I. Metshin: “Business, developers, and residents should take part in the discussion of the general plan”

(KZN.RU, August 28, Mikhail Chentsov). Public hearings on the draft of the new general plan for Kazan will be held simultaneously at 13 venues no later than July 2018. Irina Dyabilkina, the head of the Architecture and Urban Planning Department of Kazan, reported this today during the traditional staff meeting.

In her report, I. Dyabilkina spoke about the development stages of the document, important for the capital of Tatarstan. In June 2015, the developers (GUP “NIiPI General Plan of Moscow”) completed the first stage, which includes the collection of initial data, analysis of use efficiency of the urban areas, social, transportation, and engineering infrastructure of Kazan. In December 2015, the concept of the general plan was prepared and reviewed, and in October 2016, the materials for justifying the new general plan were presented.

“In July of this year, the documents, which constitute the approved part of the general plan, were submitted to the Architecture and Urban Planning Department. The presented material consists of the proposals of the developers on the functional zoning of the city and the development of social, transport, and engineering infrastructure. For today, these are working materials, according to which work to eliminate faults and technical errors is being carried out”, she said.

I. Dyabilkina also drew attention to the fact that finalization of the general plan draft will be carried out further in the course of coordinating the document with federal and republican authorities, heads of municipal districts of the RT, having common borders with Kazan, as well as proposals and comments, received from citizens on the results of public hearings.

“The more responsibly we will treat the preparation of this document, the more qualitative general plan the city will receive. We will have to live and work by it for many years and we have tough deadlines for the preparation and adoption of this document. We must organize and hold public hearings on the general plan draft no later than July 2018. Public hearings will be held simultaneously at 13 venues”, she said.

In addition, public hearings on the Land Use and Development Rules will be held in Kazan in October-November 2018. According to I. Dyabilkina, both documents are being developed simultaneously, since they are closely related. “We expect that the city will receive a new general plan and new Land Use and Development Rules by 2019. These documents will be sound and will contribute to the further development of our city”, concluded the speaker.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, noted that the preparation and approval of the general plan takes a long time not only due to the size of the document but the number of coordinating ministries and departments. “We will have to live by this document until 2035. It affects the interests of all residents, whether they understand it or not. But this is the main document that predetermines our development. The master plan is the basis of everything. Therefore the more laboriously we work on this document, the better it will turn out”, said the Mayor.

The head of Kazan also instructed those responsible for control over the development of the general plan to pay special attention to organizing public hearings. “I would like as many people as possible to participate in them: the business, developers, and local residents, and not on the same venue. It is important to inform all interested parties, to answer the emerging questions, to listen to those proposals and wishes from our colleagues and all those who will work on the general plan”, said I. Metshin.