Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Contemporary Planning & Development
At the end of the Soviet Union, architectural energies and civic funds were initially fun-
nelled into the restoration of decayed churches and monasteries, as well as the rebuilding of
structures such as the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Kazan Cathedral.
In the 2000s, Moscow was a hotbed of development. Skyscrapers and steeples changed
the city skyline; the metro expanded in all directions; and office buildings, luxury hotels and
shopping centres went up all over the city.
The most visible urban development is in Moscow-City, the flashy new International
Business Centre that is sprouting up along the Moscow River in Presnya. The complex is
impressive, with shiny glass-and-metal buildings on either side of the Moscow River and a
cool pedestrian bridge connecting them. It includes two of Europe's tallest skyscrapers: the
Moscow Tower of the double-pronged City of Capitals, and neighbouring Mercury City
Tower, a 75-storey building that topped out at nearly 340m high.
With the appointment of Sergei Sobyanin, the pace of construction has slowed dramatic-
ally. Several large-scale shopping malls and other projects were called off, in favour of more
enlightened endeavours. Recent urban planning has focused on the redevelopment of parks
such as Gorky Park, as well as increasing and improving pedestrian routes, such as the foun-
tain- and art-filled Krymskaya nab. Sobyanin's focus on public places emphasising usability
and liveability is a radical departure from the policies of his predecessor.
The highest profile example, perhaps, is the site of the former Hotel Rossiya in Zaryadie
near Kitay Gorod. The Soviet behemoth was destroyed in 2006, in anticipation of a new lux-
ury hotel and commercial complex. When the recession hit two years later, investors pulled
out and construction came to a halt. After six years, the city administration finally reached
some conclusion about what to do with the prime real estate: turn it into a park. The green
space will re-create Russia's four microclimates - taiga, steppe, forest and marsh - each
with a different view to the Kremlin.
