and are active in forming the city’s agenda. We think that public spaces let people exchange information and ideas; many go to parks to see people they find mentally close to them, feel the Moscow identity, and understand that they are not alone in the metropolis. This is also a way of changing the citizens’ view of their neighborhood. We have now started doing projects outside downtown but with the same quality: any park in the periphery should have dancing areas, internet access, sports and children’s infrastructure; all parks must be adapted for the disabled, and much more. A key element in park development is forming clubs, be they for running, Nordic walking, yoga, or children — a visitor will be able to find a way to self-realization. Before the park revolution, there were no skate parks or work-out areas in Moscow, and now there are dozens if not hundreds. This year, we opened the Sadovniki and Sirenevyi Sad parks, and we are proud of them. We launched 5 pilot projects, including Biryulevo-Zapadnoye, wherein we rewired the local community centers. They are social and cultural centers offering educational activities, lectures, choreography classes, and theater halls where, Moscow’s theaters are expected to come and perform.”
interaction and leisure activities. Awareness and civic responsibility are increasing, and the modern citizen is willing to contribute to change. Still, it is vital to keep the balance between involving the citizens in change and trying to introduce new culture and open new horizons. So, Olga Zakharova, Director of the Central Gorky Park of Culture and Recreation, said that four years ago, when the modernization of the park began with the removal of old rides, 90 percent of surveyed visitors were adamant that they be returned; people simply had no idea how else to spend their free time. Sergey Zuev, Rector of the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences, spoke of social capital as a general equivalent; it is the level of trust between different stakeholders — people, institutions, business, and the state. Sociologists say that only one connection works in Russia: confidence in the immediate environment. The level of trust towards institutions is below 50 percent, while there is almost zero trust towards others and strangers. The development of public spaces is in direct relation to the “trust index”, as it promotes new channels of social capital accumulation. Alex Ely, partner at MAE Architects, presented the views of the architectural community: there is a concept of a new civic economy where local decisions are made at the level of local citizens, not on the municipal level — citizens become responsible
for the objects in their area. So, in Berlin the local authorities have decided to save on landscaping. Then, the citizens of certain districts decided to themselves, and the city became more reflective of the citizens’ diversity and Berlin acquired even more distinct features. Marina Lyulchuk, Director of the Joint Directorate “Mosgorpark,” continued on the subject of interaction between the city and its citizens using Mitino Park as an example. The locals, who were initially wary of its appearance, are now actively involved in the development of of this public space, trying to have their opinion heard. It is not parks only that function as public space; in fact, anything can become such a platform — a yard to a street to a block. Such points appear where the interests of the city and the citizens meet, and new forms of interaction are born along with a new level of involvement in city life. When the city transforms its environment, it restores people’s confidence in each other and the various institutions, and, therefore, its own competitiveness increases.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #culture
75 PERCENT MUSCOVITES VISIT AT LEAST ONE CITY PARK AT LEAST Once a month
Public spaces must come with housing construction as well, however affordable — this is the architect’s responsibility, believes Alex Ely, partner at MAE architects. See his interview on p. 56
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plenary session
CITIES AND TERRITORIES TOMORROW: TOOLS FOR POSITIVE CHANGE The Moscow Urban Forum held a series of conferences in different regions in Russia in 2014 году. The Forum also commissioned a study of Russian city development drivers. The final plenary session on the first day of the Forum was dedicated to discussing and summarizing all of this work. he Moscow Urban T Forum is expanding geographically and has held a series of conferences in Russian cities with a population of 1,000,000 or higher. In addition, the Graduate School for Urban Studies supported a study called “The Battle for the Citizen: Human Development and the Urban Environment.” The School’s dean Alexander Vysokovsky described the main parameters of the study: education (the number of students and graduates), healthcare (overall mortality, mortality rate per age group, and newborn mortality), prosperity (average wages indexed per cost of market basket of goods). 63 cities with populations over 250,000 were included in the study. Front row experts Konstantin Polezhaev, Deputy Head of the City of Tomsk
PARTICIPANTS: Michael Kouzovlev, President — Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Moscow, Chairman of the Public Chamber of the Moscow; Alexander Moore, Head of the Administration of the city of Tyumen; Stanislav Mosharov, Head of the City of
Chelyabinsk;
Evgeniy Parshuto, First Deputy Mayor
of the City of Tomsk;
Aisen Nikolaev, Head of the «City of Yakutsk» Urban District;
Andrey Sharonov, Rector of the Moscow
Skolkovo School of Management;
Alexander Vysokovsky, Dean of the
Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka,
Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics, Special Correspondent of the Kommersant publishing house;
Ivan Kuryachii, Managing Partner at New
Earth, Curator of the «Struggle for Citizens: Human Potential and Urban Environment» study;
Alexei Muratov, Partner at KB Strelka, Head of «Territorial Development».
Cities with high Human Development Index rates have 30 percent more people pleased with their lives. Ivan Kuryachii, curator of the
is primarily limited by the low discipline of payments for utility resources. The cash processing centers operate without a semblance
devised. Why do Russian cities not apply them? Andrey Sharonov, Rector of the Moscow Skolkovo School of Management,
study and Managing Partner at New Earth, said that Belgorod had been using HDI as the main systemic indicator in its development strategy for 10–15 years, and was showing great rates of investment growth and population attraction. Therefore, the parameters represented by the study can serve as basis for real regional strategies and shortterm development programs. Due to the fact that the Russian cities were underinvested in the 1990s and 2000s, now they have to face common problems of adapting the urban environment to high rates of car ownership, creating differentiated supply in the housing market, and uprgrading the housing and utilities sector. Michael Kouzovlev, President — Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Moscow, emphasized that investment in that sector
of financial responsibility. In order to make the HCS attractive for business, the system must be made transparent, with banks involved on a competitive basis in the work of the processing centers. The investment area is vast: installing common meters, installing weather regulation equipment, replacing street lighting, resurfacing heating mains and more. Alexander Moore, Mayor of Tyumen, continued: today, unpayment risks and nontransparency have been minimized in the region. Very soon, a 30-year capital refurbishment program will be passed, and if it is financed, several tasks can be solved at once: supporting local construction companies and producers of building materials, and most essentially, enabling people to pay for refurbishment expenses after the job is completed. In order for cities to develop successfully, a range of rather simple solutions have already been
believes that this is due to lack of knowledge, disassociated urban elites, and unwillingness to let new people near the budgets. In this sense, the Forum’s educational task is to broadcast “urbanist fashion,” so that people in Russia start seeing a city as an opportunity rather than a problem. The Forum’s experience shows that all of Russia’s cities are facing the serious challenge of modernization. Successful development is not directly dependent on scale; the chances of small, medium and large cities are more or less equal. Those who become leaders are not the wealthiest, but the smartest.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #plen2
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RUSSIAN CITIES WERE REVIEWED AS PART OF THE “The Battle for the Citizen: Human Development and the Urban Environment” STUDY
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The Moscow Urban Forum held the miniconference in 2014 “Human Potential as a Driver for Russian Cities Development”. See a report of the conference, p. 116
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plenary session
Moscow: Priorities for New Stage of Development Moscow is one the largest global megacities in terms of both population and gross domestic product. Now, with the Russian economy on the downswing, Moscow needs to mobilize its internal resources, and it has many of those, including developed economy and infrastructure, technological advantage and human capital. hat does a megacity W need for dynamic development? During the second day of the Forum, participants of the second day plenary meeting agreed that the key was in communication between the public and the municipal authorities. It is only possible to build a city of the future by listening to the citizens and promoting human capital. With slowing down economic development, a recession actually, the situation we are currently facing is anything but simple, and it requires the previous city development strategy to be reviewed, believes Alexander Auzan, Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. However, Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow, emphasized that, whatever the economy, it was vital to preserve those areas of the city development that have been adopted several years earlier, even if it meant working in harsh external conditions. The main priority SESSION CURATED BY: Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design
PARTICIPANTS: Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow; Mikhail Abyzov, Russia’s Minister for Open
Government;
Benjamin Barber, expert in city administration, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Rutgers University, author of “If Mayors Ruled the World,” USA; Mikhail Kouzovlev, President & Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Moscow, Chairman of the Public Chamber of Moscow; Andrés Mendoza Peña, co-author of the Global Cities Index and Emerging Cities Outlook, AT Kearney, USA; Mary Jane Crisanto Ortega, Vice President of the Global Executive Committee of ICLEI, Philippines;
Alexander Auzan, Dean of the Faculty
of Economics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University (moderator).
for Moscow is to create a comfortable and convenient living environment. This encompasses establishment of state-of-the art industrial parks, comprehensive development of new territories, and redevelopment of derelict industrial areas. And more — commissioning new highways, subway stations, and a railway ring (Moscow Smaller Ring Railway), which will be the passenger transport artery. And, further on — developing the territories
POSITION
Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow
“
Many people are saying now that we have a crisis, and it is not the time for roads, metro, parks, and we should let it all go, freeze those projects and forget all about them! I believe that it would be the biggest mistake. Infrastructure development is the recipe for all crises, which allows the city to go on and develop. Improvement is not limited to green parks and a livable city. This is a fight for the people, in which we compete with the world’s cities. Moscow has enough resources to continue implementing its development programs. Our main asset is goal-oriented Muscovites, who have repeatedly proved their ability to stay calm and carry on even in most difficult of times. So, the construction cranes in Moscow will continue to work, the new transport interchanges will open, new metro trains and buses will run the city routes, and new cultural and creative projects will find their way. It is not only about improving the daily lives of Muscovites, but also about giving people confidence that the city is moving in the right direction. We need to come together — the city, the business, and the citizens — and move forward. I believe in Moscow and Muscovites!”
adjacent to the Moscow River, where convenient quays, beaches, green areas, and cozy homes should appear. It is necessary to clean up the city’s parks and yards, provide comfortable conditions for pedestrians, and create new public spaces. Fairs, festivals, summer cafés should become a good tradition and the city’s hallmark. By all means, there is also need for the social services work, for modernized education and healthcare. Still, the most important is to ensure ongoing communication between the public and the municipal authorities, which has greatly improved in recent years, thanks to the Internet, in particular. According to Mikhail Abyzov, Russia’s Minister for Open Government, current Moscow’s policy, — in industrial and technology, in social services and infrastructure — is focused on individuals, and any decisions are made based on the what they can give to the Moscow residents. The Moscow City Government is working on increasing the citizens’ involvement in the governance process. For instance, the “Active Citizen” service with over 800,000 unique users is used as a platform for more than 250 discussions and referendums. Mikhail Kouzovlev, President & Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Moscow, Chairman of the Public Chamber of Moscow, agreed that the main priority was to establish dialog between the business and the government, between the civic society and the city. This dialogue is running smoothly in Moscow, and rather difficult topics get discussed. Mayors of every city all over the world try to solve the
same problems, explained Benjamin Barber, expert in city administration, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Rutgers University, author of “If Mayors Ruled the World”. It is important for them to improve their cities constantly; they care how their citizens live. And, whatever the conflicts in high politics are, mayors of Moscow, Los Angeles, and Berlin face the same challenges today: how people live from day to day, whether they get decent healthcare, whether they have a place to rest and relax, whether they can earn their living. It may even appear boring but it is the essence of democracy, the essence of life, the essence of progress. Mary Jane Crisanto Ortega, Vice President of the Global Executive Committee of ICLEI is confident that Mayor Sobyanin’s team has managed to achieve much in that area, and, even now, Moscow can have a great appeal to tourists and become more and more comfortable and livable for its residents with every passing year. At the end, Alexander Auzan said that today Moscow was the city that gathered intelligent and educated people, not only in the interests of the city and the country, but also to the benefit of the entire world. Moreover, the next decades will be years when it is the competition for human capital that will determine development of countries and cities.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #openmsk
0,8 million users voted on various city development issues through the “Active Citizen” online service
Interaction between the Moscow Government and the city’s residents through online services was a topic of a separate conference. See report on p. 120
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Moscow’s Spatial Strategy: Principles and Opportunities A city’s spatial planning determines its development for decades to come. Nowadays, a fixed general plan is replaced by more flexible strategic concepts that take into account the ever-changing realities of the city. The recommendations in relation to Moscow’s new spatial development (the master plan) are based on these principles. arat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction, told about key principles of the Moscow urban development policy. First, it is creation of a single program for the Moscow Transport Hub,
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SESSION CURATED BY: Strelka KB
PARTICIPANTS: Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction;
Karima Nigmatulina, Acting Director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow; Oleg Baevsky, Deputy Director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow; Maurice Leroy, Minister of City Affairs
in charge of the Grand Paris Project (2010–2012), France;
François Decoster, Partner at L’AUC,
France;
Sabine Lebesque, Senior Adviser to the Urban Development Corporation of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Alexey Muratov, Partner at KB Strelka, leader of the “Strategic Master Plan: a Tool for Managing the Future” study; Tatiana Gudz, Assistant Professor
of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Perm National Research Polytechnic University;
Alexander Lozhkin, Head of the Centre for Applied Urbanism, Project Siberia;
Yaroslav Kovalchuk, Head of the
Architectural and Planning Studio, State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow;
Maxim Gasiev, President of SPE Group; Paulus Kulikauskas, Interregional Adviser
on Technical Cooperation under the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), Kenya;
Oleg Bryukhanovsky, Legal Consultant for the “Strategic Master Plan: a Tool for Managing the Future” study;
Vitaly Stadnikov, Head of the Local Planners bureau;
Eduard Trutnev, Director of the Sector
“Real Estate Reforms” at the Institute for Urban EconomicsS;
Mikhail Alekseevsky, Head of the Centre
for Urban Anthropology of Strelka KB (moderator).
which was developed by all stakeholders. The next principle is polycentricity. For example, Nizhnie Mnevniki area is currently in the process of development. Around 6,5 square km of parkland will be created in Fili, Mnevniki and Krylatskoe districts. The third principle is increased mobility of the population. Huge transport construction is underway 60 km of metro lines and 400 km of roads are to be laid in the next three years. A strategic step in creating the transport “backbone” — the triad of metro, railways, and above-ground transit. This task of ultimate priority will start getting solved from the Moscow Smaller Ring Railway project: in 2016, the city will have 54 km light metro with 32 fully functional stations. The fourth principle is to freeze development in the central part of the city. It has been decided to stop new construction and to clean up the existing sites. The fifth principle is developing industrial zones industrial zones, that in Moscow occupy an area of 180 square km. Alexey Muratov, Partner at KB Strelka, leader of the “Strategic Master Plan: a Tool for Managing the Future” study, told why master plan was needed. The study was conducted especially for the Forum. Master plan may act at least five parts: 1) a tool of coordination; 2) a forecasting tool; 3) a tool for attracting additional external investments; 4) a platform for a broad consensus on the future of the city; 5) to strengthen the government authority and trust between the government and the public. It is important to understand who this master plan is designed for,
said Karima Nigmatulina, Acting Director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow. If it is for officials it means one format, and for the public it is completely different. It is also important to take into account that
POSITION
Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction
“
Compared to other major cities of the world that have existed with fixed structure for a long time, Moscow still has a lot of room for development. It still has unsatisfied demand for housing, commercial property, transportation infrastructure, and hotels. The city may develop at a very active pace. However, the main priority that the city government sees for itself today is to make the city more and more comfortable both for life and for work. Dozens of new parks are built, hundreds of kilometers of pedestrian roads, the quality of urban infrastructure is improving together with the buildings appearance. We actively retain various experts, professionals, and consultants. As a result of the Forum, we have signed agreements with various global megacities to share experience and perform specific work. Our “Active Citizen” platform is rapidly developing: we are ready to discuss our plans with citizens, sort out what we are doing wrong, and correct our errors. At the same time, we realize that Moscow cannot develop and be considered without the Moscow metropolitan area — it is a single body, one huge economic, political and transport mechanism.”
