The project of Yekaterinburg's main embankment will be discussed at major international exhibitions and forums

The urban environment development project in the capital of the Ural Federal District is awaiting an unprecedented large-scale public discussion. The developers will gradually propose solutions for those issues related to the project that arose as a result of the recent discussion of the townspeople at the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg.

The exchange of views on creating a comfortable environment in Yekaterinburg will continue – the next stage of heated discussions on the main landscaping project in the Ural capital will take place in July 2017 at the Innoprom International industrial Exhibition. The objective of the embankment improvement is to link significant public spaces into a single walking route and return the water areas to the city structure, adding leisure, cultural and event significance to them.

Two sessions of discussions of the concept with Yekaterinburg residents have already taken place. The meeting, which took place on May 16 at the Yeltsin Center, was attended by more than 100 people. The event was open, so the discussion was attended not only by specialists, city experts, urbanists, representatives of the Yekaterinburg administration and facilities located on the embankment, but also by all interested citizens.

On the part of the organizers, the general framework of the project, excerpts from the research and technical specifications were presented by the supervising project manager Elizaveta Levitskaya and architect Dmitry Stolbovoy (Strelka Design Bureau), architect Alexander Samarin (OSA Architectural Bureau) described the proposed concept in detail. The discussion was moderated by Nadezhda Snigireva, a specialist in collaborative design (Project Group 8).

The authors of the landscaping concept were the Yekaterinburg architectural bureau "Osa". The first stage of work will begin in 2017 and will continue in 2018-2022.

The main idea of the Iset River embankment beautification concept is to create a fundamentally new urban environment that can emphasize the existing identification of contrasting banks: the right bank is a park area, the left bank has a pronounced urban character.

Dmitry Stolbovoy, architect of the project, Strelka Design Bureau:
"Yekaterinburg residents are well aware of the needs of their city, and without them the Iseti Embankment project would not be complete. The project brought together city experts, representatives of the administration and all those who are not indifferent, and we are grateful to them for their strong ideas. We plan to take into account a number of proposals in the project, in particular, to reflect the historical context of the territory, to develop practical pavement, options for the development of small businesses such as cafes and bike rentals, and to consider the all—season public space taking into account winter scenarios."

The final concept, taking into account the opinion of the citizens, will be presented in autumn at the world forum of high-rise and unique construction 100+ ForumRussia, which is traditionally the largest discussion platform on the problems of high-rise construction, unique structures, sports facilities and many others. It is expected that at least 5,000 participants will attend the international forum this year.

In 2017, according to the organizing committee of the Forum, the main topic for discussion will be the priority project of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation "Creating a comfortable urban environment". This was officially announced by the Minister of Construction, Mikhail Men, following the results of the Forum's organizing committee held in the Government.

As part of the priority project "Creating a comfortable urban environment" in 2017, the federal budget allocated 20 billion rubles to finance regional landscaping projects. A third of that amount will be spent on urban facilities and public spaces in cities, and another two thirds will be spent on the reconstruction of courtyards. All municipalities with a population exceeding one thousand inhabitants participate in the project.

As the President noted in December 2016 in a message to the Federal Assembly, "it is a matter of principle that residents themselves participate in making decisions on the use of these resources and determine which landscaping projects to implement first." In Yekaterinburg, which has relied on the renovation of the central part of the city's embankment, public discussions were held at the Yeltsin Center, and, as the participants note, the discussion was heated and constructive.

It is expected that the exchange of views at the Innoprom exhibition, and especially at the 100+ Forum Russia, will be a logical continuation of the public discussion, which should result in a carefully calibrated project to create a truly comfortable environment that takes into account the interests of as many citizens as possible.

The topic of creating a comfortable environment is gaining rapid popularity and relevance in development, primarily in conditions of significantly limited effective demand. The Ministry is currently developing common standards for landscaping, which should later be fixed by law. On behalf of the Ministry of Construction, Strelka Design Bureau is also involved in the work, which creates integrated urban solutions based on the scientific and expert base of the Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design.