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The competition was announced in line with the updated Strategy for Russia’s Scientific and Technological Development and ahead of preparations for the upcoming World Youth Festival. The application campaign was launched at the Sirius Talent Summit in Abu Dhabi (UAE), inviting top architectural firms and development institutes from BRICS+ countries to participate.

Applications will be accepted until May 30, 2025, on the website siriusmasterplan.com, which also provides detailed information about participation requirements, schedules, and selection procedures.

Sirius is unique in Russia not only due to its special governance system and experimental legal framework, which enable projects that would be impossible elsewhere, but also because of the 10 years of accumulated expertise in the comprehensive development of children—intellectual, moral, spiritual, physical, and patriotic. This represents a top priority for both Sirius and Russian state policy, noted Elena Shmeleva during her address at the Sirius Talent Summit.

She added that the federal territory supports projects in areas critical to the country’s technological development, strengthening technological sovereignty and creating opportunities for youth talent and innovation.

Sirius is developing an infrastructure for advanced development in education, science, domestic technology, culture, and creative collaboration between leading musicians and artists with young talents. For instance, a new concert hall is being constructed to address the creative, technological, aesthetic, acoustic, and environmental needs of the territory, Shmeleva explained.

Researchers at Sirius University are working on the first national water-climate natural park, focusing on ecological tourism, biodiversity development, and centralized water resource management in the design of new ecosystem elements. The development of Sirius’s environment therefore has an international dimension, bringing together youth worldwide to address global challenges and meet the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, added the Council Chair.

Currently, Sirius is developing a transport service strategy that integrates all cutting-edge global solutions, a key factor in the federal territory’s economic development and its integration into national and international transport networks, particularly given Sirius’s proximity to key transport hubs.

“We place significant emphasis on creating conditions for attracting leading domestic tech entrepreneurs, engineers, and developers from high-tech companies, scientists, educators, professional artists, top athletes and coaches, as well as the brightest students from Russia and BRICS+ countries. This is why we view this competition as an unprecedented opportunity in modern Russian history to collaboratively develop a unique environment for intellectual and technological growth in the Russian Federation and BRICS+ countries. Our project will help establish a harmonious, knowledge-intensive, and innovative infrastructure, increasing the number of Sirius residents from among the country’s most talented youth, and, with upcoming World Youth Festivals and other major international events, potentially worldwide,” said Shmeleva.

The Sirius Federal Territory covers 1,400 hectares, much of which is already developed. Limited space poses a challenge for further urban development. Two plots of 19.4 and 23.1 hectares have been allocated for the master plan. The first will feature specialized and residential properties and will focus on promoting healthy longevity and high-tech medicine, including the Sirius University Medical Clinical Center, specializing in oncology care, including personalized and preventive treatments. The second site will host the second phase of the Sirius University science and technology campus, alongside a high-tech district with laboratories, engineering infrastructure, data centers, and test facilities for robotics and microelectronics.

Competition documentation also addresses the needs of residents of the Innovation Science and Technology Center and Sirius University partners, including the potential for pilot manufacturing, engineering centers, and data centers supporting resource-efficient energy, intelligent transport (including autonomous systems), telecommunications, and safe information handling technologies.

“The master plan should reflect the key spatial organization scenarios for each district. One of the main requirements for architectural concepts is a multi-level approach emphasizing carbon neutrality and an absolute balance of functions, enabling efficient, short connections between all life spheres while maintaining the intimacy of all structural elements. Figuratively speaking, the project is like a biological cell: a perfectly balanced system with its mission and purpose in the context of global development. Participants are also tasked with creating a fundamentally new landscape and park environment that will become part of the unique National Water Climate Natural Park and serve as the living fabric of the university-city,” explained Andrey Litvinov, Director of the Center for Urbanism and Environmental Design at Sirius Science and Technology University and member of the Competition Jury.

The Strategic Development Agency “CENTER” serves as the organizer of the Open International Competition for the Sirius Innovation Districts Master Plan.

The Sirius Talent Summit took place in Abu Dhabi from February 23 to 25, within the framework of a partnership between Sirius Educational Center and the UAE Ministry of Education. The Summit featured more than 40 scientific, educational, creative, cultural, and sporting events with leading Sirius experts and industry partners.

Photo: Mediadom Sirius