Moscow is a huge city, which cannot be fit into a single strategy, as different districts here have different flavors. And, finally, you need a strategy to implement the plan. Mikhail Alekseevsky clarified, that it was necessary not only to design a strategy to implement the master plan, but also to create the mechanisms that will enable it to become real. Of course, working on a master plan, you should think about how it will be implemented, agreed Maurice Leroy, Minister of City Affairs in charge of the Grand Paris Project (2010–2012). Yet, it is important not to forget to dream and try to make your dreams come true even if they seem a utopia. François Decoster, Partner at L’AUC, France, observed that every metropolis has its own identity, that is why, for all importance of foreign experience, it is worth finding your own way. And it is especially so for master plans. A master plan should be flexible enough to be adjusted depending on the conditions, and viable enough to remain relevant even in hard times.
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km of metro lines and 400 km of new roads planned for construction in Moscow in the next 3 years
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How and what for master plans are designed: see a review of the results of the “Strategic Master Plan: a Tool for Managing the Future” study on p. 32
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #prostran
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MOBILE CITY: HOW TO MAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT MORE ATTRACTIVE Moscow is far behind capitals of developed countries in the road network density. Therefore, it is not surprising that traffic congestion has become an inescapable feature of living in the Russian capital. The ongoing transport reform increased the cost of car ownership and use. Now, the city has to face the second stage of this reform: creating a viable alternative to private vehicles. oscow is notorious for long hours spent in its traffic jams; what is needed to make public transport more efficient and convenient to attract even the inveterate motorists? Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Moscow Mayor for Transport and Road Infrastructure Development, told about key challenges the city faces and the government’s objectives in improving its transport situation. The main priority today is to create a comfortable transport system that could satisfy demands from every segment of population. Moscow and the Moscow Region run short of streets that are not filled to the brim. Metro passengers have the worst of it, as during rush hours the Moscow subway is second only to Tokyo in passenger traffic. Yet, the Transport Department has a package of measures to address those issues. For instance, the city’s mass transit system will be adapted to greater passenger throughput — by 2020, the number of passenger seats will grow to 42 million from 31 million now. Rolling stock is upgraded as well; since 2010, 700 new metro cars, 4,500 buses, trams and trolleybuses, 350 electric train cars have been put into service. Railways will become 240 km longer. The Deputy Mayor said that
SESSION CURATED BY:
М
McKinsey, a global consulting firm
POSITION
Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow in the Moscow Government and Head of the Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development
“
When planning transport reforms, we studied global practices. At the moment, we are implementing many of those solutions that should have been introduced long before this time, such as organized parking space, bus only lanes, a universal ticket menu, transportation for passengers with reduced mobility. We have to change fast, that is why it is so important for us to look at the experience of other megacities. However, we try to remain open for all the best practices in the world to implement it here as efficiently as possible. Luckily, we have the most qualified teams working with us in many areas, and we are working together with the Muscovites.”
it was planned to build 78 metro stations from 2011 through 2020, and 14 of those had already been opened. The Moscow Small Ring Railway, a convenient city train, will become an additional means of transportation.
PARTICIPANTS: Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow in the Moscow Government and Head of Department for Transport and Road Infrastructure Development of the City of Moscow;
Antanas Mockus, President of the Corpovisionarios Research and Advisory Centre for Urban Development; Mayor of Bogotá (1995–1997, 2001–2003), Colombia; Roland Ries, Mayor of Strasbourg; Eugene Mikhailov, CEO at Mosgortrans; Federico Parolotto, Senior Partner at Mobility in Chain, expert on transport development in cities and mobility systems, Italy; Alexis Belianin, Lecturer at the International College of Economics and Finance, NRU HSE; Mike Rawlinson, Design Director at City ID, UK; Svetlana Koroteeva, Deputy Head of Sales and Business Development at Yandex;
Mikhail Blinkin, Director of Institute
of Transport Economics and Transport Policy, NRU HSE, moderator of the session.
The city reconstructs its highways and outbound routes, and public transport will become more comfortable for residents. There is also civilized parking space to be created; and great focus is on the organization of pedestrian areas and bike lanes. Such measures will redistribute passenger traffic and reduce load on the city transport, and Moscow streets will be have less traffic congestion. It is known that over 25 percent of drivers are ready to change their car keys for public transportation if it gets improved. Reasonable use of private vehicles and a viable alternative in the form of public transport should contribute to the overall success of the urban transport sector optimization. While we used to plan the city road network for private cars, now we tend to think more about environment, pedestrians, and bicycles, and, first of all, about mass transit, said Federico Parolotto, an expert on transport development in cities and mobility systems. In Moscow, it is essential to ensure connectivity of various districts so that people could get
To the left: Moscow bus stops already feature electronic boards indicating the time of bus arrival Top: cars rule in the Moscow River embankments nowadays To the right: public transport can well be a city symbol, as the famous London double-deckers
to neighboring areas without huge detours. Bogotá had to solve its traffic problem with limited resources, told Antanas Mockus, president of th Corpovisionarios urban development research and consulting center. The mayor’s office in Bogotá had a choice of either adding a single subway line or six to seven bus lines. They went with the buses. Now the public transport system is very reliable, buses run on time. At the same time, the city has restrictions for using private vehicles, for example, there are hours when 50 percent of cars are banned from the streets. Mike Rawlinson, Design Director at City ID, went on with the navigation topic; his teams helps Moscow not
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percent of Moscow Moscow drivers would change their car keys for public transportation if it worked better
driving and journeys on foot such as Yandex.Metro, Yandex.Transport, Yandex.Trains, Yandex.Taxi, Yandex.Maps, and Yandex.Traffic. According to Alexis Belianin, lecturer at the International College of Economics and Finance, making motorists opt for public transport is not a question of the transportation science but a question of public policy and communication. For example, the idea of paid entrance to the London center was discussed with Londoners for many years and was implemented only after it had six times as many supporters as opponents. Nevertheless, Mosgortrans CEO Eugene Mikhailov believes that tough measures are needed. Traffic remains the primary issue of the surface transit, he said. only by building a convenient wayfinding system, which will help a passenger to create an optimal route, but also by creating a unique expression of the city, an original style for transport stands and boards. It is crucial to make such signage both attractive — so that
people would want to interact with them — and as useful as possible. New technologies also help, believes Svetlana Koroteeva, Deputy Head of Sales and Business Development at Yandex. She mentioned apps for creating convenient routes both for public transport, car
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#mobility
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Building an integrated transport system on the metropolitan area scale will be an important part of developing the New Moscow territories, see “New Moscow: How to Create a Complete Urban Environment” on p. 112
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QUALITY OF THE URBAN REALM: THE ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE ARCHITECT Architecture affects the overall quality of life in a city, and Russia has a very rich architectural tradition. The quality of architecture and city planning depends on numerous factors, including: the level of professional education, state policy, society’s self-regulation, citizen awareness, and market demand. oday, after many a difficult year for Moscow’s architecture, the city is regaining awareness of the importance of quality architecture. The nation’s integration into the international architectural society plays a part, particularly the increasingly active involvement of leading international architects in projects within Russia. Local architects are also changing their views of their part in the life of the city. Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow, spoke about what he
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SESSION CURATED BY: Project Russia Magazine
PARTICIPANTS: Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow,
First Deputy Chairman of the the Moscow Architecture Committee;
Hans Stimmann, Member of the Architectural Council of Moscow, former Chief architect of Berlin (1999–2008);
Andrei Bokov, President of Russia’s Union
of Architects;
Mikhail Posokhin, President of the National Association of Planners, People’s Architect of Russia; Pavel Andreev, President of the Moscow Chamber of Architects;
Vicente Guallart, Chief Architect of the City Council, Director of the Department for the Urban Environment of Barcelona City Hall, Spain;
Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka, Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Lucy Musgrave, Director of Publica public realm
and urban design company, UK;
Varvara Melnikova, Director at the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design; Hui Wang, Founding Partner of Urbanus
Architecture & Design, expert in integrated urban development, China;
Marianne Loof, Architect and Partner at LEVS Architecten, Netherlands;
Erken Kagarov, Art Director, Art. Lebedev Studio; Ilya Mukosey, Architect, Co-owner of the PlanAR architectural studio; Boris Pasternak, Chief Architect of the Centre
for Historical-Urban Planning Research, Member of the Federal Research and Methodological Council for Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation;
Bart Goldhoorn, Architect and Publisher of Project Russia Magazine, moderator of the session.
POSITION
SERGEI KUZNETSOV, CHIEF ARCHITECT OF MOSCOW
“
I would judge our success not now, but in several years, when we see results, because the projects take time to realize. I would avoid rushing to conclusions, although it is clear that everyone is impatient for results. I myself am waiting for them, but even the fact that large state institutions have voluntarily agreed to select architects via competition for even the largest projects (the Russian Olympic Committee and Parliamentary Center in Moscow, the NCCA at Khodynskoe Pole, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin Museum) — that is an enormous achievement. Five-ten years ago we could never even have imagined this. Today they say: ‘Yes, we want to select projects that will interest the professionals, the citizens, and even the international community’.”
and the new team of the Moscow Architecture Committee have managed to achieve over two years or so. Initially, there was a great shadow of doubt over such things as dialogue between authorities and experts, design culture, completion of projected goals and the overall position of architecture in the city. The Committee’s team streamlined project approval, renewed the architect council and staffed it with relevant and respectable experts. They launched and are actively developing a practice of competitions; several winning projects including Zaryadye Park and the territory of the Serp i Molot metallurgical plant are currently under construction. Industrial housing is undergoing modernization, as are social institutions like kindergartens and schools which were built to models for years and are now finally gaining individuality. Another task is popularization, as activity in the public domain is vital to the development of a city’s architecture. Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka and Professor at the Graduate
School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics, protested that all this has not improved the status of the architect, nor did it make architecture as such important to the city. Despite the copious construction in Moscow, not a single interesting building has been erected in the past four years. The millions of square meters that are built lack an image, a name, or an artistic meaning. Architectural competitions do take place, but the winning projects fail to be executed, and if they are, that is after undergoing changes which render them unrecognizable; often the competitions are a formality, and any competition is accused of nepotism, corruption and unprofessionalism. It seems that at the moment architecture’s only salvation can come from the pride of a particularly powerful individual, oligarch or official, Mr Revzin said provokingly. This powerful person will extend his protection to the architects and will be able to convince the authorities that unless they are allowed to construct anything at all, there will be nothing left after our time. Sergei Kuznetsov referred to Revzin’s criticism as “provocation for a more active discussion of the problem” and noted that although things have not been easy until now, there have been successes as well. Today, many investors initiate competitions by themselves in order to guarantee approval afterwards. Many young architects have entered the market in this very way. However, there is no argument that the realization times of significant projects are traditionally extended. There are indeed serious problems with regard to the professional status of the architect, Pavel Andreev, President of the Moscow Chamber of Architects, agreed. In Soviet times, architects were distributed in accordance with the USSR State Construction Committee and its system of institutions. With the perestroika, the system was lost, and consequently, the legal status of architects is undefined. And yet, the architects need to collaborate with foreign partners who require clarity. To this end, the National
Modern architecture can make even a mediocre city famous, as shown by the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
Chamber of Architects was formed two years ago. Its goals are protecting professional interests, protecting the market, defining game rules, increasing work quality, and striving to be understood by society and cause its interest. The Chamber is in fact a registry, supposedly listing all of Russia’s architects. Under its auspices are to be found both practitioners and teachers, experts, critics et al. Particularly respectable individuals form the Academy of Architecture; academics cooperate with politicians and do serious work to benefit the profession.
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TEAMS WERE ACCEPTED TO COMPETE IN THE FIRST STAGE OF THE ZARYADYE PARK COMPETITION, THE BIGGEST COMPETITION OF THE PAST YEARS. AFTER THE SECOND STAGE, THE WINNER WAS CHOSEN — THE TEAM LED BY DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO
Andrei Bokov, President of the Union of Architects of Russia, spoke of the overall decrepitude of the urban planning sector. The problem is not merely that we keep building houses designed seven decades ago. Other problematic subjects are the high levels of water and energy consumption and a lack of a land use or ownership culture. We need to work on environmental development strategies and urban planning policies, and work on them wisely. Lucy Musgrave, director of the Publica public realm and urban design company, shared the experience of the interaction between the city and the architects in the British capital. The London Municipality has
commisioned teams of architects to work on public spaces that are to unite and enhance the entire city. For example, all of London’s parks and squares have been joined, and now people can walk from one green zone into another. Architects are the ones making new master plans for the city and proposing solutions for individual blocks, zones or streets. Vicente Guallart, Chief Architect of the City Council of Barcelona, said that politicians and architects in Barcelona have been working together since the 1980s. Their chief task is the same — improving public spaces. Everywhere must have architecture of its own: each neighborhood, school, yard or library. According to Dutch architect and urban planner Marianne Loof, the Dutch government launched
an architecture stimulation policy in the 1990s when it became obvious that the quality of urban spaces and architecture matter both in the cultural and the economical sense. People flock to beautiful and comfortable cities because they see a future there. Therefore, supporting architecture is not an option for a city, but an absolute necessity. x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#plenselect
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What part do architects play in the development of a modern city, and what part can they play? What are competitions for and should an architect be also a politician? These and other questions answered by architects from Russia, France and India — see p. 64
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INDUSTRY IN THE CONTEMPORARY CITY: CONVERT OR INNOVATE Today we are hearing more and more about the importance of preserving technological and modern industry in the city. New industry needs new kinds of industrial areas, which combine education, laboratories and production. Moscow, too, is concerned with the need to form alternative centers of labor application. Does the city have room for industry? ergei Lyovkin, Head of Moscow’s Department of Urban Development, shared that according to the 2010 general plan, industrial communal territories comprise over 18 percent of Moscow’s entire territory. Approximately 5,000 hectares need full reorganization, while the remaining areas are to downscale and turn into high-tech manufactures. The freed land will be used to build kindergartens, schools, sporting facilities and medical institutions, with new roads, parks and spaces for human potential development.
