Public transport in Moscow should become an undeniable alternative to personal vehicles. All the participants in the discussion agreed on this. "Public transport: focus on the user" … The very topic of discussion determined the priority of a person. The city should be comfortable, first of all, for pedestrians, and only then for cars.
Maxim Liksutov, Head of the Department of Transport and Development of Road and Transport Infrastructure of Moscow, in his report spoke about the primary tasks that the city not only sets for itself, but also actively solves. Increasing the throughput of public transport, the introduction of intelligent digital systems, controlled traffic lights, information boards, a single ticket for all types of public transport, etc. All these measures by 2025, according to Liksutov, should reduce the maximum travel time during rush hour to 50 minutes.
Culveer Ranger, environmental advisor to the mayor of London, he is confident that "in the future, the development of information technology will lead to the creation of a" smart "transport system." An interesting model is already functioning in London, where city residents can get all the information about public transport thanks to digital applications scattered across the city streets and public transport stops.
Federico Casaleno, director of the Mobile Experience Lab at MIT, said that in Porto Alegre, Brazil, residents identify road problems themselves and report them to city officials. This is a separate program that has already borne good results to date. In solving transport problems, it is always very important to know what the residents lack.
Pierre Laconte, the former president of the International Association of Urban and Regional Planners ISOCARP, approved the measures that are being introduced in Moscow today in an attempt to get rid of endless traffic jams. When introducing paid parking in the city center, the expert advised to study the experience of Zurich, Naples or Provence.
Mobility, according to Pierre Lacont, the city can be provided by railways. The problem is that today Russian railways exist on their own, they have their own agenda, which is in no way tied to the interests of Moscow. And it is necessary to create a network of high-speed railways, which will unite the nearest regional and large cities, including foreign ones.
In particular. according to Lacont, such a high-speed route could exist: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Helsinki.
Another unused transport reserve is industrial railways, which must be adapted to the needs of the city. The Moscow metro is one of the best in the world. However, it is necessary to establish interaction between the metro and the railways. The entire transport structure must be interconnected, only in this case it will work efficiently. The city cannot afford to endlessly expand the road structure, it is too expensive. Therefore, Laconte advises to focus on saving space. Let's say a bicycle in a city takes up 18 times less space than a car. And, of course, it is necessary to encourage pedestrians. In addition to unloading the city, this will also improve the health of the population, because "walking is extremely beneficial to health."
Vadim Khrapun, the head of the practice for the provision of services in the field of urban planning, in his speech spoke only of pedestrians. “The more pedestrians, the better the transport situation,” the speaker is sure. In Moscow, transport reigns supreme, and the pedestrian practically does not have any space. Pedestrian zones, if they exist, are very fragmentary and scattered. Vadim Khrapun proposes to create an integral connected system of pedestrian zones and routes. To do this, first of all, you need to introduce zoning. The inner ring around the Kremlin along Mokhovaya Street, according to him, should be completely given to pedestrians. The territory inside the boulevard ring should be organized in such a way that a pedestrian can move freely and comfortably without stopping at difficult traffic intersections.
Optimization of the space inside the pedestrian zones is also an important part of the implementation of the proposed program. An in-depth analysis of the territories will allow you to understand in which part of the city you should give preference to a private car, in which - public transport, and where it is worth walking. So, Vadim Khrapun marked on the city map the so-called zones of five minutes - areas around transport hubs within a radius of up to 400 meters. These zones should be exclusively pedestrian and well-maintained, because, as statistics show, the main movement is carried out just inside these "five minutes".
During the session "Public spaces as a generator of updates" sociologist Victor Vakhstein proposed to focus not on space and on who designs it and how, but on its social function. “Public spaces are not designed, they become public spaces when citizens within them begin to realize themselves as part of the community and part of the city.” Viktor Vakhstein presented interesting, but rather pessimistic statistics for Moscow: more than 60% of people permanently residing in the capital do not feel like Muscovites, while 20% of them are people who were born here, and 30% have lived here for more than 10 years … 73% of those who once came to Moscow hope to leave it in the near future, making a choice in favor of comfortable and well-equipped western cities.
