International best practices in urban development were discussed at the RUSSIA EXPO
During the RUSSIA EXPO on June 21, a plenary session of the
BRICS Urbanization Forum "Forming Sustainable Development Strategies for
Urban Environment" took place. Participants discussed optimizing processes
in urban improvement and shared best practices in creating a comfortable living
environment.
The development of cooperation within the BRICS format is an
unconditional priority of Russia's foreign policy, noted Minister of
Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia Irek Fayzullin.
"The traditional urbanization forum has established
itself as a platform for fruitful exchange of views and best practices,"
highlighted Irek Fayzullin.
The head of the ministry spoke about Russia's experience and
achievements in the construction industry and communal complex, as well as
priority development directions. Over the past five years, Russia has
introduced 513.7 million square meters of housing, including 239.6 million
square meters of apartment buildings. By 2030, the plan is to update the
housing stock by 20%. In addition, since 2018, the "Stimulus" program
for housing construction has resulted in the construction of 786 facilities and
the additional introduction of 51.8 million square meters of housing. Since
2019, the average construction duration has been reduced by 2.5 years, noted
Irek Fayzullin. Efforts in this direction will continue, aiming to reduce the
time from idea to project implementation to no more than 1000 days.
Minister particularly emphasized the creation of a
comfortable urban environment, mentioning that more than 700 public spaces have
been renovated within the framework of a nationwide competition for
landscaping. Residents from
all regions vote for these projects — this year alone, 17.2 million people
participated in selecting new attraction points.
These initiatives will be reflected in the new national
project "Infrastructure for Life", developed in accordance with the
national development goals defined by President Vladimir Putin.
"In the future, by 2030, we are tasked with improving at
least 30,000 public spaces and implementing no fewer than 1,600 winning
projects in small and historic settlements. Another key objective for our
sector is to enhance the quality of municipal services for citizens. By the
President's instruction, we must improve housing and utilities services for 20
million residents of our country. To achieve this, plans are in place to
construct and modernize no fewer than two thousand drinking water supply
facilities," emphasized Irek Fayzullin.
The session involved participation from Minister of Urban
Development of the Federative Republic of Brazil Jader Barbalho Filho, Minister
of Urban Development and Infrastructure of the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia Chaltu Sani, Deputy Minister of Housing, Urban and Rural Construction
of the People's Republic of China Qin Haisyan, Joint Secretary of the Ministry
of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Republic of India Kunal Kumar and other
representatives from foreign states. They discussed state programs for urban
improvement in their respective countries and shared experiences with
colleagues.
The BRICS Urbanization Forum serves as a platform where
member countries exchange advanced practices and viewpoints on housing
construction, architecture, creating comfortable urban environments, urban
planning and specialized education. It takes place on June 21-22 under Russia's
BRICS chairmanship, organized by the Roscongress Foundation.