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SESSION CURATED BY: The Faculty of Economics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University
POSITION
SERGEI LYOVKIN, HEAD OF MOSCOW’S DEPARTMENT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
“
We do not intend to take industry outside Moscow’s territory. We have a clear intention to transform what lays in those areas right now into objects with high added value, highly technological and highly profitable manufacturing facilities. These depressive territories grow into enterprises that will make us proud and one day will make a significant contribution to the GRP, add value for the city’s growth. It is important to understand that these territories are our reserve, to treat them with utmost care, and to use them wisely.”
commerce has moved to mega-malls vs convenience stores, manufacturing as well will be split into large-scale, mass production industrial zones and small convenience productions. Pierre Bélanger, Professor of Architecture at the School of Design at Harvard University, suggested that we should abandon the usual view of the city as a system of streets, houses and manufacturing plants. In the last century, the power of capital mattered more than environment but now we ought
PARTICIPANTS: Sergei Lyovkin, Head of Moscow’s Department of Urban Development; Oleg Bocharov, Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of Moscow; Andrey Gnezdilov, Chief Architect, State Unitary Enterprise, Scientific-Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow; Igor Agamirzyan, General Director of RVC; Ruth Orzessek-Kruppa, Head of the Department of City Planning of Dusseldorf City Hall, Germany; Pierre Bélanger, Director of OPSYS, Professor of Architecture at the School of Design at Harvard University, USA; Raphael Chua, Principal Planner at JURONG Consultants Pte Ltd., Singapore; Patrick Cheenne, Director of Economic
Development of the ParisSaclay Development Authority (EPPS) research and development cluster, France;
Dmitry Sakharov, CEO of Bioclinicum Research
Centre;
Konstantin Edel, Vice President for strategy the group of companies INTECO;
Artem Kuznetsov, CEO at GUTA DEVELOPMENT СJSC;
Andrey Grinev, Ideologist of the Project
ArtKvartal;
Marina Khrustaleva, Co-Founder of the
Centre for the Capitalisation of Heritage, a board member at the Moscow Architecture Preservation Society (MAPS);
Alisa Prudnikova, Director of the Uralic Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts; Sofia Trotsenko, founder of the WINZAVOD Center for Contemporary Art and «Territory of Design» project.
Ruth Orzessek-Kruppa, Head of the Department of City Planning of Dusseldorf City Hall, spoke about the way industry is organized in Dusseldorf, where they have created a joint development policy for the city’s industry. The Department aims to affirm Dusseldorf’s position as an industrial hub, provide jobs for the citizens, attract investment and support a diverse variety of industrial sectors. They are constantly finding new tasks and searching for innovative solutions. Igor Agamirzyan, General Director of RVC, whose main strategy is investing in high-tech productions, noted that, in this age, it is impossible to imagine any given industry without IT. Any manufacturing plant’s added value center keeps shifting towards design and engineering. This trend is best seen in micro-electronics and software, but it also stands out in pharmaceutical, automotive, and other industry branches. In the new, post-industrial economy, manufacturing will probably be customized and client-oriented instead of mass-production. So, in medicine, drugs will be made according to the particular patient’s needs. In footwear, there are already startups making shoes based on a 3D model of the client’s foot. Just like
to build a new relationship with nature. So, the river and its basin can change the very perception of a city. What happens in a city with the water that collects after rain and snowfall, and how can this water be used for industry? These are entirely new viewpoints. Why don’t we build our urban strategy on the basis of interaction with natural resources? Sofia Trotsenko, founder of the WINZAVOD Center for Contemporary Art, replied that, at this precise moment, the riverside of the Moscow River was undergoing extensive development. Moscow has always evolved around the river; the first factories were built along the Yauza
and the Moscow River because the raw materials were delivered by water, and the ready goods traveled the same way. The first factories appeared already in the mid-18th century, but barely anything remains of them, added Marina Khrustaleva, Co-Founder of the Centre for the Capitalisation of Heritage. What we recognize as industrial architecture — all of that red brick heritage — dates back to the 1860–80s. There are currently about twenty extant interesting and original industrial ensembles along the Moscow River and the headwaters of Yauza. All of them could do a world
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OLEG BOCHAROV, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE, INDUSTRIAL POLICY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP OF MOSCOW
“
Red October — a former chocolate factory — has become one of the most exciting examples of industrial territories changing function in Moscow
Moscow is far from such figures, but could we be in the beginning of a large journey? Oleg Bocharov, Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of Moscow, said that there is no sense in trying to predict the
of good to the culture, the city, the social sector, and business, were they not in such a sorry state. Andrey Gnezdilov, Chief Architect of the Scientific-Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow, compared the industrial territories of Moscow with the span of the Third Ring Road in terms of area. These are vast areas that will not be solved by merely rebuilding for a new function. There is an interesting notion of creative clusters forming in industrial areas (Red October, WINZAVOD, Elektrozavod, et al.). The culture business in Berlin brought in 17 billion Euros of GDP in 2010, that is 22 percent of the city’s budget.
future. The current 10 most wanted professions in Moscow were simply unknown five years ago. Clearly, new competences will be forming in an entirely different atmosphere. The age of large enterprises is over, and the redevelopment of industrial territories requires serious consideration. Russia is a very creative nation, and every working person here, from a cleaner to the director of a large enterprise, wants to do the work their
As for new enterprises, the city is interested in having saturated innovative production, be it of medical equipment or pharmaceutics, robotics or microelectronics. All of the conditions for this are met. Every single one of our scientific and industrial platforms is ready to offer prepared dozens or even hundreds of thousands of square meters for high-level enterprises. To answer the question of where to locate new industry, we have 209 industrial zones in this city, with the overall area of almost 7,840 hectares, but only 4,100 hectares are occupied by industry and science institutions, while the rest of the territory is used highly inefficiently or not used at all. Our task is not only to give these areas over to industrial manufacture, but also to make sure that it is highly technological, environmentally safe and efficient manufacture which will make new jobs and benefit the city with its participation and presence. As for labor, the city attracts enormous masses of the best among the Russians. Its cultural centers, cultural events and opportunities are highly attractive. No doubt the main task the Mayor’s presentation at this Forum presented us with is that of creating a basically new environment for that intellect and of forming the conditions for its further realization.”
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PERCENT Berlin’s output in 2010 CAME FROM CREATIVE INDUSTRIES OCCUPYING FORMER FACTORIES AND PLANTS
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Participation of designers, artists, and locals in reconsidering the industrial zones of the city is highly necessary. Read more about the forms of such participation and the city’s interaction with communities on p. 68
own way and get their individuality across. This is the age of individuality, the age of creativity, and therefore, in essence, the age of Russia.
x You can find the session video аnd discussion papers at the Forum’s website: www.mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#promush
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CANADA Federal funding and focus on reduced waiting in line, creating electronic records USA Creating public health insurance system
NEW healthcare: GLOBAL TRENDS AND FRAMEWORK FOR MOSCOW
MEXICO Creating universal general healthcare coverage (public institutions) to cut private costs
Healthcare worldwide is going through dramatic change, and according to most forecasts, the part it plays in the economy will only grow. Moscow spends significant funds on healthcare, but the system has not experienced fundamental transformation since the Soviet era, while the life of the city has changed dramatically. he general belief in the Soviet Union was that the main healthcare issue is the amount of hospital beds and doctors per capita. Today, Forum’s participants believe, quality is more important than quantity: patients need skilled professionals, up-to-date medical equipment and tried-andtested clinical recommendations rather than hospital beds. Leonid Pechatnikov, Moscow’s Deputy Mayor for Social Development, said that there had been no notable change in the healthcare system in many
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PARTICIPANTS: Mathias Dufour, Counselor of France’s Minister of Health, France;
Emi Kiyota, President of IBASHO, USA; David Melik-Guseinov, Director of Pharm CIS, member of the State Duma’s Coordination Committee for the Innovative Development of Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry; Alexander Myasnikov, founder of Myasnikov Clinic, CMO of Moscow’s Hospital #71; Leonid Pechatnikov, Moscow’s Deputy Mayor for Social Development.
years. As before, hospital financing depended purely on the number of beds, while the quality of medical services provided was overlooked. In addition, medical education had virtually crashed. Meanwhile, efficient methods of diagnosis and treatment have been discovered, enabling great savings in hospital bedspace; the ratio of stationary to ambulatory treatment is nearing 1:3. Since 2010, Moscow has invested 3 billion Euro into upgrading its healthcare; 1 billion of those was spent on new equipment. For example, while earlier a patient with gallstones had to spend a month hospitalized, modern laparoscopic technology allows to cut their stay down to three days. Today, every hospital has a laparoscope. In 2010, the city had over 120,000 hospital beds served by approximately 300,000 medics. That is too many. On the other hand, there is an overall shortage of doctors in the country. Even Moscow is short on primary care physicians. It would be good for the physicians released from hospitals to go through
COLOMBIA Transitioning from public to private payers, increased access for patients
POSITION
LEONID PECHATNIKOV,
Data: mass media, open sources
MOSCOW’S DEPUTY MAYOR FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
“
There are treatment protocols that are accepted worldwide. Meanwhile, we say that we are treating the patient, not the disease, that every human being is a universe, so no need to interfere with protocols. This is a great blunder on our part. Protocol is not just protection from incompetence, but also a possibility to control the treatment. Let us not deny that the medical environment is very corporate. The coroner gets his wages from the same place as the surgeon and the GP. And the head physician can just tell him ‘not to spoil the statistics’. It is impossible to follow the quality of treatment without a formalized protocol. So we will introduce protocols in Moscow; we won’t be too inventive, we will simply translate the European protocols, adapt them to our system, and it will all work.”
retraining to switch to ambulatory work. Right now, a system of training and certification for general practitioners is being created in Moscow. Alexander Myasnikov, CMO of Moscow’s Hospital #71, who has spent many years working in the USA and France, pointed out that in Russia, medicine is the most expensive. While in Russia, a multitude of tests is done before a laparoscopic operation, in France there are no prior tests, and if necessary, the doctors correct the situation right in the OR. The reason is the extemely low level of medical education in our country: barely 5 percent of doctors could pass Western-type certification. The source of today’s mistakes lays in the lack of modern protocols and standards. When the entire country does everything in the same unified
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HEALTHCARE REFORM EXAMPLES Status by the first stage: currently, many of the world’s healthcare systems are undergoing reforms designed to increase efficiency and quality of healthcare services
UK Expanding quality oversight, restructuring hospitals
NETHERLANDS Promoting private coverage, introducing DRGs
FRANCE Establishing an independent healthcare quality regulator, expanding the list of process KPIs
NORWAY Creating 5 regional systems for health services, expanded range of services available to patients, increasing healthcare coverage
GERMANY Creating payer competition leading to consolidation
3
BILLION EURO WERE INVESTED INTO HEALTHCARE IN MOSCOW IN THE PAST YEARS, AND A THIRD OF THEM WENT TO NEW medical EQUIPMENT
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
SWITZERLAND Consolidating payers a er introducing mandatory basic coverage
SPAIN Private payers in 5 Valencian regions, expanded range of services available to patients, introducing new payment methods
TURKEY Significant increase in government spending, consolidating insurers into a single payer
way, the work of the medic will be much easier, and there will be great financial and health benefits. In Singapore, healthcare expenses take up less of the GDP than in Moscow, said David MelikGuseinov, member of the State Duma’s Coordination Committee for the Innovative Development of Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry. That said, on the latest Bloomberg ranking of healthcare system efficiency, Russia ranks 51st, and Singapore is the 1st. This means that absolutely not everything depends on money, despite the growing expenses, warns Mathias Dufour, Counselor of France’s Minister of Health. People exercise less, eat lots of fatty and sugary foods, and the rates of obesity and diabetes are growing rapidly. New technology gives astounding results but the
AUSTRALIA Expected DRG update, launching a private planning program to cover health costs
equipment is costly. In the next two decades, there will be a 20 percent increase in the over-60 segment of the population, and older people seek medical care 3–4 times as often as younger ones. As a result, healthcare expenses are constantly growing. In 10–20 years we may find 30–40 percent of the GDP spent on healthcare, which is unthinkable. What can be done? First and foremost, a more efficient use of resources. New technology lets us treat people in a much faster and simpler manner. Primary attention must be dedicated to prophylactic treatment. The importance of following protocols must be made clear to patients to the same extent as doctors. For example, the fact that people do not take the medicine prescribed to them
SINGAPORE Establishing personal savings accounts to pay for health services
is costing France 4 billion Euro per annum. Emi Kiyota, President of IBASHO, explained that old age itself is not a problem. It becomes a problem only when the social conditions are not suitable for the elderly. We must create the appropriate conditions for the elderly to feel comfortable. Here, healthcare comes into direct interaction with urban planning: houses, streets, public spaces that should give people the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest. x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#med
Aging population will put a great strain on healthcare worldwide. However, if we adjust the urban spaces and social practices to the older people’s needs we can release some of the strain. See “Older Citizens” on p. 87
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INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AS A FACTOR IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT The modern world’s megacities are a place for representatives of very diverse cultures to meet, and their population is constantly increased by migration flows. Cities develop their own models for organizing intercultural relations, consciously or spontaneously settling on certain mechanisms for integrating migrants and people of different cultures into the city life. s many other megacities, Moscow is a city of migrants who bring their own culture when they arrive. The wellbeing of all citizens depends on how well they can integrate into this society. Will Moscow be able to leverage diverse cultures to become richer or will our interaction with migrants be reduced to controlling potential conflicts? The session participants shared their ideas on successful interaction with other cultures. The absolute priority for urban policy in the interethnic relations area is to create a comfortable environment for all residents of the city, emphasized Anastasia Gorshkova, Head of Information and Public Relations of the Department for Interregional Cooperation, Multicultural Policy and Relations with Religious Organizations of Moscow. Moscow has a Council
A
for Nationalities Relations. The city government interacts with more than a hundred national and cultural community organizations. Each of those both works in its own ethnic environment and participate in city-wide projects, for instance, up to 15,000 people gather for festivals of the Caucasus and Middle Asia communities (Nowruz, Farn, Tbilisoba). There is a multifunctional portal мойнарод.рф (moinarod.rf), an online environment with multicultural flavors. There are publications on the Moscow national and cultural diversity, and their websites have an audience
activities of the “Unity in Diversity” social forum for multicultural policy. Significant effort is taken but the question remains whether it is possible for a uniform urban community to exist in cultural pluralism, said Olga Vendina, Head Researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Science. If culture is a certain way of life and style of behavior, then how can we motivate the cultural majority to agree to a dialogue of cultures? In fact, only an insignificant part of the population is ready for such a dialogue. Most people replicate negative stereotypes in relation
of 20 million users. The All-Russian Interethnic Youth Association works with journalism students engaging them in national forums coverage. Well-regarded experts and practicing senior managers participate in the
to outsiders. In addition, migrants are forced out into the shadow economy due to lack of regulation in both social and legal spheres. In such a complex situation, it is the government’s role to act as a mediator and help in creating rules of the game and build a dialogue.
