Moscow State Classical School

Is living in Moscow a blessing or a burden?

Project by the student of 10th form Zhanna Rodnova

Teacher : Tatiana Bogatyryova

2010-2011

Passport of the project• The Topic: Is living in Moscow a blessing or a burden?• The Urgency: the topic is urgent, because the rapid population growth results in a

great number of problems, which are turning a beautiful city into an uncomfortable place to live in.

• The Contradiction: on the one hand, Moscow is a tempting place for those who don't live in it, on the other hand, it is a troublesome city for those who live in it.

• The Problem: Moscow needs urgent measures to improve the life of its population.• The Purpose: to do research on the problems that make Moscow a less comfortable

place to live in and find the solutions for the improvement of the city life.• The Object of the research: Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation.• The Subject: the influence of the problems on the life of Muscovites.• The Hypothesis: Moscow can become an attractive and comfortable place.• The Task: To study the problem of housing, the problems of transport and ecology and

to find out people's attitude to these problems and to living in a big city like Moscow.• The Method: studying literature, newspaper articles, laws, bills, surfing the Net.

Glimpses of the housing situation in Moscow

Housing

After the Great October Revolution

Communal apartments : revolutionary topography

Housing

Post-war period

Year Share of industrial housing production

1967 76%

1971 81%

1980 93%

Housing

Advantages Disadvantages

Individual flats Cold in winter, hot in summer

Modern conveniences Small rooms

Public facilities Poor sound insulation

Everyday services (schools, shops, etc) Overpopulation

Cheap & easy to build

Require a small team of qualified workers

Take little time to be built

Khrushchev and his housing project

HousingPerestroika

The new General Moscow Development Plan (1998)

Main Town Planning (25 years)

City Zoning (12-16 years)

Prime measures (4-8 years)

Housing

Current situation

The social groups identified in Moscow can be summarized as follows:• 1. Pensioners (1.9 million in 1997 rising to 2.2 million in 2020);• 2. Invalids (0.7 million in 1997, 0.8 million in 2020);• 3. Single mothers (66,500 in 1997, 75,000 in 2020);• 4. Families of dependent children (34,000 families in 1997, 50,000

in 2020);• 5. Students’ families (1,100 families in 1997, 5,000 in 2020);• 6. Refugees (13,000 in 1997);• 7. People with no fixed abode (“BOMji”) (60,000 in 1997) ;• 8. Run-away children (6,000 in 1997, 30,000 in 2002);• 9. Orphans (5,100 in 1997, 5,000 in 2020).

HousingProblems:1.House expenses;2.Deteriorated housing:• Squatter flats;• Shabby and dilapidated houses;• Communal flats;• Primitive first generation industrial houses.

Housing

“The state of crisis of the housing complex is based on its dependence on subsidies and unsatisfactory financing, expensive maintenance and absence of economic incentives for reduction of costs of municipal services, lack of a competitive environment and, as a consequence, high percentage of wear of fixed capital assets, ineffective operation of the enterprises, large- scale loss of energy, water and other resources“

(Strategy for the Realisation of a Federal Housing Programme 2000-2020)

Transport

Public transport

Metro service Bus & minibus services Morning train service

TransportMetro service

Future:• Security system;• Extension of the lines;• Reconstruction;• Modernization;• Improvements in the service.

TransportBus and minibus services

Problems:• Always full up;• Dirty;• Uncomfortable;• Old cars;• Can be simply dangerous to use.

Transport

Morning train service

Benefits Shortcomings

A cheap and easily accesible inter-city connection

Almost always dirty and overcrowded

A well-developed railway network

The number of the trains hasn’t increased

Sometimes faster than a car The fares don’t really correspond to the quality

Usually more reliableTramps and beggars

Frequent delays or cancellations

Transport

Personal transport

Reasons for using Problems, caused by personal transport

Freedom Traffic jams

Independence Road accidents

A personalized transport solution Ecological problems

Convenient May affect people’s mental health

Fast Possible problems at work or school

Transport

Traffic jams : problem solving

Ecology

Reasons, threatening the environment of Moscow:

• The development of the transport system;• The growing number of industrial objects and

plants in the city;• Deforestation;• Overpopulation.

Ecology

Water suppliesMoscow water supply system:1.Water reservoirs (Mozhaiskoie, Ruzskoe,

Vazuzskoie, etc);2.Rivers (Moscow, Istra, etc).

Ecology

Problems:• Heavy metals in drinking water;• Pesticides;• Waste water disposed by the city’s sewage

system.

Ecology

Deforestation

Direct causes:• Logging• Overpopulation• Urbanization• Construction• Conversion of forest areas to non-forest lands for settlement

Natural causes:• Forest fires• Hurricanes

EcologyKhimki forest:

A high speed road VS the "Green belt”

Ecology

EcologySolutions:• raising of quality of the domestic water supply in Moscow;• establishment of an integrated system of protected;• establishment of an integrated system for the treatment,

disposal, and utilization of domestic and industrial wastes;• establishment of a special planning and environmental

control in the areas near ecologically dangerous plants; • reducing of the proportion of environmentally

uncomfortable areas;• improving the level of environmental education.

Ecology

Ecological educationAim: to ensure people’s awareness of both their

health and environment.Main idea : Environmental education is a basis

for security because it allows to avoid different risks.

Survey

Survey

Survey

Survey

Survey

Bibliography

1. V. Sitin – the History of Moscow2. Moscow State Department of Statistics (1990) Moscow in Numbers 1990, a Statistical Yearbook. Moscow State

Department of Statistics, Moscow3. The Totals of distribution of residential floor area in Moscow for 1996 “73, 1997.4. ‘Housing for 2002-2010 years’. Federal purpose-oriented programme. Published in “ 5. Krasheninnikov A. V. - Housing development programme for Fili-Davidkovo, Moscow. Final report for workshop: Inner

City Development in Transitional Ecinomies”. Institute for housing and urban development studies, Report code 2452, Rotterdam, 1997.

6. Law of Moscow on Developing a Master plan (1997). Law on Development in Natural Complexes (Landscapes)7. Law on Muster plan of Urban Development of Moscow till the 2020, (1999)8. Law on Protection of Rights of citizens in a course of urban development,9. Law on Public Participation on discussions of Urban Development plans" 1998,10. Law on Urban Zoning of Moscow.(1998).11. The Law on Moscow as a Capital of RF. 1996.12. The Town-Planning Codex of Russian Federation (RF). - 2001.13. www.wikipedia.org14. www.mos.ru15. www.mosgorzdrav.ru16. www.moseco.ru17. www.ecology.ru18. www.gks.ru19. www.protown.ru20. http://www.bellona.ru/21. The New Yorker Digital Edition, August 02, 201022. www.sovietmoscow.ru