#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum hosted a dialogue between generations – Modern, Comfortable Urban Environment. What do young people need for life and development? The main question is: what do young people need to stay in their cities, develop the economy, form innovations, and fill the labor market.
The experts agreed that there are several main points of attraction that influence the young people’s choice. These are education, employment and the quality of the city environment. The topic was studied on the example of Norilsk: The Polar State University and the Nornickel Polar Branch cover the first two needs and make Norilsk a competitive city in the list of Russian agglomerations. As for the urban environment, the needs of young people are already included in the large-scale renovation program, which was launched a year ago with the active participation of the company.
“What is happening now in Norilsk is a historic event in terms of the Arctic development. And at the global level. Now we are doing a large-scale transformation of the polar city, no one has done anything like this before. Norilsk is unique, it is built on permafrost. There is snow here for nine months of the year, Norilsk is one of the five world’s windiest cities beyond the Arctic Circle. In terms of the urban environment, our city developed very slowly. But the time has come for us to change. Norilsk was included as a pilot project in the strategy for the development of the Arctic. Until 2035, serious funding has been allocated, about 300 billion rubles. And most of it is the investments of large business, the Nornickel company”, said Maxim Mironov, the Nornickel Polar Division deputy director advisor, the Norilsk Development Agency head.
The answer to the question of how to attract young people was sought among the townspeople. A large-scale sociological study was conducted, it involved more than two thousand residents. And based on the results, a list of almost two hundred items was formed. The best architects from different regions, including urbanists, were invited to give an expert assessment. And many objects were then included in the plan for the Norilsk comprehensive development until 2035.
Much of this list is completely atypical for the Arctic: an Arctic oasis, a botanical garden, a park, a museum of contemporary art, a social and cultural community center for co-working and meetings of various communities. And of course, the most modern school for 1100 students, which is already being designed.
“We can wait five to seven years when we build all this. But this will be a strategic mistake, because it is necessary to compete for young people now. Therefore, we have assembled managers teams from young Norilsk residents, and have identified curators for each. For two years, these teams will get acquainted with the best similar projects in our country, in order to form their model at home. But the most interesting thing is that the teams have been given a task: in addition to practices, they have to participate in road shows in other regions. And they have to recruit participants into their team, who will come to Norilsk to launch these projects and work in them on very good terms. Based on our experience, we will help restart our other cities in the Arctic zone”, Maxim Mironov emphasized.
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Text: Ekaterina Maksimova, Photo: Olga Polyanskaya and Maria Lenz