SESSION CURATED BY: Center for Migration Studies
PARTICIPANTS: Anastasia Gorshkova, Head of Information and Public Relations of the Department for Interregional Cooperation, Multicultural Policy and Relations with Religious Organizations of Moscow; Scott McQuire, founding member of Research
Unit for Public Cultures at the University of Melbourne, Australia;
Olga Vendina, Head Researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Science;
Koji Sasaki, Researcher at the Institute of Urban
Strategies of the Mori Memorial Foundation, Japan;
Vyacheslav Postavnin, President of the Migration XXI Century Foundation; Ekaterina Demintseva, Head Researcher at the Cultural Research Laboratory of the Higher School of Economics; Ekaterina Kozhevina, Project Coordinator for the Public Opinion Foundation;
Dmitry Oparin, journalist, ethnologist, Lecturer
of the Ethnological Department of the History Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University;
Dmitry Poletaev, Director of the Center for Migration Studies, moderator of the session.
According to Ekaterina Demintseva, Head Researcher at the Cultural Research Laboratory of the Higher School of Economics, the situation for migrants in Moscow is better than, for example, in Paris, where migrants live in certain neighborhoods, ghettos in all but name. In Moscow,
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migrants settle everywhere; their children attend the same schools as the children of Muscovites, so they quickly start to belong. At the same time, in Europe each quarter offers language courses for migrants, associations helping migrant women and children, and so on. Unlike Europe, Australian multiculturalism was born in a natural way and only then became a national policy, explained Scott McQuire, founding member of Research Unit for Public Cultures at the University of Melbourne. Nowadays, about a hundred
To the left: Moscow Muslims have to deal with shortage of mosques in the city. They have to pray in the streets as well, which irritates many locals. Below: Migrants play an important role in the city’s economy
blend in entirely. While 30 million people live In Tokyo, the proportion of migrants is negligible. And yet, the government needs foreigners who could solve the problem of labor shortage. Japan needs both a policy change and an environment that will favor the non-residents, at least
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Anastasia Gorshkova, Head of Information and Public Relations of the Department for Interregional Cooperation, Multicultural Policy and Relations with Religious Organizations of Moscow
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Good government result is people living in peace and harmony. And it is not even necessary for a Muscovite to feel some specific trends of multicultural policy but they should be comfortable regardless of their nationality, religion, or migration status. “Levada” and VTsIOM reported that the number of citizens who believe that mass bloodshed and ethnic clashes are possible decreased from 62% in 2013 to 24% in 2014. In 2013, 43% of respondents felt ethnic tensions, while in 2014 there were only 23% of them. When blood of sacrificial animals was flowing in the yards or when there were shootings during ethnic weddings, all the citizens felt it. And now, even on major Muslim holidays — whatever the scale of celebration — the mainstream city goes on living in its usual rhythm. And it has been a lot of work, with which religious organizations, civic institutions, and numerous volunteers help us.”
nationalities live in Australia. Their successful coexistence is primarily a question of ethics, certain social skills and proper upbringing. Outreach begins in schools, where you can meet children from many different backgrounds, including Somalia, Iraq, UK, etc.; school is the place where children learn to interact. There are public spaces and projects, in which different ethnic groups can show their national identity. For example, the Federation Square in central Melbourne had a large screen with a map of the world installed, and everyone passing by could indicate where he or she was born. In that project, people showed both their openness to the world and interest in their neighbors — we stand in the same square but we are connected to different cities and countries. This experience can be the envy of Japan, where the policies are not too favorable for immigrants, acknowledged Koji Sasaki, Researcher at the Institute of Urban Strategies of the Mori Memorial Foundation. Authorities allow migrants to stay in Japan for a limited time only; visitors cannot
some urban space where migrants might feel comfortable enough. Part of the workload related to dealing with migrants can and should be transferred to nongovernmental organizations, which the state can support, thinks Vyacheslav Postavnin, President of the Migration XXI Century Foundation. One of the major problems for migrants is a hunger for information: where to go, where to get medical treatment, where to study, how to behave, how to get to a particular institution. And it is non-governmental sector that helps migrants with this. Small organizations receive up to a hundred people or take as many calls per day; their websites get thousands of queries. Moreover, this work means a huge potential for building a civil society.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#dialog
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20
million people The total audience of websites of publications on life of various national communities in Moscow
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Attracting migrants as part of Sydney’s economic strategy on p. 38
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FINANCING URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE: MODELS, POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS Despite the ever more challenging economic situation, Moscow investment programs are on the increase. It is necessary to activate additional funding sources, prioritize investments, and create conditions attractive for investors. Global practice offers a variety of solutions; but which one should Moscow follow? oscow’s investment programs are constantly growing. However, budget spending capacity is limited at the moment. In this situation, it becomes necessary to activate additional funding sources, prioritize investments, and create conditions attractive for investors. The latter objective is the one that the Moscow government is laboring over non-stop, said Maxim Reshetnikov, Head of Department of Economic Policy and Development of the Moscow Government. Stable fiscal policy, placing transparent government contracts, stimulating economic growth with tax policy, and level-headed tariff policy — all
M
SESSION CURATED BY: OJSC Federal Center for Project Finance
PARTICIPANTS: Maxim Reshetnikov, Moscow Government
Minister and Head of Department of Economic Policy and Development of the Moscow Government;
Vladimir Efimov, Moscow Government Minister and Head of Moscow Department of City Property of the Moscow Government;
Edward Glaeser, Professor at Harvard
University, author of the “Triumph of the City”, USA;
Nicklas Garemo, Director of McKinsey Global
Institute, Leader of EMEA Infrastructure Practice, UAE;
Paulius Kulikauskas, Interregional Adviser
on Technical Cooperation under the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Kenya;
Irina Bulgakova, Head of Directorate for Municipal Projects of the Bank of Moscow;
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Maxim Reshetnikov, Moscow Government Minister and Head of Department of Economic Policy and Development of the Moscow Government
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Undoubtedly, we all are experiencing anxiety. When we say that so much has been done to tear down administrative barriers and reduce the cost of doing business, we are well aware that the current situation may appear to challenge our achievements and efforts in many aspects. And, of course, we are concerned with what needs to be done in the new environment. But we proceed from the fact that the current conditions do not negate the importance of those efforts, focused on long-term goals, that have been undertaken by the Government of Moscow: trends come and go, while a city with predictable rules of the game and normal economic regulators will always be what business needs. Costs may be higher or lower, yet, the main thing is to keep them predictable, and to maintain a level playing field for everyone. And that is why, despite all the complexity of the emerging situation, we see numerous opportunities. At the moment, Western and Eastern investors overstate investment risks, but, on the other hand, the risks always go hand in hand with changes in returns. It is obvious that today’s circumstances add to a significant increase in returns on investment into Moscow assets. And this is one of the safest assets in the country.”
obligations, keeping interests in balance. The specific PPP model is tailored to task, as the legislation has progressed strongly towards the needs of the regions, municipalities, and businesses recently, and it is possible to find the right tools for everyone. The city uses the PPP format to solve problems posed by the current legislation and find answers to the citizens’ requests, explained Vladimir Efimov, Moscow Government Minister and Head of Moscow Department of City Property of the Moscow Government. Leasing city property easily comes to mind. The city leases out urban premises according to the residents’ requests while defining functionality of those premises, for example, retail or social purposes. The largest of Moscow PPP project to date is development of the ZIL territory. The investor plans to build real estate to be sold but they
Sergey Sivaev, Managing Director of OJSC
Federal Center for Project Finance;
Mikhail Dmitriev, President of “New Economic Growth” economic partnership;
Nikolay Kazansky, Managing Partner of Colliers International Russia;
Elena Kiseleva, Partner, Head of Real Estate &
Construction and Electric Power Industry and Housing and Economic Complex practices of Strategy Partners Group;
Oleg Syabrenko, Commercial Director at Dalkia
Vostok.
Mikhail Nikolskiy, General Director
of LLC Regional Investment and Urban Development, moderator of the session.
of that should encourage investors. In the light of opportunities arising with changes to the immigration laws, a legal labor market is formed. The city not only creates conditions for investments but also designs and implements large-scale projects; at the same time, lots of small and medium-sized projects are started. In general, Moscow signed contracts for more than 0.5 trillion rubles in the past two years using mechanisms of public-private partnership (PPP). With all the variety of PPP forms, general principles remain: financing the purchase of the result, longterm relationships, predictable pricing, rigid understanding of mutual
also construct kindergartens to be transferred to the city without charge, and they beautify the surrounding area. The investor’s contribution to this project is estimated to the north of 100 billion rubles; in turn, the city will be required to develop the transport infrastructure and add to the social infrastructure needed for such a large district to function properly. And if we talk about small interesting projects, investors are offered preferential treatment for creating private educational and healthcare
institutions. The investor has to reconstruct a suitable urban space at their own expense, and then they receive it in lease for 49 years at the rate of 1 ruble per square meter. Another project of this kind is cultural heritage restoration, with the rent also going at the rate of 1 ruble per square meter for 49 years, subject to completing the premises restoration on schedule. These are examples of special programs that
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Both Russian and foreign investors will be needed to fund development of ZIL industrial area
more serious investors’ attention to this area. Nicklas Garemo, Director of McKinsey Global Institute, shared global experience in developing infrastructure projects in the PPP format. It gets more and more difficult to find financing for those projects, as after 2008–2009 the governments all over the world have less and less money, while private investors see too many risks in the infrastructure projects. What can be done? Use the best, time tested practice. It will be possible to build the same infrastructure and save up to 40 percent of the funds in the process. It is vital to properly evaluate potential projects and implement them in the best way possible. Why do we need publicprivate partnerships if taxpayer money comes cheaper, at least in the developed countries? Experience has shown that, with a private investor involved in the project, the discipline becomes far higher: everything is done on time, and the budget is kept. Therefore, PPP is the way to fast and cost-effective project implementation.
ACTIVE INVESTMENT POLICY Clear Investment Strategy
Experience with different PPP forms
Balanced interests of the city and its investors
Investments projects for various business formats
Attracting private investments for social needs
Developing urban environment and redeveloping industrial areas
Long-term contracts with an investment element in 2013–2014 amounted to
enable citizens to get additional and absolutely new services without spending any budget funds. One must distinguish between public-private partnerships and private-public partnership, says Sergey Sivaev, Managing Director of OJSC Federal Centre for Project Finance. A public-private partnership is attracting business to solve those tasks that the law imposes on the authorities. A private-public
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partnership means the government helps to promote development if it deems so appropriate. In this regard, the ZIL project is an example of private-public partnership with the state encouraging development. And public-private partnerships tend to deal with infrastructure development, among other things. Urban infrastructure is a sector with minimum risks, and it would be desirable to attract much
0,5
trillion rubles The amount of contracts in the private-public partnership format in Moscow in 2013–2014
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
Housing is a key element of the urban infrastructure, and any city has high affordable housing needs. Experts from McKinsey Global Institute have an answer to how those costs can be almost halved on p. 60
billion rubles
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#moneycity
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Moscow River as a Source of Urban Regeneration Any city with such abundant river space as Moscow cannot forego working with that asset. Otherwise, the river would become a liability, an unnecessary burden. How will the city cope with rebuilding the riverside areas, will it make the Moscow River the new city symbol? he competition that the city announced in summer dealt with approaches to developing the river in Moscow. The territory gravitating towards the river, the focus of that competition, occupied a bit more than 10 percent of Moscow’s area in its old boundaries, before the 2011 expansion, told Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow, and Karima Nigmatulina, Acting Director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow. Almost a quarter of all the riverside space is derelict industrial zones. Only 60 km out of 200 km of the river banks are developed embankment. The river sees next to none
T
SESSION CURATED BY: State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow
PARTICIPANTS: Karima Nigmatulina, Acting Director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow; Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Architect
of Moscow, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Architecture and City Planning of Moscow;
Miguel Bucalem, Member of the International Expert Council on City Planning of Moscow, Head of the Cidades Interdisciplinary Center of the University of São Paulo, Brazil; Paul Lecroart, Member of the International
Expert Council on City Planning of Moscow, Senior Specialist on Urban Planning at IAURIF, France;
Balázs Szeneczey, Vice Mayor of Budapest
for City Development;
Sabine Lebesque, Senior Adviser to the Urban Development Corporation of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Edouard Moreau, representative of the winning team in the international competition for the development of the areas along the Moscow River;
Roman Trotsenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Moscow River Shipping Company; Greg Clark, Chairman, OECD LEED Forum on Local Development and Investment Strategies (OECD); Global Fellow, ULI, expert in city development evaluation for intergovernmental organizations, UK (moderator).
