"CITY AND PEOPLE". A discussion about the role and influence of urban and expert communities on the development of urban territories was conducted online

22 May, 2020

Today, an online discussion “CITY AND PEOPLE” was conducted on the role and influence of urban and expert communities on the development of urban territories, which took place in preparation for the XIII Architectural Forum “ARCHITECTURE VRN”. The discussion was organized by the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Voronezh Region and the Agency for Strategic Development “CENTER”. Thanks to the online format, the speakers were able not only to cover all possible aspects of the declared topic live, but also answer interesting questions from three social networks at once. Broadcast saved and available here. The session will be useful for everyone who is not indifferent to the fate of their city.

After the opening speech by the moderator of the discussion, Sergei Georgievskii, General Director of the Agency for Strategic Development “CENTER”, one of the organizers of the event, the head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Voronezh Region Andrei Erenkov, spoke about real-life problems of interaction between expert communities, active citizens and existing city-planning authorities , including those related to their interaction on online platforms.

Andrei ErenkovHead of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Voronezh Region

In the near future, for example, in June-July, we will see how the format of public hearings works in Voronezh, including the ones on the online platform dedicated to the general plan of Voronezh, which should be approved by November this year. Our colleagues from the General Plan of Moscow themselves initiated the creation of this form of interaction. We hope that the public discussion on the Internet will take place constructively and with a twinkle.

Natalia Fishman-Bekmambetova, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, shared the secret of successful work with expert communities in Kazan. According to her, success in the interaction of the authorities and the city expert community is in the understanding that any person living in the city territory already has enough expertise to participate in public hearings and to express one opinion or another on the development of urban spaces.

She also talked about the popular Kazan project - the embankment of the Kaban lake, which this year will add another 2 km by water and, thus, the lake will be closed in a circle.

Natalia Fishman-BekmambetovaAssistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan

Our real result appears at the moment when the process of improvement and the formation of a comfortable urban environment ceases to be only our public business. It is very important that people adopt it, so that in the smallest village they can equip their front garden, because we have created an environment there in which it is embarrassing to live in a mess.

When working on a project, it is very important to pay attention to the emotions and feelings of city residents, since otherwise it is impossible to create anything worthwhile, said Irina Alekseeva, chief architect of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). She emphasized the importance of collaborative design and expert assistance in project development.

Irina AlekseevaHead of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning under the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chief Architect of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

When we work on projects, they affect the emotions of city residents. Otherwise, there is no empathy and complicity and it will not be possible to create anything worthwhile. Large resources are not needed to change the urban environment; desire is important. Everyone can make an effort to change cities.

Daria Shorina, Advisor to the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Director of the Institute for the Development of the Urban Environment of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, ANO, emphasized that the best city projects in her practice were obtained when it was possible to organize a dialogue between all its participants - residents, administration and expert communities.

Daria ShorinaAdvisor to the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Director of ANO "Institute for the Development of the Urban Environment of the Nizhny Novgorod Region"

The expert community is an assistant and communicator in working with the city, it helps with its professional expertise and is able to invest its expertise to improve our cities.

In the regions, for coordinated work between communities and city authorities, according to Alexander Tomashenko, the head of the Center for Competencies in Urban Issues in the Kaluga Region - “TOLK”, it is necessary to find all possible resources that you can work on, rather than create them from scratch, and especially important here is the support of top officials.

Alexander TomashenkoHead of the Competence Center for Urban Issues in the Kaluga Region - TOLK

For us, the expert community is a critical mass of competent specialists from different spheres of the city’s life: stakeholders, residents, exploiting organizers, and the administration. General collaboration involving strong experts from professional fields leads to a strong effect.

The discussion was moderated by Sergei Georgievskii, General Director of the Agency for Strategic Development "CENTER"

For more information about the reason for the authorities' proactivity and their desire to communicate with citizens, how to control budgets for projects implemented by the city, and who is the real customer of the city’s landscaping work, see the recording of the online discussion.

Subscribe to news