The master plans have been approved for 25 cities with the total population of over four million in the Far Eastern Federal District and for 15 cities in Russia’s Arctic, where 1.7 million people live. The comprehensive development program was also supplemented by 192 core populated areas with 1.8 million dwellers in the Far East and the Arctic, according to the press service of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic.

“Until 2030, the master plans for the Far Eastern cities include 1,057 projects. Out of this number, 200 have already been completed, 315 are currently under construction, 88 are in the design stage, and another 454 are scheduled for implementation. The work is funded from the federal and regional budgets, as well as from non-budgetary sources. At the same time the sources of financing for a significant portion of projects have already been identified,” noted Deputy Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Elvira Nurgalieva.

According to the sociological surveys, 84 percent of the population in the Far Eastern Federal District favorably evaluate the master plans program and 65 percent can see favorable changes in the urban environment. The projects implementation is accompanied by a growth in the activity of design and architecture companies in the Far East, increase of professional competences and creation of new jobs.

Noteworthy is that the long-term plans of developing cities and agglomerations in the Arctic Zone until 2035 provide for 516 actions with the total financing of 2.9 trillion rubles. Priority is given to social infrastructure, upgrade of housing and public utilities, transport, development of housing and urban environment, as well as to projects in ecology, industry, tourism and small business support.