POSITION
Karima Nigmatulina, Acting Director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow
“
The scope of project that the Moscow Government have undertaken — 83 km — is unique, as similar projects cover from 10 to 30 km. This alone is enough to determine the main thing, that there could not be standard solutions. And the river itself varies. Lusciously green quarters in the northwest give way to undeveloped green areas without buildings but with high recreational potential. Close to the Moscow City, the river comes across another major element of the city structure, the Moscow Ring Railway. Further on are the Luzhniki waterfront that has been largely integrated into the capital’s life. New projects in the Gorky Park and at the Krymskaya quay prove that the river can easily become an attractive public space. Embankments near the Kremlin are the face of the capital but today you cannot call them comfortable. In the former industrial zones, ZIL in particular, where the Moscow Ring Railway and the River cross once again, there is not enough greenery. Next comes the South Port, which concentrates more than 50 percent of cargo hauled on the river within the city limits. Further downstream are the residential areas in the southern part of the city; they have embankments. However, these embankments are empty because there is nothing to do there. All these spaces are very different and require differentiated approach, proper use of existing infrastructure, functional programming, and staged development. The project of this scale can last more than 20 years. How can you build a development system that will be resistant to the change of the economic cycle? This is the question that we will have to solve when working on the final draft of the concept.”
passenger traffic, and the cargo traffic is unwaveringly diminishing. All these issues should be linked in a single development program that should be combined with development programs of other areas in the city. Paul Lecroart, Member of the International Expert Council on City Planning of Moscow, Senior Specialist on Urban Planning at IAURIF, advised to start from “fast victories”, which is to restrict car traffic on the quays on the weekends, as it had been done in Paris, for example. Going step by step is the key, insists Mr. Lecroart’s colleague in the Expert Council Miguel Bucalem, Head of the Cidades Interdisciplinary Center of the University of São Paulo. And you should look for tools that enable raising funds and getting returns for a long period of time. In this respect, the national budget funds will, most probably, be used for large-scale efforts to develop infrastructure. It goes without saying that the project will require drafting new and amending old legal documents. Balázs Szeneczey, Vice Mayor of Budapest for City Development, shared his experience of dealing with the river. The 2013 city development plan envisages, firstly, creation of a network of zones that provide access to the river, and, secondly, building a new balance of owners of the riverside areas. Several projects enabled the river to retrieve its lost tourist, cultural, and sporting functions in certain parts. Upgrading urban bays, expanding recreational areas and also developing the relationship between the riverside areas is another
important area of work. As Szeneczey said, it was very important to have strong leaders for such a process and to have their vision even more strengthened by plans for long-term and mediumterm steps. This will allow attracting diverse funding in terms of sources, including funds from business. On the part of the private sector, Alexander Vyakhirev, Vice President at AEON Corporation (owner of such companies as the Moscow River Shipping Company and the Capital Shipping Company, multimode transport and logistics hub “South River Port”, and Moscow Yacht Club), said that if at present the South Port performed cargorelated functions only then in the nearest future it might start performing passenger transportation as well. The perception of the Moscow River was changing; both Muscovites and tourists had new needs, he added. However, it would be wrong to focus on developing the riverside areas only and forget the rest of the city. Still, in Alexander Vyakhirev’s opinion, the winning project is so good because it continues the course to develop a polycentric city, to develop periphery that was taken a few years ago.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #moscowriver
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km of river quays out of 200 km possible in Moscow may be beautified; many are located in the city center and were formed back in the 1930–1950s
How to start landscaping the Moscow River: main priorities of the competitive bidding and key ideas of its concept feature in the “Moscow and Its River: Four Roads to the Future” piece on p. 40 * when the magazine was sent for the press, Oleg Didenko was appointed the director of State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow
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Transport Interchanges: a New Infrastructure Model and an Intervention in the City In order to turn Moscow into a mobile city, the Moscow Government is planning to build 273 new transport hubs. The total investment will amount to around 300 billion rubles, including 200–240 billion rubles to be contributed by private investors. However, creating a system of transport hubs is not just reform of the city’s transport system, but also new opportunities for development throughout the city. etro, trains, and surface transport — can they all be integrated into a single entity? Creating a system of transport interchange nodes should not only help the passengers, but also to create new local centers around the major hubs. Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction, told about primary objectives of transport interchanges. First, citizens will be able to reach their destinations
М
SESSION CURATED BY: MARСH Architectural School
PARTICIPANTS: Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction;
Alexander Sorokin, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow; Denis Vlasov, Head of the Design Studio for Transport and Roads Research and Design Association of the State Unitary Enterprise, Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow; Yuri Degtyaryov, First Deputy Head of Moscow Metro;
Fadi Jabri, General Manager of Nikken Sekkei Ltd. in the CIS, the Middle East and North Africa, Japan;
Diego Deponte, Partner and Technical Director of Systematica Srl, Italy;
Eldar Orujev, Deputy General Director
of “Mosinzhinvest” Company;
Alexey Zotov, First Deputy General Director at JSC MRR;
Gunter Em, Head of Road&City Mobility
Department at Siemens, Germany;
Mikhail Blinkin, Director of the Institute for Transport Economics and Transport Policy Studies of the Higher School of Economics; Andrei Grudin, CEO at Pioneer GK; Denis Kolokolnikov, Chairman of the Board of Directors Group of Companies RRG;
Martin Stockley, Engineering Chief at State
Development Company;
Nadezhda Nilina, urban planner, program leader MARCH (moderator).
faster. Second, transfers will be comfortable. Third objective is to contribute to the development of the city by building substantial amount of real property around the hubs. It is also expected that transport intercharges can become drivers of change for depressed areas and therefore get new revenue flowing to the city budget. Fadi Jabri, General Manager of Nikken Sekkei Ltd. in the CIS, the Middle East and North Africa, pointed out the transport interchange fundamentals: people should feel safe in the space where they can easily move and orientate. It is very important to have barrier-free links between stations and natural light. Moscow is a very busy city but it is flat; it would better develop aboveground vertical interchange. Surely, constructing such facilities comes neither quick nor easy but it is worth it. Diego Deponte, Partner and Technical Director of Systematica Srl, told about commercial drivers supporting the business model of transport interchanges and making it economically efficient. The key success factor is combining transport efficiency with an opportunity for providing new servicing and developing the territories adjacent to these hubs. The first thing requested from the Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of the City of Moscow (Genplan) and the Moscow Ring Railway is the data on passenger traffic intensity, said Denis Vlasov, Head of the Genplan’s Design Studio for Transport and Roads Research and Design Association. All the data is available — for rapid transit, for aboveground public transportation. It is important to assess how
comfortable people would feel at interchange hubs from such viewpoints as movement speed, flow density. It is necessary to strengthen the
POSITION
Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction
“
Of all the programs currently implemented by the city, the transport hub construction program is one of the most promising and attractive to investors, even despite the possible economic difficulties. Development of Moscow, the city’s growth demonstrate that transport interchanges will have guaranteed high passenger traffic, i. e. consumer footfall. From the city’s point of view, the priority task is to reduce the time it takes the residents to travel, to increase comfort of their movement, to develop territories around the hubs by creating convenience activity centers, to develop the now abandoned areas. At the same time, planning for transport hubs, we consider this program broadly, keeping needs of the Moscow metropolitan area as a whole in mind. Today we assume that about 390 different transport interchanges should be built in the Moscow Region and 273 in Moscow itself. This means large-scale work, and we carefully study international experience of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing — all the cities with the most busy and the most state-of-the-art hubs. Still, there are no general, ‘the only true’ solutions. We take decisions for every hub on a case by case basis: what they should be, what should be done by the city, which investors to attract, and how to take interests of different stakeholders into account, including local residents.”
pedestrian’s priority: transport interchanges are planned for people, not for vehicles. The second most important group is public transport. Gunter Em, Head of Road&City Mobility Department at Siemens, mentioned that it was necessary to work on presentation of all trafficrelated data. All information should flow to the same platform, which can be an app for smartphones; and, of course, you need information boards at the interchanges themselves. Eldar Orujev, Deputy General Director of “Mosinzhinvest” Company, complained that our construction regulations often prevented building most advance and interesting transport hub solutions. For example, you cannot erect a building over a bus site in Moscow. He wanted to believe that our transport interchanges will take global practice into account, as it is better to learn from others’ success, not their mistakes. Transport interchanges will enable building a new city structure, summed up Nadezhda Nilina, a program leader at MARCH. With rational planning, they can be a catalyst for developing both existing and new areas. One can hope that the transport hub will not only improve the transport situation, but also become a key element in the urban environment of the future, giving priority to pedestrians and welcoming public spaces.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #transport
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3,5 million people travel through Shinjuku station in Tokyo, one of the world’s largest transport hubs
m o s c o w u r b a n f o r u m
It is necessary to attract the private sector for building and managing the transport infrastructure and the transport interchanges but it is not easy to do. Michael Heise, Chief Economist at Allianz SE, shares his ideas on p. 24
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New Moscow: How to Create a Complete Urban Environment The expansion of Moscow by adding south-western sector of the Moscow Region to the city’s territory, as announced in 2012, has become one of the most high-profile events in urban development. The development of New Moscow provides an opportunity to create a fundamentally new urban environment, with productivity inherent to its very structure. What do we want New Moscow to be like? t is not the first time when the Forum discusses the strategy for developing the so-called New Moscow, new territories added to Moscow in 2012. In particular, at the previous Forum there was also talk that New Moscow had found a specific line of development all by itself and it would not be easy to revere it. Fedor Kudryavtsev tagged that trend a “multi-story suburbia”, as it blends some of the features of the American suburbia and the Soviet residential districts. This growth trend is driven by such market mechanisms as developers’ interests, demand in the housing market.
I
As Yulia Pankratieva, Head of Design Studio for Urban Development of the Moscow Region and New Areas of Moscow of State Unitary Enterprise “Scientific Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow”, told, the Institute was actively working on the document titled “Territorial Schemes of Troitsky and Novomoskovsky Administrative Areas.” Those schemes are based on the expected growth of New Moscow population to 1.5 million people by 2035. At the same time, it is planned to create 1 million jobs. As demonstrated in analysis of the situation, existing infrastructure and economy by the experts from the General Plan Institute, the best way would be establishing
business, administrative, educational, industrial, agro-industrial, recreational, historical, and cultural clusters. At the same time, in the first belt, the city has to focus on job creation with an emphasis not only on New Moscow, but also on the Moscow region, on the commuter suburbs in the city’s south-west. Still, no jobs would appear without developing the transport infrastructure, therefore, the territorial schemes lay down construction of 600 km of roads, development of public transport — transport hubs, metro, railway transport, dedicated lanes for highspeed rail transport, buses. Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka, Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher
School of Economics, disagrees with the idea of cluster-oriented development for New Moscow. As he mentioned, this idea dates back to the 1971 General Plan, which suggested that Moscow was overladen with functions that could be moved out to the region in order to clear the capital. However, this notion contradicts the current understanding of sustainable urban development that says the more features the better. Satellite towns built around a single function cannot compete with the central Moscow. The idea of housing and jobs balance is questionable as well; it is not clear how these calculations are implemented in market economy instead of planned economy. Therefore, it seems more appropriate to move away from the monofunctional model. Kommunarka is already proving success of the multifunctional development model. However, as Vladimir Zhidkin, Head of Department for Development of New Territories of Moscow, and Yulia Pankratieva noted, the process is under way already — 65,000 jobs has been created for the past 2.5 years, and it happens
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POSITION
Vladimir Zhidkin, Head of Department for Development of New Territories of Moscow
“
Multilevel junction in Moscow Ring Road, Troparyovo-Nikulino District
due to development of the transport infrastructure. In the meantime, the structure of jobs created remains unclear; it is likely that most of them are in the construction industry. Uma Adusumilli, Chief Planner of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, India, shared India’s successful experience of developing new territories. New Mumbai is an independent, autonomous center. The government managed to draw jobs from Mumbai here, in particular thanks to the decisions to transfer specific enterprises and create some new ones. Among other things, the list includes the most state-of-the-art port facilities in India. The idea of developing industry in the new territories found a supporter in Vladimir Zhidkin, Head of Department for Development of New Territories of Moscow, — “old” Moscow often lacks space for industrial parks, while New Moscow
When New Moscow was added to the city in July 2012, it covered 145,000 hectares, 235,000 people lived there in total, and 84,000 jobs had been created by the time of transfer. By 2035, according to our plan, the number of residents will increase to 1.5 million with 1 million jobs. It is more than current labor force in New Moscow but we would like to attract some people from the older Moscow and the neighboring territories of the Moscow Region. What can appeal to them? What can make New Moscow a comfortable space for living? Highquality urban environment, city block construction, landscaped yards, convenient transportation, diverse architecture, jobs and social infrastructure within walking distance. Environmental framework covers almost 50 percent of New Moscow, and it must be preserved. We are considering several options for developing real estate in New Moscow — a high-rise concept, multi-story in combination with medium-rise, and low-rise construction with both individual houses and townhouses. According to our estimates, the low-rise format can be used for building a quarter to a third of all neighborhoods. Integration with the Moscow Region is crucial due to the crossing roads. The existing New Moscow road network has about 600 km of roads. It is planned to build just as much by 2035, while the existing roads will be reconstructed. All transport networks will be integrated into a single system of New Moscow transportation. In this case, the fundamental principle for of all growth areas is their self-sufficiency as centers of urban development — they have everything, from housing to cultural facilities, to social services, to transport, as well as the widest possible range of jobs — and each growth area focuses on a particular economy sector in this regard.”
has such resources. There is also space for creating humane, residentoriented living environment, said Alexander Timokhov, Deputy Chairman of Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow. He meant historic buildings and natural environment — fields, forests. Environment commensurate to humans, care in preserving the existing surroundings, search for an approach to harmonious unity of city and nature — those are the principles that Moscomarchitecture (Moscow’s architectural and urban planning committee) follows today in respect of New Moscow development. Irina Irbitskaya, Director at the Presidential Center of Urban
Competence, RANEPA, sees the development process from a different angle. The Vatutinki Community Center — one of her projects — treats development as an institution that can jumpstart transformation of the entire city. The Community Center should expand its activities to the entire city and analyze the urban environment, initiate introduction of squares and parks, create objects that would animate the urban environment (for example, in the carpentry workshop at the Community Center). Such an approach creates an absolutely new way of sharing social capital, competencies, knowledge, and ideas between cultural institutions and cities. This exchange can result in significant environmental changes in all New Moscow localities and throughout the region. After all, development plans of Moscow, New Moscow, and the Moscow Region are being coordinated, as you cannot imagine the future of this area without such work.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#newmoscow
SESSION CURATED BY: Russian Urban Planning Association,
RUPA
PARTICIPANTS: Vladimir Zhidkin, Head of Department for Development of New Territories of Moscow; Alexander Timokhov, Deputy Chairman of Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow; Evgeniya Murinets, Head of Architecture Council of the Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow; Yulia Pankratieva, Head of Design Studio for
Urban Development of the Moscow Region and New Areas of Moscow of State Unitary Enterprise “Scientific Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow”;
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thousands Jobs created in New Moscow in the past 2.5 years. By 2035, the area should have up to 1 million jobs
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New Moscow development demands close cooperation from all levels of government. This interaction is studied in the “World Cities and Nation States: Promoting a New Deal for the 21st Century” report prepared for the Forum, on p. 30
Uma Adusumilli, Chief Planner of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, India; Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka, Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Irina Irbitskaya, Director at the Center of Urban Competence, RANEPA;
Giovanni Caudo, Chief Planner of Rome, Italy; François Decoster, Partner at L’AUC, France; Fedor Kudryavtsev, General Director
of ArkhNOVA architectural bureau, Head of Laboratory of Urban Planning Research of MARHI.
