I. Metshin instructed to discuss the General Plan of Kazan in the format of a constructive dialogue

(KZN.RU, May 14, Ekaterina Vislavskaya). Ppublic hearings to discuss the draft of the Kazan General Plan will begin in Kazan on May 29. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, instructed the Executive Committee to create all conditions for a constructive dialogue with Kazan citizens on the draft of the new General Plan, in advance inform them of its content as much as possible. Speaking today at the Business Monday, he called the General Plan the most complicated document that determines the rules for living in the city and its development. He also noted that all decisions are made in the interests of the majority of residents.

Tatiana Prokofieva, the chief architect of Kazan, presented the project. She noted that the General Plan is the main document of territorial planning at the municipal level. “In the Soviet period, Kazan's General Plan was basically the embodiment of federal and departmental interests. Now the situation has changed radically”, she said. The current General Plan, adopted in 2007, is calculated until 2020, but some of the indicators laid in it have already been achieved. For example, the population rose to the projected level 6 years earlier. Accordingly, the need for social institutions has also increased. The new General Plan was developed by the Genplan Institute of Moscow on the basis of a detailed forecast of the city's development until 2035, taking into account the changed demography. It contains indicators of 100% of the population's social infrastructure.

The fundamentally new aspects of the city's declared urban policy are following: the reorientation to the development of the city's territory within existing borders, the identification of new priorities related to the restoration and preservation of the historical identity of the city and its cultural heritage, the modernization of production areas and the removal of harmful enterprises from the city center, and the arrangement of public spaces.

A well-thought-out system of green areas has been created in the new General Plan, a detailed map and a list of elements of the natural and recreational complex have been completed, and measures have been worked out to preserve the existing green areas and create new ones.

Much attention will be paid to the balanced development of all areas of the city in the new General Plan.

In November, the working draft of the General Plan was placed in the Federal State Information System for Territorial Planning for coordination with federal and republican bodies. Regional bodies approved the draft General Plan. The conclusion of the Cabinet of Ministers of the RT and a number of other approvals were received.

Public hearings on the draft General Plan will be held from May 29 to June 6 at 13 sites of the city. The materials of the approved part of the General Plan were published on April 26 in the collection of municipal legal acts, as well as posted on the official website of Kazan and on the page of Architecture Department. Today and tomorrow stands with materials will appear in 4 popular shopping centers of the city.

“The General Plan is the most important strategic document. It unites a lot of work of hundreds of specialists from all over Russia, foreign experts. He sets clear rules for all: owners, residents, businesses, investors, officials”, noted the Mayor. “The project published on the Internet already raises questions of citizens. All these questions must be answered, explained to people. It should be understood that life in any big city is always a compromise, but always in the interests of most residents”.

Ilsur Metshin instructed the Executive Committee to tell residents as much detail about the General Plan. “This format od work is not new for us. This process is not quick, but it is always a dialogue with our citizens”, he said. “The purpose of this work is to create the most transparent rules of life in the city and its development. The schedule of hearings is drawn up. I ask you to organize the work with all seriousness and at the proper level”.