In her opening remarks to the new issue, Sofia Romanova, editor-in-chief of Urban magazine, explains the choice of the topic: “Sooner or later, urbanization reaches even the most remote places, endowing the province with its characteristic features. The development and growth of existing cities, the emergence of new urban settlements occur against the background of an increase in the level of basic comfort and ever-increasing requirements for high-quality environmental design. And the most important question is not what to do with this phenomenon, it has already become our reality. It is much more important to find ways of maximally responsible and successful forecasting of the consequences of the current rapid growth of cities and towns”.
The protagonists of this issue, along with the largest megacities of the world (London, Paris, Moscow, etc.), are small cities that have already gone through the process of urbanization and have managed to preserve their identity. So, a separate publication is devoted to Cormuilles-en-Parisi, which is part of the Parisian agglomeration, which does not prevent it from preserving not only the appearance of a picturesque old town, but also vast natural territories inside: “Cormuilles-en-Parisis can serve as a good example of how the history and geographical features of the territory are used by urbanists to improve the quality of life, to ensure the long-term social and economic well-being of the city,”the magazine says.
As a similar Russian example, Urban magazine cites Kaluga, the configuration of the historical center of which has remained practically unchanged for the last 200 years, despite the fact that the Kaluga region is one of the most dynamically developing regions of the country. But the region, which today can barely cope with the "ninth wave" of urbanization, is, of course, Moscow. Alexey Vorontsov, chief architect of the Moscow region, told the magazine about the complex process of architectural and urban planning development of the region with an area of forty-four square kilometers, an interview with whom became one of the central materials of this issue.
An inevitable consequence of urbanization is that most of their personal time the townspeople spend in the same environment where they work / participate, which means that its quality and, in particular, the presence of spaces intended for rest, leisure, communication, becomes incredibly relevant. That is why, in the issue of urbanization, the key topic was the development of public spaces: in addition to theoretical review articles, the magazine published a selection of materials about the Zaryadye park that is currently being created in Moscow. The idea of turning a gigantic wasteland in the center of a megalopolis into a park with a complex technical and natural structure is being evaluated not only by Russian, but also by leading foreign experts.