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Economy and Culture: Assessing Efficiency of Urban Cultural Programs To date, research into urban culture has been based on the study of the prevailing behavior of Muscovites. How can the understanding of culture be rethought and potential demand for cultural benefits highlighted? Is it possible to get away from a predominantly consumerist interpretation of culture in a contemporary megacity? hat is culture? You can understand it as a branch of city economy, as a space of rules and consistent practices of the population, as a network of institutes and mechanisms responsible for creating and communicating values. First of all, culture is the city atmosphere, said Sergei Kapkov, Moscow Government Minister, Head of Department of Culture of Moscow. Cultural policy today largely equals social policy: culture serves the issue of revitalizing the urban environment, social integration, overcoming national conflicts, developing human capital and so on. One of the key goals of the Department of Culture is decentralization, creating more active presence
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SESSION CURATED BY: Institute of National Projects, Moscow Institute for Social and Cultural Programs
PARTICIPANTS: Sergei Kapkov, Moscow Government Minister, Head of Department of Culture of Moscow; Alexander Auzan, Dean of the Faculty
of Economics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University;
Irina Prokhorova, Director of the New Literary Review publishing house;
Vitaly Kurennoy, Head of the Department
of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, a member of the Academic Council, Higher School of Economics;
Martijn Burger, Academic Director of the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization, expert in the sphere of urban economy, the Netherlands; Richard Hsu, Founder of the H+ agency, Lecturer at Tongji University, China; Soh Yeong Roh, Director, Arts Centre Nabi,
South Korea;
Alexander Ruchyev, president of GC
“Morton”, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation;
Alexander Arkhangelsky, member of the Scientific Council of the Higher School of Economics (moderator).
of community centers, libraries, parks, and festivals in the suburbs. Pleasant public places should be within walking distance, while cultural institutions should learn to earn by providing value added services to people. Alexander Auzan, Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, is convinced that culture in the broadest sense means factors that may either inhibit or develop the economy. For example, for Russian culture, the Levsha phenomenon is always relevant — we can create unique spaceships or hydro turbines but we are not able to mass produce high-quality cars and refrigerators. This is a cultural feature, and it is important to remember about it, as culture shapes specialization, the country’s role in the global division of labor. The objective of the cultural policy may be maintaining those qualities in people that contribute to the country in its progress, achieving development goals. It is quite real. Richard Hsu, Founder of the H+ agency, believes that trust, interaction are essential qualities. They have become a distinctive feature of our time and its most interesting cultural projects, such as TED conferences, where people share world-changing ideas. Mikhail Prokhorov’s Foundation, which had been supporting cultural initiatives in the Russian regions for a decade, also strived to share ideas, told Irina Prokhorova. The Foundation aims to create new cultural capitals in Russia. In the public mind, there are two cultural seats in Russia — Moscow and St. Petersburg; beyond them it is all terra incognita. Many
challenges — both social and political — arise from the failure to chart vast areas of the country on a cultural, mental map. Prokhorov’s Foundation supports culture in the Krasnoyarsk Krai with
POSITION
Sergei Kapkov, Moscow Government Minister, Head of the Department of Culture of Moscow
“
I am deeply convinced that culture as a sector is the city’s budget forming enterprise. In my opinion, it is not right to say that Moscow makes nothing. It makes, perhaps, the most important things – meanings: political, economic, cultural, social and many others. And, though Moscow is the cultural center of Russia and an example for other cities, I am sure that culture in the capital has a huge potential for development”.
more than 4,000 applications for projects approved and over 2 billion rubles spent. It turned out that the local community is incredibly creative; they learn quickly and start talking about the local identity, the regional specifics. And this is the foundation that can be used to promote culture; it is the residents of the region who should form the cultural mythology. People are happier in cities with varied cultural options. Such are the results of surveys shared by Martijn Burger, Academic Director of the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization. It has been proved that intangible consumption contributes more to people’s
happiness than material consumption. People need new impressions, ideas, and experience. Another function of the culture is to create places where people can meet and build a relationship of trust. Soh Yeong Roh, Director of Contemporary Art Center Nabi in Seoul, said that the relationship between the market and the culture had changed over the past century. In the 20th century, economy guided cultural development. Now it can be vice versa, with culture giving new ideas to the economy. In this situation, you should probably talk less about numbers and money and listen to your heart more, think about who we are and where we are going more often. As Vitaly Kurennoy, Head of the Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Philosophy at the Higher School of Economics, summed up the ideas of the previous speakers, the culture is both the economic driver and the primary factor in developing social capital indeed. That is why it is so important to treat culture as a valuable finite resource that must be protected. It is necessary to provide special support to creativity and creative efforts, as well as unearth an immense layer of the Russian culture that few people know about.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #financeandculture
2
billion rubles, the amount Mikhail Prokhorov’s Fund granted to various cultural projects in the regions during its existence.
How to make culture a driver of economic and social development — see interview with Alexander Auzan, Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Richard Hsu, Founder of the H+ agency, Lecturer at Tongji University, on p. 76
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plenary session
Choosing Development Targets and Frameworks for a Contemporary Megacity Different cities do not just develop differently, but also set different goals and formulate different strategies for themselves. The quality of goal setting and communication of these goals to the key audiences are particularly relevant for development in the contemporary world, with its increasing diversity and intensification of financial, human, cultural, and information flows. city, especially a A prominent one like Moscow, needs a development strategy. Moderator of the session Andrey Sharonov, Rector of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, asked the discussion participants to answer a question, which development drivers they found most important for Moscow. Alexei Muratov, Partner at KB Strelka, Head of “Territorial Development”, answered that, though Moscow was developing quite rapidly, it did not have an approved long-term strategy for spatial development. It is possible that this developmental model, based on more private and shorter-term mechanisms, is not bad either. However, a comprehensive strategy may be an efficient tool for both optimizing the existing SESSION CURATED BY: Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design
PARTICIPANTS: Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of
Moscow for Urban Development and Construction;
Alexander Vysokovsky, Dean of the
Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Alexei Muratov, Partner at KB Strelka, Head of “Territorial Development”; Alexei Novikov, founder and President of Habidatum International; Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka,
Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Pablo Allard, principal at URBANICA
consultants, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at the Universidad de Desarollo, Chile;
Eva Castro, Director of the Landscape
Urbanism program of the Architectural Association, Director of the Plasma Studio and Groundlab architecture studios;
Andrey Sharonov, Rector of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (moderator).
resources and attracting the new ones. Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka, Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics, talked about importance of developing roads, public transportation, infrastructure. He also added that the architecture quality was an exceedingly significant driver for the city development. Many great competitions were held in the four years that Mayor Sergei Sobyanin governs Moscow, however, there is still no great implementations. Alexander Vysokovsky, Dean of the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics, named human capital the main driver for city development. Moscow has immense human potential. However, there are problems as well — it has a low level of mutual trust, trust to institutions and so on. In this regard, the city administration’s work on more transparency in interacting with the citizens is very useful. There is also a problem of selfidentification — today’s Muscovites are disoriented, as patterns offered in urban environment do not entail a whole range of selfidentification options. Alexei Novikov, founder and President of Habidatum, told about getting the residents involved into city governance through online services. Thanks to their help, the city became much more livable, and it turned out to be a fantastic growth driver. Even rough estimates show online services save millions of rubles. Eva Castro, Director of the Landscape Urbanism program of the Architectural Association, said that
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Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development and Construction
“
Summing up the Forum’s result, I should say that our primary driver is the Muscovites themselves. The city has professional teams of urbanists, architects, managers, there are businessmen and citizens interested in changes. That means that all projects were are discussing today will be realized despite all difficulties we face. Not so long ago, we started using the “Active Citizen” online service for discussing urban development projects. Yet now more than 100,000 participants sent their electronic suggestions for discussions of the future of the Mnevniki floodplain. The residents are involved, they are interested. Moreover, crisis is the time when many start working much more efficiently and become more active. In crisis, the strong become stronger. And Moscow is a very strong city. It is no coincidence that the Forum gathers experts from dozens of countries. They are drawn by the energy of people who live and work in Moscow. And the Forum itself will give a huge boost and will be a powerful driver to develop, to change our thinking, our attitude towards what we do.”
being optimistic was fine but if you were not critical enough then how would you make valuable change? Moscow needs a strategy to discuss but the city does not have it. Quite often, people do not pay attention to the architecture and think of capital investment only; in the end, the environment turns out contradictory and heterogeneous. In Moscow,
there are many green areas, which are beautiful but used inefficiently. “Moscow is a magnificent city”, said Pablo Allard, principal at URBANICA consultants, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at the Universidad de Desarollo. Yet, there are problems. The first one is transport, the other one is social life. It is possible to revamp the transport infrastructure by strengthening the public space — train stations, interchanges, stops may be more comfortable, more habitable. It is important to avoid scaling up and, instead, to move down to the level of small districts and get citizens involved in projects at the drafting, designing, testing stages already. To make public spaces more active, you can use fairs and festivals. Moscow’s advantage at the moment is in the world’s fastest decision-making and implementation, said Marat Khusnullin. For the past two years, the city has made urban development decisions for a total of 130 million sq. meters. Hundreds of kilometer of roads, metro, real property are built, investment processes are initiated, and taxation volumes increase. The rate of all these changes is another serious driver.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/ forum2014/programm/ #plenselectbottom
130 million square meters is the total of projects, for which urban development decisions were made in Moscow in the past two years
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Citizens and city communities should be more involved in the metropolis development. This was the theme of the Festival held on the final day of the Forum. You can read about the Festival’s agenda — lectures, round tables and exhibitions — on p. 124 # 4 – 2 0 1 5
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conference
Human Potential as a Driver of Development of Russian Cities The 2014 Moscow Urban Forum hosted a conference on development of Russian cities that gathered experts and city mayors from all over the country. All together, they tried to answer a question, what drivers of development megacities can find outside of the capital. n advance to the Moscow Urban Forum, five Russian million-plus cities hosted a series of conferences “Cities and Territories Tomorrow: Tools for Positive Change”. Additionally, the forum ordered a research from the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics “The Battle for the Citizen: Human Development and the Urban Environment” that studied strategies of human capital development in cities of different scale. How can we unlock the potential of Russia’s
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PARTICIPANTS: Alexander Plutnik, State Secretary, Deputy Minister for Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation;
regional centers? Which indicators of the developed urban environment should city administrations pay attention to? Experts tried to answer these questions and more in five sessions at the conference of the Russian cities. I N T E R A C T I O N B E T W E E N M UN I C I PA L A N D R E G I O N A L A D M I N I S T R AT I O N The governance system that has formed in Russia views cities as constituent elements of regions instead of independent governance subjects. It is the regions that receive budget funding distributed within the country. Nevertheless, there are successful models with all three administration levels interacting
Mikhail Kouzovlev, President — Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Moscow, Chairman of the Public Chamber of Moscow;
Grigory Revzin, Partner at KB Strelka,
Alexander Vasilyev, Minister of Economic Development of the Republic of Bashkortostan;
Alexei Muratov, Partner at KB Strelka, Head of «Territorial Development»;
Anatoly Lokot’, Mayor of Novosibirsk; Alexander Moore, Head of the
Administration of Tyumen;
Stanislav Mosharov, Head of the City
Professor at the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Vladimir Klimanov, Head of Department of State Regulation of Economy at the Faculty of Public Administration of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA);
Aisen Nikolaev, Head of the «City of
Tatiana Bochkareva, Chairman of the Board at non-profit organization for urban and regional development at “URBEKS-development”;
Evgeniy Parshuto, First Deputy Mayor
Consulting;
of Chelyabinsk;
Yakutsk» Urban District;
of the City of Tomsk;
Eugene Roizman, Head of the City of Yekaterinburg;
Irek Yalalov, Head of the City of Ufa;
Andrey Golovin, Expert at Polis Catherine Dyba, research fellow at
Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics, Head of Research “Human Potential and Urban Infrastructure”;
Andrey Sharonov, Rector of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO;
Ivan Kuryachii, Managing Partner at New Earth, Curator of the “Struggle for Citizens: Human Potential and Urban Environment” study;
Alexander Vysokovsky, Professor,
Sabina Maslova, Leading Specialist at
Dean of the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics;
Natalia Zubarevich, Regional Program Director at the Independent Institute of Social Policy; Nadezhda Kosareva, President of the Institute for Urban Economics Foundation; Andrei Klimenko, Professor, Head of the Institute of State and Municipal Management of the Higher School of Economics; Nikita Mkrtchyan, Leading Research Fellow of Institute of Demography of Higher School of Economics; Alexander Pusanov, CEO at the “Institute of Urban Economics”;
Novaya Zemlya;
Yuri Milevsky, Managing Partner at Novaya Zemlya, expert of the “Struggle for Citizens: Human Potential and the Urban Environment” study; Vitaly Stadnikov, Head of the Local Planners bureau;
Alex Ely, Partner at MAE Architects, author of
“The Mayor of London’s Housing Design Guide”, UK.
in the field of urban development. Ufa, actively developing in the past years, is among those examples. The city is drafting its development strategy, implementing a huge number of initiatives within the new investment strategy, and that process has all three levels of government — municipal, regional, and federal — involved. Ufa’s mayor Irek Yalalov attributes it to the well-organized teamwork and commitment to the common goal, that is dynamic development of the city. As part of the local selfgovernment reform, the system of municipal administration has been optimized. After the reform, the number of officials in the Ufa City Council became the smallest among all the million-plus cities. The number of municipal employees in Ufa is 1.2 per 1,000 people, which is the best bureaucracy optimization level among other Russian megacities. The coordinated work of Ufa’s municipal administration encouraged dynamic development of the city’s construction sector — at the moment Ufa holds the third place in Russia by the number of construction sites per 100,000 inhabitants. Besides, Ufa comes second in the Forbes Best Places for Business rating for two years in a row. This is confirmed by high level of private investment into the city’s economy.
D E V E L O P M E N T O F U RB AN E N V I R O N M E N T : P R O G R ESSING FROM Q U A N T I T Y T O Q U A L I T Y Representatives of the Russian regions avidly discussed working with quantitative and qualitative indicators of the urban environment.
