What awaits Russian cities in the 21st century? Will Moscow become a single organism with St. Petersburg‑St. Petersburg? Why are half of the small towns shrinking, while new "satellites" are growing in the fields? And what about villages that are called "cities", but where there is no real economy or jobs?
In the lecture, we will talk about why Russia will not have a "single city of the future" and which five scenarios really shape the future of cities:
- mega‑agglomerations where speed is more important than distance;
- satellite cities that should stop being "bedroom towns";
- Cities of controlled compression, where falling turns into a fresh start;
- undercity is a dangerous illusion of urbanization;
- adaptive hub cities that survive in the face of climate, crises, and generational change.
At the lecture, we will analyze which scenarios actually work in Russia and why we don't have a single "recipe for the city of the future." Instead of futuristic forecasts, there are practical answers to challenges for our country's cities.