Dmitry Medvedev: “I want to commend our colleagues from Kazan for the systematic work”

(KZN.RU, September 12). The Forum of All-Russian Council of Local Self-Government “Urban development and improvement of the quality of the urban environment” was first held in Moscow today at the site of the VDNKh. The members of the Russian Government, heads of cities, architects, urbanists and public figures took part in the forum. The forum participants were presented with best practices for the creation of urban public spaces, which is held for the first time. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, made a presentation of urban projects.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, opened the forum and noted that “the increase in the urban environment  is not just a matter of aesthetics and comfort of home, and the factor of strengthening of the country in the global competition for the best minds, ideas and business investment”. The Russian Prime Minister also pointed out the need to create a design code of each city - a set of parameters, characteristics that make each city a comfortable and recognizable. According to Dmitry Medvedev, it is necessary to take into account the opinion of civil society organizations, urbanists and, above all, the citizens themselves.

Successful practices of municipal development and conversion of public urban spaces were presented at the forum. In particular, Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, presented the positive experience of the capital. He noted fundamental changes in the improvement of urban yards and streets, the organization of the parking space, ordering the outdoor advertising market in the capital, as well as non-stationary trade objects. He spoke about the improvement of road transport infrastructure in Moscow, noting that the number of accidents involving cyclists in the capital is almost nullified by creating a separate bicycle lanes.

Sergei Sobyanin said that all of these solutions and approaches demanded from the leadership of the city of determination and firmness, while noting that the work is still going on in some areas (such as commercial facilities, or the restoration of historic buildings).

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, said at a forum about the large transformations of urban public spaces in the capital of Tatarstan, noted big ambitions and a mega-event, a partnership with the business and the involvement of residents as the main recipes along this way. Ilsur Metshin told in detail about the implementation in Kazan of the program of the Parks and Squares Year, in which 36 green areas have been renovated in the past two years in the city. “Today, the improvement of the urban environment and create a comfortable living environment are one of the priorities of the Republic of Tatarstan. We are committed to high-quality urban environment transformation, the creation of eco-friendly living and public spaces, parks, in which every citizen of Kazan will find some interesting activity. Therefore, the approach to designing and filling public spaces has changed significantly in the framework of the presidential program. Requests of citizens, their daily activities and leisure preferences were taken into account in the design of the territory”, said Ilsur Metshin about the practice of designing public spaces in Kazan.

The Mayor of Kazan also spoke about the projects, which are implemented today. He noted the importance of the reconstruction of the Admiralteiskaya Sloboda, which is of great historical value. “The territory of the Admiralteiskaya Sloboda, which area is of 40 thousand hectares, is a valuable recreational area with huge potential. There are the Volga water area, the proximity of the Kazan Kremlin, and good transport connectivity. We believe that this project will be really significant for our city and an important experience for the entire country”, said the head of the capital of Tatarstan.

Ilsur Metshin also stressed in his speech that a qualitative change in the urban environment creates a great potential for building of human capital. “It is the environment, the city, starting at the threshold of apartment, that determine the quality of life of its people, tourist attractiveness and competitiveness for the best human capital in the context of the whole country. Global trends have not been canceled, and we are seeing many young professionals are moving from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the capital of Tatarstan, considering the comfort and quality of the environment in Kazan”, said the Mayor of Kazan.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Russia, joined him and said that “the city, which better fights for its people, becomes more competitive, gives birth to new projects”. The Prime Minister cited Kazan as the example in this context. “I want to commend our colleagues from Kazan for the system work: all decisions were absolutely thoughtful systemic nature for specific activities. The strength of our colleagues from Tatarstan is that they thought out well and are able to get money under the designed activities. Such skills create at the expense of serious work when you know how to present the idea, how to present results. They did well in this case in recent years”, said Dmitry Medvedev.

Projects of improving urban public spaces, implemented by the institute “Strela”, were presented in the plenary session; in particular, the concept of development of the urban environment in Saratov was presented. Forum participants agreed to the main idea: the development of urban spaces affects the quality of life and allows making the city a truly convenient and comfortable for life. Other status event will be devoted to this topic - the Forum “Environment for Life”, which will be organized in Kazan on October 20-21 on behalf of Igor Shuvalov, the first deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government.

Natalya Fishman, the assistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Tatyana Prokofieva, the chief architect of Kazan, Natalia Grechannikova, the head of the Executive Committee of the Kazan local branch of the Tatarstan regional department of the All-Russian political party “United Russia”, and others also participated in the forum as a delegation of Tatarstan.