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municipal employees per 1,000 people work in Ufa, the best bureaucracy optimization level in Russia
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“The Battle for the Citizen: Human Development and the Urban Environment” study by the experts from the Graduate School of Urban Studies of the Higher School of Economics includes analysis of more than 60 Russian cities by five indicators (selected after analyzing a large data array). Study reviewed on p. 36
Above: Tyumen. View of the Memory Square Memorial, Cardio Center, and Melnikaite Street. To the right: Tomsk, Old Town. To the left: Yekaterinburg, the circus building and the Iset River
While urban development policy is largely based on such factors as volume of commissioned housing, social infrastructure, and other facilities, there is demand for quality urban environment from active groups of citizens. High-quality urban environment is one of the most important elements of building human capital, and the methods of its measurement and generation are essential for Russia’s regional centers, which face an acute problem of “brain drain” and the need to develop their “new economy”. In this context, Tyumen can offer some interesting experience, as in 2001 it presented a development strategy aiming to preserve
m o s c o w
economic specialization of the city. Development of human capital in the city is also added by its higher education system — Tyumen has the largest oil and gas university, medical and construction universities, as well as an agricultural academy.
The city administration has made many efforts for the development of healthcare and education so that the comfort levels of the urban environment would live
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Above: Chelyabinsk, new districts. Below: Ufa, First Jameh Mosque. To the right: Yakutsk
up to the expectations of young people who come to Tyumen. Yakutsk is another leading city in the human capital index. Despite the extreme living conditions, Yakutsk is the fastest growing city in the Far East now. Maximum annual temperature amplitude in the city is 106 degrees Celsius; that is why the city administration pays so much attention to the quality of life and the urban environment. A telling decision of the Yakutsk administration is its approach to building kindergartens in neighborhoods. When a new neighborhood is constructed, they buy out the first floors in the buildings and build kindergarten premises in the center of the neighborhood. Children play, eat and sleep on the first floors of new buildings, while the laundry room and the kitchen of the kindergarten are on the premises in the neighborhood center. About 600 to 700 children can go to such a kindergarten. New economy is also on the rise in Yakutsk; the city plans to establish production of basalt fiber materials. Such production will be organized within the project for creating a territory of priority
social and economic development in the Far East. The second industrial cluster will deal with diamonds. In addition, the city is actively developing IT and film industry. All the key performance indicators for the “new economy” are spelled out in the Yakutsk development strategy till 2032. As part of this strategy, the head of the city administration meets with representatives of the Yakutsk technology park to align their action plans twice a year. E C O N O M I E S O F S C A L E . U N I Q U E D E V E L O P M E N TA L M O D E L S F O R C I T I E S O F D I F F E R E N T S C A L E The capitals of the Russian regions vary significantly in their scale, i. e. the maturity of their agglomerations, infrastructure, population, and the size of their economy. Designing developmental models for the cities of different scale continues to be one of the hottest topics among experts together with the city scale influence on the quality of human potential, economic development, and urban environment. Economies of scale have a real impact on the development of Russian cities, especially in shaping their development strategies. According to Alexander Pusanov, CEO at the “Institute of Urban Economics”, now it is important to design new tools for strategic and master planning that would be resistant to external
factors and adaptable to rapidly changing economic, political and social conditions. It is also important to merge the processes of drafting social and economic development strategies with the city’s spatial development strategy, as quite often they are designed independently of each other due to corporate organization of planning processes. According to Nikita Mkrtchyan, Leading Research Fellow of Institute of Demography of Higher School of Economics, regional capitals successfully compete for students
but not all of them manage to keep young professionals in their respective regions. While competition among different educational institutions depends on the quality of curricula and the proposed conditions for studying, the competition for young professionals and citizens implies a rivalry among cities with different quality of urban environment. The expert believes the main challenge to be growing the suburbs. Urban
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renewal on the periphery and creating favorable conditions there for development of human capital is a tough challenge that city administrations will have to face in the near future. Underinvested housing sector — the deficit comes up to 36 percent of GDP by the IUE estimate — becomes a key challenge for the Russian cities; another one is obsolescence of urban districts in the Siberian and
Far Eastern cities. Addressing the replacement of obsolete housing, districts, and planning types will require significant effort from the municipal administrations, since you need to draft your programs with a planning horizon of 50 to 70 years to solve such problems. Discussion of the main challenges in developing domestic territories and communities, upgrading urban environment and promising initiatives identified several essential issues and problems, which, when solved, can
significantly transform the quality of life in the Russian cities. Due to the fact that the Russian cities were underinvested in the 1990s and 2000s, now they have to face problems of public transport development, adapting the urban environment to high rates of car ownership and creating differentiated supply of affordable and rental housing. At the same time, small, medium-sized and large Russian cities face challenges of competition between regions for all kinds of resources, including investments, human capital, and technology, which raise a high plank for the level of municipal management and the quality of urban environment. The period of economic slowdown may be a crucial moment to review and critically revise the existing solutions for urban development, to find new ways for transforming the Russian cities.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#vs
Alexander Vysokovsky, Shortly after the Forum, on December 22, Alexander Vysokovsky died. He graduated from Rostov Institute of Civil Engineering in 1971. Alexander Vysokovsky published seven books and more than 60 research papers, initiated dozens of projects, including urban development plans for major Russian cities. In 2011, he founded the Graduate School of Urban Studies at the Higher School of Economics. Alexander Vysokovsky was among the pioneers of Russian urban studies, and his death is a tragic loss. At the Forum, Alexander Vysokovsky commented on the study for Urban Agenda.
“
What is really the key to making a city successful and appealing? This question can be answered in many ways. In our study, the city appeal was determined by several factors and conditions. Firstly, it is the original potential of the city, secondly, the fact whether people themselves were able to catch on, and, thirdly, administrative programs that, in one way or another, stimulate processes important for the city development. At the same time, currently, there are few urban civic movements, and they cannot yet become a significant factor in the city development. In our study, we had rather low indicators of social capital, trust to each other, desire to participate in actions and activities of community organizations, willingness to contribute to any city initiatives. Active people are few and far between. However, our study
took only three months to complete, and it is clearly not a sufficient period to obtain answers to many questions, which require another level of communication with urban communities. The key advantage of our study is that it transforms assumptions and established opinions into reasoned knowledge; it has evidentiary theses, demonstrated statistical relationships, or regression methods, or functioning qualitative variables. Many people, architects especially, took the results of our study for granted. For example, if a city wants to appeal to people it should have a good airport built. Is it proved truth, or is it our assumption? Any such statement is only a hypothesis that needs to be proved. In this case, our work was a kind of model to show that all claims must be and can be reasoned in one way or another. This study attempts to obtain some knowledge about processes that take place in cities. The question is in the value of such knowledge. You
can use proven knowledge to act and make administrative decisions. While decisions based on hypotheses and suggestions, even if they appear obvious ideas, may result in something unexpected. We cannot afford to assume on a city level. Therefore, all the connections between different phenomena that we found, such as a high level of human potential, attractive urban environment, types and forms of leisure activities, certain infrastructure shifts and so on — all of them we can recommend as management tools for specific cities. And a separate task is to create an enabling environment for people, an environment that provides an opportunity to fulfil their intentions. This economic diversification, varied job creation, commitment to supporting companies that have some interesting projects in innovations, in the community sphere, a variety of creative projects. All of this as a whole creates urban potential.”
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percent GDP is deficit of investments in Russia’s residential sector, according to the Institute for Urban Economics
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Cities need input from social entrepreneurs and informal communities to develop, and for Russian cities, this contribution may become a key instrument, believe urbanists Svyat Murunov and David Barry, on p. 73
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CONFERENCE
GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENS: TECHNOLOGIES OF COLLABORATION At a special conference within the Moscow Urban Forum, representatives of the Moscow Government, city activists, international and Russian experts discussed the best global practices in providing government services, potential of Big Data, crowdsourcing, and online referendums. CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS: Alexey Kozyrev, Deputy Minister of
Communications and Media of the Russian Federation;
Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor, Chief of Staff
Marina Yanina, Vice President of Corporate Relations at Yandex;
Dr. Theresa Pardo, Director of the Centre for
Technology in Government, University of Albany, USA;
to the Mayor and Moscow Government;
Nick Wright, Founder of Crowdicity, UK;
Gunso Kim, CIO, Seoul Metropolitan Government, General Secretary of WeGO, Korea;
Esther Soon, Deputy Director with the Social Service Office Division, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore;
Alexander Moore, Head of the Administration
of Tyumen;
Mikhail Maximov, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor and Moscow Government;
Evgeny Kozlov, Head of Department at Mayor’s and Moscow Government’s Office, curator of “Open Government” project, Russia;
Natalia Klimova, Head of the Moscow Center
“Open Government”;
Elena Gromova, Director of the State Budget Institution MFC in Moscow;
Masayuki Hatta, Assistant Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management of Surugadai University in Saitama, Co-founder of Open Knowledge Foundation Japan, Japan;
Jeff Howe, Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University in Boston, originator of the term “Crowdsourcing”, USA;
Augusto Herrmann, Member of the Open Data team in the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management, Brazil.
Dr. Tanja Aitamurto, Deputy Director at the
Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Stanford, USA/ Finland;
Markus Appenzeller, Director and Partner, MLA+, Netherlands;
Roger Dooley, Founder of Dooley Direct, USA; Francisco Carmona, Deputy Director for Citizen Services, City Council of Madrid, Spain; Dr. Axel G. Koetz, Managing Partner, Koetz Partner International (KPI) Management and Policy Consultants, Germany;
Katarina Klingova, Senior Project Manager at Transparency International Slovensko, Slovakia; Pia Mancini, Founder of DemocracyOS, Argentina; Chris Moore, Founding Member of the World
e-Governments Organization of Cities and Local Governments, former Chief Information Officer of the City of Edmonton, Canada;
Alexey Novikov, founder and President of Habidatum International, Russia;
FROM CHAOS TO OR DER: OPEN DATA FO R ALL Information about the city is in great demand from the public, experts, and business community. To meet this demand, municipal administrations need tools for gathering, processing, and updating data. The Moscow Government started working with Big Data systemically in 2012. First, they analyzed the ways data were collected and processed. As Evgeny Kozlov, Head of Department at Mayor’s and Moscow Government’s Office, curator of “Open Government” project, noted, at that moment
there was neither a system for data building and maintaining nor a demand for opening such data. By 2014, the open data portal of the Moscow Government, data.mos.ru, opened almost all information on the urban sites — not only data on social infrastructure, but also important statistical and economic information. Russia and Moscow gradually form a market for urban mobile apps, which actively use and visualize the data, thus making them accessible and understandable to citizens. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to build an ecosystem, in which the Moscow Government will be able to interact with businesses, citizens and other stakeholders. Sören Auer, leader of EU project LOD2, drew attention to the importance of data connectivity. This format enables combining data from various sources, compile and disseminate them on a scale that is more global than a specific city. Such information will be an important resource for other emerging cities that will be able to benefit from the experience and explore the relationship between different data types. It is vital to have all the online data published in CSV format, a standard machinereadable format for data processing. When discussing processes and mechanisms of Big Data discovery, Chris Moore, Founding Member of the World e-Governments Organization
of Cities and Local Governments (WeGo), outlined five key elements: strategic data disclosure plan, political context, legislative context, laws, and regulations. Getting the civic society involved in working with Big Data allows us to understand what information citizens need the most. E L E C T R O N I C G O V E R N M E N T S E RV I C E S : NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR CITIZEN A N D B U S I N E S S Modern technology opens huge opportunities to develop government systems for providing electronic services to citizens. In addition to forming new service standards, electronic services play an important part in fighting corruption; providing services becomes accountable, expedited, enables focusing on the citizens’ needs. Russia has services at the federal, regional, and municipal level making the government services system rather complicated. According to Alexey Kozyrev, Deputy Minister of Communications and Media of the Russian Federation, there are about 600 services at the federal level only and 400 types of regional services as well. Customers of government services also vary — from advanced users to those who is not included into use of electronic services at all. Now citizens turn to different sites, and the authorization, navigation, service design and affordability rules are not the same everywhere. On the global scale, Seoul is a true model of electronic government services. The city administration here has been working hard on developing a multilevel system of services. Through a combined system of government services from all administrative agencies in Korea, the government services portal, Minwon24 (www.minwon.go.kr), allows citizen to apply for over 3,000 government services and print out official documents (more than 1,200 kinds of documents, including 90 that may be printed from home or office at once) or certificates at any time via the Internet without going to any government offices. Moscow’s experience proves that quite a large
number of residents use electronic services: by the end of 2014, the Moscow Portal for Government and Municipal Services (Functions), pgu. mos.ru, had 3.6 million personal accounts of individuals registered and offered 114 services and 20 integrated services in electronic form. This suggests that someone from almost every Moscow household enters the government services portal. As of late, you can access some of the services in Moscow in electronic form only, for example, enrolling in kindergarten, school, or clubs and hobby groups. When prioritizing possibility and need for transferring services into electronic form, first of all, the government assesses service relevance and importance for applicants, as well as possibility to fully deploy it in electronic form, i. e. without any visits to the relevant agency, and move on from the paper-based technology. As the analysis demonstrated, 80 percent of all incoming queries related to 143 of 285 services offered by the city. Transferring those services into electronic form was used as a target. Service quality is estimated by analyzing support and monitoring queries. C L I E N T O R V I S I T O R ? G L OBAL PRACTICES A N D N E W A P P R O A C H E S TO TH E P R O V I S I O N O F G O V E R N MENT SERVICES In the age of ever-increasing mobility and technological expansion of the contemporary society, the
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million personal accounts for individuals were registered by the end of 2014 at PGU.MOS.RU portal, which provides government services in electronic form
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small area of Singapore, just 718 sq. km, this strategy allows to cover almost the entire country, or 95% of the population. Raising awareness also means a lot for promoting new formats of services. Each center has special assistants who accompany each customer and a play area for children.
