center of gravity for the people of appropriate nature, aptitudes, abilities and talents for certain areas of life coming from all over the country and beyond. These competency centers and centers of gravity can emerge in such sectors as education, science, culture, energy, security, economy, management, technology, production of certain goods, agriculture, various intellectual spheres, etc. It is important to emphasize here that we are not talking about the division of functions and their isolated performance by one or another part of the country; each region would still have all the institutions necessary for a fully independent functioning, with a focus on the development of a specific aspect.
An important element of prioritizing specifically the module of creating Cities of the Future is its multitasking – the ability to raise and solve simultaneously a great number of systemic issues necessary to build a new public system.
By implementing such a mechanism, we could "turn back the tide" of the current wrongheaded urbanization process, when the country’s population gravitates towards maybe fifteen to twenty cities, and ultimately to just one or two metropolitan regions, leading obviously to numerous risks and challenges.
The City of the Future, as a model, could be a territory where the people can live a full life, in and of themselves. It can be divided into residential areas, natural areas needed to maintain the environment of the common space, land for agricultural production, industrial areas, public recreation and leisure facilities (parks, squares, embankments, etc.), commercial areas (offices, business centers, etc.), consolidated trade zones, all necessary local and general social infrastructure to ensure the complete cycle of society functioning in all aspects of life – pre-school, secondary and higher education institutions, research centers, cultural amenities (theaters, cinemas, musical schools, concert halls, museums, etc.), and healthcare facilities (clinics, hospitals, medical institutes, etc.), and so on. Zoning of the City of the Future must be carried out in accordance with the new norms to ensure its integrity and self-sufficiency in performing its internal and external functions according to the principle of "autonomous organism."
It is possible to develop each region into a unique competency center and the respective center of gravity for the people of appropriate nature, aptitudes, abilities and talents for certain areas of life coming from all over the country and beyond.
Some of the following principles can be integrated in the design of the Cities of the Future:
• Population – up to about 100 thousand people;
• Total area – up to 25 km2 (for example, 5x5 km);
• Land distribution and urban zoning must follow the established norms in proportion to the total land area, to avoid disproportions and misalignment: natural territories – at least (%), public rest and recreation areas – at least (%), urban commercial and trading areas – no more than (%), residential areas with complete internal infrastructure – (%), etc.;
• Requirements for the availability of local infrastructure must be established in proportion to the capacity and purpose of the residential areas, including new types of infrastructure (neighborhood centers, community centers, urban public spaces, art spaces, co-working areas, etc.);
• As far as the local transportation is concerned, the City of the Future must prioritize the use of small and eco-friendly transport – bicycles, electric vehicles, etc.;
• Convenient and compact – the standards must establish that each urban planning unit (block, neighborhood) is to be supplied with everything necessary for the most convenient use of facilities by city residents, minimizing the need to travel around the city (to other urban planning units) and maximizing the efficient use of time;
• Eco-friendly – the cross-cutting principle of using the most environmentally friendly technologies in design, construction and operation in all areas of activity;
• Other principles.
It is particularly important to develop the infrastructure representing each sphere of life in the Cities of the Future (security, environment, provision of basic resources and needs, business, economy, finance, trade, lifestyle, fashion, management, education, culture, science, religion, worldview, etc.), each becoming a model of the development of the respective sphere in the future life order. These facilities will act as the drivers of reforms and transition towards the new life model, both for their specific spheres and the society as a whole.
Addressing the issue of building these representative facilities will require engaging the country’s leading development institutions in the corresponding areas in the joint design process, each being responsible for their own aspects in the life order of the future.
When developing new models for the organization of various spheres of life in the future and the new life order for the society of the future, all the development must be based on a single denominator, the fundamental idea of good and its manifestation, deployed and applied through various channels in each sphere.
At present, the Association of Volunteer Centers of Russia has created and operates the federal «Dobro» ("Good") Platform. The Platform has developed rapidly and widely since its launch; its underlying model of social interaction between the people based on mutual help, mutual assistance, and mutual kindness has proven relevant and viable and has received a vocal response from the majority of the country’s population who had the opportunity to experience it. This once again confirms the basic genotype of the Russian person, which is not limited to any specific national, territorial, etc. attributes but represents a universal foundation of traditional values and a certain natural moral choice of being above all a human.
We consider it reasonable to implement the Cities of the Future project largely on the basis of the Dobro Platform and the respective Association of Volunteer Centers, since this endeavor must be focused around ideology and common sense, and this will be the most adequate entry point into the project, setting it up for proper public presentation and the involvement of key development institutions and the state. The worldview vector of this Platform, although it may require some refinement and broader deployment, generally corresponds with the general future ideological vector of Russia and is aligned with the scope of the Cities of the Future project to be carried out under Russia’s flag.
Another issue of fundamental importance for joint development of the different aspects of the future life order is the consolidating ideological function of the common denominator of Good, which the namesake Platform ("Dobro" means "Good" in Russian) can be responsible for.
Since the concept of the Cities of the Future is based on the overarching idea of good and the «Dobro» Platform is already in operation, we suggest the following name for the project: Cities of the Future – "Dobro.City."
Of course, the overview in this article is somewhat simplistic, and the model of the Cities of the Future needs to be elaborated in more detail, which will be done in the process of working on this large-scale project.
Экспертные мнения / Expert Opinions
Сто лет тому вперед: архитекторы – о будущем городов
Юлия Вяткина
DOI 10.55140/2782-5817-2022-2-S2-10-15
Мы не знаем, что ждет нас впереди, но верим в лучшее будущее.
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