News 24.09.2012

Moscow set to double in size with new masterplan for city expansion

An international jury has awarded the first prize in the design of the new Capital District of Moscow City to the Anglo-American team in which Gillespies played a central role.

The Capital Cities Planning Group (CCPG), is an Anglo-American team led by Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh. The 'City in the Forest' plans for 1.7 million people, providing 800,000 new jobs with a focus around the 'Triple Helix of Government, Education and Business'.

The federal city plan looks to create an integrated, properly-planned urban hierarchy served by a transit-orientated movement system around a series of ecological lakes designed by Gillespies.

Gillespies used the natural topography of the site to create the lakes as the setting for the new Federal District, and this was a key factor for the competition jury when they appraised the different proposals. This landscape-based approach harnesses existing topography to work with a series of lakes in the centre of the new district, surrounded by a forest landscape.

Brian Evans, Partner in charge of the work at Gillespies and who led the British side of the team says:

"We are all knocked out by this recognition for our work on the world stage. It seems that our design to use the natural topography of the site to create a series of lakes as the setting for the new Federal District was one of the key factors in the jury's mind when they appraised the different proposals."

"The Russian Government wanted to address issues of urban sprawl around the edge of the city and the fact that a lot of middle class Muscovites were abandoning the city because of congestion"

"What helped to win it for us was that we really understood the Russian landscape, culture and climate."

The Government of Moscow set up a 6 month, 3-stage process with all the teams working and reporting to the Moscow Government on a monthly basis. The finished work of all the teams is currently on show at a public exhibition in Gorky Park.


Related projects

Moscow Expansion Masterplan