Social and Environmental Aspects of the Improvement of Natural and Historical Territories

The experience of designing and public discussions of a project for the improvement of an object intended for mass recreation – a beach with swimming in the Stroginskaya floodplain in Moscow is considered. Materials of IGBI LLC and Alfamik LLC (general designer of the project) were used for the study. The design and implementation of the project was carried out in 2012–2014. in connection with the numerous appeals of residents to the mayor of Moscow. The recreational area under consideration with an area of more than 7 hectares is of urban importance and is located in the Stroginsky Park within the boundaries of the SPNT of regional significance “Natural and Historical Park” Moskvoretsky “in the territory with the fourth mode of urban development and is adjacent to the Stroginsky Bay – one of the largest artificial reservoirs of the capital. Residents of Strogino and other districts of Moscow have a rest in the area of the Stroginsky Bay, in the park and on the beach. The beach project was designed for 1.5 thousand tourists at a time, while affecting the interests of many thousands of Muscovites. Before the improvement of the beach in the Stroginskaya floodplain, there were no such large beaches, especially since in this case it was a beach with swimming, i. e. with increased sanitary, water protection and environmental requirements, where it is necessary to comply with many regulatory requirements, including those relating to architectural and planning, technical and other solutions that made it possible to equip it on the territory and in the water area with special modes of urban development. That is why retrospective analysis, social and environmental assessment of project results is of scientific, methodological and practical interest. The example shows that a significant part of the social requirements for the project were environmental protection, and it should be taken into account that in this case the residents of the district were well informed about the environmental status of the territory. The experience gained in building a constructive dialogue between designers and authorities, administration and the public in the development of design solutions at various stages of design – from pre-design justification and surveys to public discussions of proposed design solutions before submitting the project to the State Environmental Expertise is considered. Information and indicators of the main design decisions, confirming the social and environmental significance of the project, as well as an analysis of the opinions and concerns of residents regarding the improvement of the beach and the possibility of using it for swimming, are given. The features of the social and environmental assessment of large-scale improvement projects that affect the interests of a large number of residents are analyzed, the influence on the course of public discussions of “group interests” and “motivation” of the subjects of the assessment is noted. It is recommended to create a special methodology for social and environmental assessment of improvement projects for facilities intended for mass recreation in natural and historical areas.

E.L. BELYAEVA, Candidate of Sciences (Engineering) (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

LLC Institute of Geobiospheric Research (1, Off. 512, Annenskiy Proezd, Moscow, 127521, Russian Federation)

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