“In the description of Muscovites, Moscow is an office city where you can stay and work, but not live. And the parks in such an office city are “smoking rooms” where a person drops in during a break between work,”Vakhstein said.
Is a high-quality urban environment capable of turning the tide? The same statistics show that parks in Moscow, nevertheless, can be really in demand if, in addition to the function of the "green lungs" of the city, they take on the role of event, cultural and entertainment centers.
Antoine Grumbach, the developer of the Greater Paris concept and one of the winners of the competition for the development of the Moscow metropolitan area, also believes that public spaces should be multifunctional, allowing citizens to make a choice. Thus, in the project of the public space of the Opera metro station in Paris, it is planned to open all kinds of shops, cafes, an ice skating rink and a catwalk for a defile.
Andrew Harland, an architect and senior partner at LDA Design, spoke about a park project in East London, in the East End. The idea was to unite several areas of the East End through a park. This is a steadily developing area of the city, but the space there is built quite sporadically, it is split into pieces by a river, canal, railways, highways and industrial zones. The park is able to eliminate this fragmentation, and in addition, to include the river in the sphere of urban activity, since now it is almost impossible to approach it. The project, which Andrew Harland spoke about, aims to free the river, make the East End open and accessible, and make the landscape comfortable and inviting. In addition, this is also a serious infrastructure project that involves the regeneration of a rather contaminated area.
Timothy Marshall, director of ETM Associates, is currently working on the Moscow Gorky Park project. As the American expert said,
it is important not so much to create a comfortable public space as to learn how to manage it so that it works successfully for many years.
Management should be one of the most important parts of planning. Central Park in New York is visited by an average of 33 million people a year, who walk on lawns, throw rubbish, break park furniture. At the same time, the park always retains a well-groomed appearance, thanks to a well-built management program.
When a couple of years ago an architect Oleg Shapiro came to Gorky Park with a leaking skating rink, a pile of garbage and a "criminal" heap of attractions, it became obvious that in our country there was still no talk of a park management and maintenance system in a normal state. Oleg Shapiro told how he and his bureau WowHaus tried to put things in order in the central park of the city. Their work was calculated for two years preceding the start of the comprehensive reconstruction. In a short time, attractions disappeared from the park, the work schedule became round-the-clock, access was free, a wooden beach appeared on the banks of the Moskva River, and an artificial skating rink began to function in winter.
Another, not yet implemented project by Oleg Shapiro affects the embankments of the Moskva River. The river in the Russian capital, as in many other large cities of the world, is a practically lost resource, since there are roads everywhere along the water. It is impossible to remove them everywhere. The architects proposed another option - to run parallel embankments above the water, wooden or on a metal frame. This will allow people to finally see the river.
Also, together with Evgeny Ass, the WowHaus bureau is working on a project for a pedestrian Krymskaya embankment to replace the existing four-lane road.
President of the company "Svyaznoy" Maxim Nogotkov, told about plans for the development of Nikola-Lenivets and a new, recently launched project "Yopolis". According to Nogotkov, public spaces should not only be a place of recreation, but provide a person with the opportunity to create, develop and learn. This is what the concept of "Archpolis" is based on, which is being implemented in Nikola-Lenivets. A very important point in creating such spaces is to involve future users in the process, so that people feel they are involved from the very beginning. In nikola-lenivetsky park, artists and architects have complete freedom in shaping their environment. The same principle of engagement has become fundamental to Yopolis, a new alternative social network that will allow people to determine the scenario for the development of their city. Each interested person can independently initiate a project, put it up for discussion and vote. It is a direct democracy that operates in many cities around the world. For example, in Madrid there are more than 20 referendums a year, thanks to which residents decide what the city needs in the first place - a school or a shopping center. The city's budget is always limited, it would be nice if the authorities distribute funds taking into account the needs of the townspeople, and people feel personal responsibility not only for their apartment, but also for the entrance, courtyard, streets and the city as a whole.
The ever-increasing demand for high-quality public spaces, not to mention the growing indignation of the townspeople in connection with the persistently difficult transport situation, bring these two topics to the fore. The intentions, wishes and forecasts expressed within the framework of the forum inspire, albeit vague, but hope that someday the situation will improve in Moscow as well.
