A topic that is now actively discussed and of interest to many professionals, including me, is the involvement of the public in the development of the city, the urban environment. There are many different ways and different examples of how exactly this can be done. To this end, we use all channels and mechanisms of interaction - both formal, through public hearings and official responses to appeals to the office or to the Moskomarkhitektura website, as well as informal and non-standard, but no less important, public discussions, meetings, even comments on our social media pages. It is not important for us how the initiative was taken; it is important to react to it.
Public hearings are a procedure established by law, which, unfortunately, is often used by unscrupulous people who speculate on this. I have attended quite a lot of hearings and I know how it happens - there are always people who are ready to radicalize the situation, gaining abstract political points. There are also shortcomings on our part: for example, good specialists are not always good speakers, and materials that are understandable to professionals are not always clear to citizens. At the same time, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin gave a clear instruction - to improve the quality of preparation for the hearings.
However, in addition to public hearings, there are many different ways to establish a dialogue with society - both on specific projects and in general on the philosophy of the city's development. To be honest, I believe more in just such a dialogue - interaction with persons interested in a topic, understanding the situation and immersed in the issue under consideration and wanting to find an answer to it, and not just shout "until". It is in such a dialogue that a constructive solution is born, as proof I will cite only two examples of our daily work - Triumfalnaya Square and Khodynskoe Pole.
This week, the deadline for accepting applications for participation in the competition for complex improvement and prospective development of one of the main Moscow squares - Triumfalnaya. Let me remind you of the history of the issue: last year there was a tender for the improvement of this area in compliance with the procedure for selecting a contractor established by the 94th Federal Law, but part of the professional community was dissatisfied with its results. Therefore, the Department of Capital Repair, which carried out this tender, turned to us with a request to organize an architectural competition within the framework of the current tender, for the cancellation of the results of which we have no legal grounds. The competition was preceded by a public discussion open to everyone. It was on the basis of the conclusions of this discussion that the very concept of the competition was formulated: we are doing a comprehensive improvement for the City Day in 2014 (within the framework of the current state contract) and collecting ideas for future development. There were questions why we are delaying the publication of the terms of reference of the competition, and this was fair, since we made proposals to it that were expressed in the course of public discussion.
Another actual example is Khodynskoe Pole, which is gradually turning into one of the most interesting districts of Moscow: with an international park, a new building of the National Center for Contemporary Art, a subway museum, and sports facilities. Quite recently, Khodynka was a zone of constant tension, and today all problems have been practically resolved. The fears of local residents were understandable - they were caused by large-scale development and a possible influx of fans. As a result, on the instructions of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, we found a way to divide the flow of people on Khodynka so that fans and residents would use different routes. We also managed to plan a park there and announce a competition for its project, involve residents in discussing these plans. We found the best place for the construction of an Orthodox church, although some of the residents were against its construction.
The example of the park on Khodynskoye Pole is especially indicative: the city authorities not only decided to lay out the park and hold an international competition for its concept, but also involved the For the Park public movement in drawing up the terms of reference. Just this week, a workshop was held with the finalists of the competition, where jury members and authoritative experts answered questions from potential designers. It was the same with the future church: we held meetings on specific issues. For me, this is an example of the daily work of finding compromises, because the city is, of course, a field for the constant search for compromises.