government services face many challenges, including the need to adapt the existing resident servicing infrastructure to new demands and behavior patterns. Moscow has an example of such an adjustment in the existing chain of multifunctional centers (MFCs) for providing government services. They enable operation of 4,000 receptionists seven days a week from 8 a. m. till 8 p. m. Now, MFCs offers more than 150 services, which means more than 200 types of documents. 23 agencies collaborate with these centers, making it possible to call them a single point of access to services at various levels. Germany has a similar system, with multifunctional centers integrating all the service in a single point of access. In addition to their designated purpose, such centers are used for municipal needs or for holding elections. To make administrative processes simpler
and provide faster service, Germany introduced electronic signatures encrypted on ID cards. Brazil, that used to be infamous for the low quality of its government services, has another interesting story to tell. All the procedures used to be red-taped to the extreme and took a very long time. To solve the problem of government services, Brazil started the ‘Save Time’ program, which made it possible to improve the level of public satisfaction with the services up to 99 percent. Before, it took 10 to 60 days to get an ID card but now the waiting time went down to five days. Stationary and mobile customer service centers allow to help as many urban residents as possible. Moreover, you can use services in electronic form. Singapore focuses on the customer’s needs, so its service centers gravitate towards places with maximum traffic — within a kilometer from major transport hubs. Given the
C R O W D S O U R C I N G A S A N E W T O O L F O R I NT E R A C T I O N Crowdsourcing has already become a vital tool for collecting ideas on how to develop a city. Jeff Howe, who coined the term “crowdsourcing,” sees its major potential in bringing together energy and ideas of so many people around interesting projects and issues, including those pertinent to urban development. Recently, municipal administrations and major companies started using this tool, as crowdsourcing compels attention from the audience, builds a culture of ownership. From tentative ideas on the city development to decisions that affect the daily life of the city, crowdsourcing enables collecting the most relevant opinions. In Finland, crowdsourcing was used to reform the off-road traffic. Citizens could submit their ideas for reform through a specially designed online platform, in different categories: safety, environment protection, questions regarding the proposed legislation. All that helped to make the process as transparent as possible. Working with proposals allowed members
Development of today’s urban ITinfrastructure is no less important than building roads or laying utility lines. This was discussed during the “Improving Infrastructure, Enhancing the Megacity” session, see p. 88
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of the Finnish parliament to engage in an open dialog with citizens, and the bill is still at the drafting stage at the moment. The crowdsourcing platform of the Moscow Government, crowd. mos.ru, was launched in 2014 and enabled implementing four projects attended by 31,000 Muscovites. The first one dealt with promoting the Moscow Government’s portal “Our City”, gorod.mos.ru. Getting citizens involved in the process of improving the portal helped to attract about 9,500 members and 9,000 new ideas to the website. Then the proposals were analyzed by experts, and about 200 of them were selected for further work. During the first nine months, about 90 percent of ideas were implemented. Such projects are very popular among the city residents, as they provide an opportunity for direct participation in decision-making. The pilot project was followed by the “Our Routes” project to improve performance of the surface public transport; “My Office of Government Services” designed to improve MFCs operation; and “Moscow Standard for Children’s Leisure”. One of the biggest decisions born from this collection of ideas were six new bus routes, approval of the “Moscow Standard for Government Services”, and drafting the “Moscow Standard for Summer Leisure Activities”. ONLINE TECHNOLOGY FOR ACCOUN TABILITY TO TH E PUBL I C : DECLARATION OR EF FECTIVE T O O L Public oversight over the government actions is necessary. The question is whether modern information technology can help with that. As Dr. Theresa Pardo, Director of the center for Technology in Government, University of Albany, told in her speech, New Yorkers and New York NGOs may control work done by various agencies by assessing changes in multiple indicators, such as air quality, city budget, through open databases. The government should ensure that citizens have full access to this information. Another key task for the authorities is to provide feedback channels for citizens. Moscow has been building a public oversight system using Internet portals from 2011. At the moment, the system is implemented as a single centralized portal “Our City”, gorod.mos.ru. To make this oversight efficient, it is necessary to implement the seven basic principles, said Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor, Chief of Staff to the Mayor and
Moscow Government. The first one is publicity — public should be both the question and the answer. Second, it is important to get feedback from a specific applicant. Third, tools should be focused on the result not the process: all complaints should be related to the authority responsible for solving the problem. Fourth, the single point of access principle, possibility to submit all complaints through one portal. Fifth, citizens should be aware of the standards of work of city departments and services so that they can compare the actual situation with the standard. The sixth principle is inevitability of punishment. The seventh one is transparency of all business processes, improving them based on the results from the portal. Complying with all of these principles, Moscow managed to attract 420,000 regular users to the portal, and it is an important step towards improving government transparency, though it is certainly not the last one. ONLINE REFERENDUMS: O P P O R T U N I T I E S , L I M I TAT I O N S , A N D R IS K S Online referendums are a relatively new tool combining elements from opinion polls and electronic interaction with the target audience. Online referendums in Moscow are held with the “Active Citizen” project. The project exists as a smartphone app for half a year; it has 800,000 active participants from among the city residents (over 10 percent of active voters); there were 340 votes for six months, with 85 of them devoted to citywide issues. Moreover, this form of interaction provides an insight not only into opinions of the majority, but also into the interests of specific groups (segmented by age, interests, etc.). The “Active Citizen” project is also available in other formats — a website and interactive kiosks at MFCs locations. Seoul uses such projects as well — it has a mobile portal to collect citizens’ ideas. Additionally, in December 2013, Seoul Mayor’s office launched a mobile voting app MVoting. It is an electronic voting system that collects opinions of the city residents through mobile devices and enables the citizens themselves to share their views on various city strategies. Getting relevant information about the city to the citizens and providing them with an opportunity to participate in decisionmaking allows the city administration to implement the most urgent changes in the city.
POSITION
Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor, Chief of Staff to the Mayor and Moscow Government
“
We live in Moscow, Russia’s most developed and advanced city, and the residents have objective need to participate in city governance on ongoing basis and not occasionally. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin set a task for us to create direct communication tools, as no major breakthrough in governance levels is possible without direct involvement in managing the city. Classic schemes for direct participation of population in city management, i. e. elections, are hardly usable as an everyday tool. Elections give an average estimate of a candidate and their agenda. It is virtually impossible to evaluate every management decision that person will implement. Another classic form — and this one works, more or less — is a public hearing. However, as a rule, only the most interested or the most affected by any decisions participate in public hearings, so they do not reflect the opinion of the majority either. Therefore, we began to study and implement other tools, and the “Active Citizen” project was among them. What have we achieved through this project and a total of all our efforts in the area of interaction between the government and citizens? We can improve the quality of administrative decisions taking interests of the majority into account, increase credibility of those decisions, and get citizens more involved in decision-making. We will continue developing such tools, expanding the field of interaction.”
Estonia was one of the countries that started to implement e-government projects about 10 years ago. It was here where the world’s first electronic elections took place in 2005, and two years later Estonia held its first elections, in which it was possible to vote from a mobile phone. Active use of modern technology has significantly increased the voter turnout rates. The system of electronic human identification and introduction of ID cards, which are now used by the majority of the population, became an important step to implementing such a project.
x You can find the session video and discussion papers at the Forum’s website: http://mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/ programm/#online
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votes on municipal issues were votes on citywide issues during the first 6 months of the “Active Citizen” project
Participation of residents in decision-making and discussing issues relevant to the city’s future is a key development driver, as the experts acknowledged during the final plenary meeting of the Forum, see p. 115
MOSCOW URBAN FORUM FESTIVAL is An open program for citizens. In 2014, the Festival was held for the second time with a significantly expanded range of formats and topics, while various city institutions were partners of the Festival. In 2014 the festival was attended by 9,000 citizens.
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SBP4
Urban Talks www.fest2014.mosurbanforum.ru/ fest/ video/
The Afisha magazine curated the Festival’s cultural program. On the night of the Festival day, the Moscow Manege gathered participants for a performance of “Samoe bolshoye prostoe chislo” (The Largest Prime, SBP4), a well-known St Petersburg band, successfully blending many genres — from IDM to post-rock. All day long, “Korobka” (The Box) performance was demonstrated at the same location: amateur models dressed by young Russian designers recreated a generic city yard. They played basketball, sat on benches talking, ate cotton candy to the sounds of popular tunes.
“Urban Talks” program is a series of informal and candid discussions among experts. The Festival saw almost 10 meetings in this format on a range of topic — from results of the study commissioned by the Forum to the media and local history role in the city development. Interestingly, during many discussions experts, who found themselves among peers, were more frank and vehement. Authors of the “Moscow Spatial Strategy” and “Fight for the Citizen” studies had it particularly hard: if the meetings on the Forum agenda were used to discuss their ideas and suggestions, then the “Urban Talks” round tables criticized their research methodology and errors.
“SCHOOL FOR CITY PLANNERS” ISOCARP School for City Planners presented the results of their workshop on reconstruction concept for VDNKh, one of the largest historical monument sites in Moscow with a huge recreational and economic potential, during the Festival. This educational project was established by the Moscow Urban Forum, ISOCARP (Forum’s international partner starting from 2014), Research and Design Institute of the General Plan, and the National Association of Planners, RUPA.
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LECTURE PROGRAM www. fest2014.mosurbanforum.ru/ fest/ video/ The Festival offered a uniquely extensive lecture program. Once the business agenda was over, the experts talked to the public about the phenomenon of urban space medialization, development of cultural potential, distinction between architects and urbanists, adaptation of the city for the elderly, modern technology in education, and more. The speakers included world-renowned thinkers, politicians, architects, and urbanists: Benjamin Barber, author of “If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities,” Richard Xu, creator of TEDxShanghai, Pablo Allard, a Chilean architect and city planner, and others.
“CHILDREN IN THE CITY” The Festival’s “Children in the City” program was dedicated to challenges and opportunities for youngest city residents. Representatives of successful projects and institutions held a series of discussions on the efforts of cultural and educational institutions to adapt children to the intricate space of the modern city, to make the city an inclusive space, to open it to all children regardless of their special needs, to study the children’s needs in a comfortable, safe and developing environment.
“Do It Yourself” The Do It Yourself (DIY) marathon, a project that brought together many urban activists a few years ago, organized a prototype of a center for communities and citizens’ initiatives, the “Open Pavilion,” at the Festival. Visitors discussed project ideas at the “Pavilion”, received advice from experts in project management, public relations, lawyers, conducted seminars on modern urban planning, creative practices in the city, challenges of environment preservation, and working with children.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS This year, the Festival tackled an important issue of including young experts into urbanistic discussions. For the first time, students presented their city-related studies and projects. The conservation of heritage and contemporary culture, anthropology and urban sociology, development projects for transport, river arteries, pedestrian spaces — this list of topics can go on and on. There were students from the “Strelka” Institute, the Moscow Institute of Architecture (MArkhI), the Moscow State University, the Graduate School of Urban Studies, the Russian State Humanitarian University, the Moscow School of Social and Economic Science, as well as their counterparts from St Petersburg, Kazan, and Yekaterinburg.
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EXHIBITIONS
SCIENCE FIGHT Science Fight is a series of events organized by the Polytechnical Museum, where young scientists talk about their research, and the audience votes for the most interesting storytellers. The rules are strict: you can talk about your science using the simplest props, that is, you have to explain even the most complicated ideas in layman’s terms and even use your fingers literally. The Festival welcomed the best and finest of them, winners in 2014 series — physicists, astronomers, microbiologists, geographers, and mathematicians.
Moscow Manege hosted exhibitions on the Forum’s studies and various Moscow projects in its lobby. Those were open to the public in the evening on the days of the Forum, and throughout the third day that was entirely devoted to the Festival. Each study had a stand-alone mini-pavilion where people could get acquainted with the main conclusions of the experts: why we need a master plan, how to make the city appeal to people, what role global cities play in the countries where they are located. The exhibition on the Moscow e-government projects demonstrated the full range of features available to the Muscovites today, including issue of documents and choosing activities and places for their leisure. The display of projects from the Moscow Government departments described the steps — both implemented and planned — for transforming the Russian capital into a city comfortable for life: developing smart technologies, creating new infrastructure, and so on.
Beat Films Beat Films, an agency best known due to documentary film festivals, brought together a collection of non-fiction films about cities for the Festival. Among them were the films about artists’ colony Katputli in New Delhi who are resisting the new construction; about a married couple who tried to eat only foods that supermarkets threw out for no good reason for a month; about a small town in China that has become almost an exact replica of a town in Austria. All of them were demonstrated in the evenings at the same hall where big-name experts and government representatives from many cities talked shop for three days in a row.
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Unique Content The Moscow Urban Forum has annual studies performed to identify global and local trends in megacity development, which contribute to the unique content of this project. In 2014, 6 original studies and analytical reports were made and presented especially for the Forum, including 3 international papers, 1 study of the Russian city, and 2 reports on Moscow: • International study “World Cities and Nation States: Promoting a new Deal for the 21st Century”; • Study of Russian cities “The Battle for the Citizen: Human Development and the Urban Environment”; • Analytical report “Strategic master plan: A Tool for Managing the Future”; • Analytical report “New Moscow”; • Study “Mechanisms of Cooperation Between Citizens and City Government: International Comparisons”; • “From Moscow to Sao Paulo. Emerging 7 Cities Report 2014”. You can find all the papers on the Forum’s website www.mosurbanforum.ru/forum2014/analitika/
New in 2014 • For the first time, the Forum and the Moscow Government had Singapore as an official international partner. Officials of the Moscow and Singapore governments held meetings, as well as members of the cities’ business communities. • For the first time, the Forum hosted 5 official meetings, during which Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow, and his counterparts from Ankara, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Riga, and Bangkok discussed future economic and cultural partnership. The officials signed 2 cooperation agreements — between Moscow and Ankara for 2015–2017 and between the Moscow Government and the Riga City Council.
• For the first time, the Forum organized two standalone conferences — “Government and Citizens: Technologies of Collaboration” and a conference of Russian cities; during the latter, the participants discussed various developmental models for the Russian cities and presented best practices in governance, city planning, and creating a comfortable living environment. • For the first time, Russian and international experts saw an exhibition devoted to the five platforms the Moscow Government uses to communicate with the citizens, i. e. such projects as “Our City”, “Active Citizen”, “Government Service Portal”, and multifunctional centers (MFCs). • For the first time, the Forum summed up and presented the results of international competitive bidding for developing the Moscow River embankments, the largest competition and project in the capital’s history dealing with the development concept for the city’s embankments and neighboring areas for the next 20 years.
Special Forum Participants Every year, several thousand people attend the Forum, and over 200 speakers address them. The Forum ranks among the top five global conferences in this field, together with the World Cities Summit, the Urban Age, the World Urban Forum, etc. In 2014, the following foreign experts were among the Forum participants: Benjamin Barber, a political scientist, author of the book “If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities”; Jeff Howe, a journalist and digital technology researcher; Antanas Mockus, an urban philosopher, ex-mayor of Bogota; Weiwen Huang, director of the Shenzhen Center for Design; Diego Deponte, an expert in transportation systems development; Martin Powell, an environmental consultant, and others.