New Frontiers of Moscow

Specialists from Russia and other countries will take care of the construction of new territories that have become part of Novaya Moskva. Their applications for the contest, arranged by the Moscow authorities, were submitted by 67 creative collectives, 30 of which are foreign. At the end of February, ten architectural bureaus won a tender, according to which each bureau received € 250,000 to implement its plan. The main goals set for the participants of the contest are the development of three main annexed territories, the transfer of federal institutions beyond the borders of the present city and the development of the Moscow agglomeration.

Expansion of borders is a habit

At the end of last year, contrary to the view that "Moscow is not rubber," the Federation Council approved a change in the borders of Moscow and the Moscow region. To the capital will add about 160 thousand hectares of land, which will increase the area of the city by 2.5 times. It will include lands from the South-West and Western districts of the capital, in particular the cities of Troitsk, Shcherbinka, Kommunarka, Krasnogorsk, and the current border will be moved to the Kaluga region. In addition to the territories in the south-west and west of Moscow, Novaya Moskva will include three enclaves: the Skolkovo innovation center, the Rublevo-Arkhangelsk lands and the Upper Rublyovka.

This expansion of the city is by no means the first in its history, however it is the most ambitious. The last serious expansion of Moscow's borders was carried out in 1960, when the borders of the capital were transferred from the Small Ring of the Moscow Railway to the Moscow Ring Road. The next expansion was connected with the accession in 1963 of the satellite city of Zelenograd. The subsequent changes in the territory of the city were not so global, but tangible for the region. Moscow absorbed Butovo, Novoperedelkino, Solntsevo and nearby villages.

All have their own benefits

The government's initiative to create a "New Moscow" is connected with plans to transfer the majority of state institutions there, as well as with the intentions of officials to move from an obsolete radial-ring structure to a linear one. In the city, several chordal directions of traffic will be laid, which will link one part of the city to the other. Also, new projects have already been approved for construction of 60 million square meters. M of real estate for housing and 40 million square meters. M of non-residential space. In addition, the "New Moscow" plan provides for the construction of a separate elite city for officials, next to which a financial center will be built.

Two "bureaucratic" enclaves - the Rublevo-Arkhangelsk lands and the Upper Rublyovka - shortly before the crisis were laid by land owners in state-owned banks - Sberbank and VTB. There is a version according to which VTB Bank was interested in the "New Moscow" project. In 2010, VTB entered into a contract with Vesco Consulting to develop and analyze the concept of land development, but these lands were deemed unprofitable. Without abandoning the construction and sale of real estate on the Rublevo-Uspenskoye highway, in the spring of 2011 VTB created a management company VTB Real Estate to manage and increase the capitalization of its lands. They were able to achieve for their territories status changes from "land for agricultural purposes" to "for individual housing construction." The capitalization of the lands will be realized by transferring them to the status of Moscow, and also with further improvement of the transport situation.

Large areas - big problems

As a result of the expansion of the borders, Moscow will receive huge territories, which should reduce the burden on the present territory of the city. For this purpose, it is planned to change the transport infrastructure, which will help to connect all these new territories for faster and more convenient transportation within the boundaries of the established city. To connect the new areas of "Greater Moscow" and some remote areas of the city will extend the metro line, as, for example, the operating line "Southwest" will be extended by two distances and from South Butov will also pass one or two distances. An increase in the load on the transport network will affect many highways. Many of the highways that now lead to the region, will need to expand, in addition, it is necessary to build new interchanges and doubles. Experts predict that with an optimistic scenario for improving the road network will take at least 10 years.

With the acquisition of many lands of Moscow status, property prices in the former regional territories will approximate to the capital. The fact that the cost of objects will increase is unambiguous, but there are some criteria that will reduce it. So, for example, step-by-step accessibility to transport infrastructures can contribute to the increase in demand, and therefore, the very value of real estate, while due to the passing under the windows of the motorway, the price of housing may decrease by 10-15%. Marketers note that the price increase has already begun, but this process will proceed smoothly with the exception of temporary jumps. The cost of apartments located in the new areas of the city will be approximately equal to the cost of "castle". In general, experts predict a price increase of about 15-20%.

And you were not asked

The inhabitants, the annexed territories, their opinion about the coming changes: most of them they relate to changes with some apprehension. For people caught in the new capital, the decisive role is played not by their status and propiska, but by their welfare. In the case of the Moscow region's accession to Moscow, people are most interested in the issue of various Moscow benefits, payments, as well as the cost of utilities. Thanks to the new status, all the due payments will be pulled to the Moscow level and will be available not only to the beneficiaries. Moreover, people hope to solve problems of employment and pay.

The long perspective of good and the illusory hopes for a better life play a role. Many people are concerned that the possibility of demolition of their houses and plots, the construction of nearby territories that can touch them, looks more realistic than all the advantages of the new status. In any case, new communications, as well as changing the suburban areas for permanent housing will affect local residents.

Despite the signing of the decree on the transfer of Moscow's borders to the Kaluga region by the Federation Council, most of the plans remain only plans that, if implemented, will result in clearing their results no less than a decade from now. At the moment, there are still too many questions and problems to be solved. Thus, only time will tell what "New Moscow" stands for.