Blog

Russian cities are operating in a paradox: they have development strategies in place, but lack the mechanisms to deliver them. This is the assessment of Sergei Georgievskii, Co-founder of the Agency for strategic development "CENTER", commenting on the current state of master planning.

In effect, the country is already covered by strategies - more than 200 cities have developed their own master plans. Yet a significant share of these documents remains unimplemented. The reason is structural: municipal budgets operate on one cycle, while long-term strategies follow another. As a result, even well-grounded projects fail to secure funding.

According to Sergei Georgievskii, an attempt to address this gap was the introduction of the “National Master Plan Standard” - a document that, for the first time, creates a framework for how such projects should be developed and implemented. A critical element of its rollout was capacity-building at the regional level, supported by real project experience, including the development of tourism master plans across 12 macro-territories.

However, the core issue remains unresolved. As long as the master plan lacks legal status, it functions as a recommendation rather than a binding instrument. This means that with changes in administrative leadership, strategies can be revised or replaced altogether.

For this reason, as reflected in the position of the Agency for strategic development "CENTER", Russian urban development has moved beyond the stage of ideas - it is now being tested on its ability to deliver tangible outcomes.

Read more: https://www.vedomosti.ru/gorod/ourcity/articles/razvitiya-gorodov