International best practices in urban development were discussed at the RUSSIA EXPO

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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.