Moscow modernization sparks backlash
Vocal few protest work to get rid of drab reminders from Soviet era
This capital city of winding medieval streets, Communist drabness and modern kitsch has embarked on a massive facelift to remove all Soviet-era wrinkles. But the disruptions are angering many Muscovites, who wouldn’t have dared to complain openly in the old repressive days.
“I feel like (our house is) stuck in the middle of these two constant construction sites,” said Julia Rieth, 28, drinking wine at a café on Moscow’s Pokrovka Street.
A decade ago, a handful of boutiques and restaurants struggled for space on dreary, narrow sidewalks on Maroseika and Pokrovka, a continuous street that runs northeast from the Kremlin. In 2014, it became one of the first areas to be renovated as part of central Moscow’s reconstruction. Now, amid rows of colorful facades, expanded pedestrian sidewalks are filled with outdoor cafés, musicians and strolling hipsters.
“Streets are being renovated; it’s hard, but we understand why it’s happening because we can see the end result,” said Rieth, who lives in the city center. “It’s fantastic compared to the cracking asphalt there was before. So as much as (the inconvenience) sucks, it’s worth it.”
More than 100 streets have been renovated in the past two years, and an additional 87 are slated for improvements by 2018, when Moscow hosts the World Cup soccer tournament.
The effort is popular — 86% of residents approve, according to a recent poll by the Center for Political Technologies. Yet a vocal minority of residents say authorities are ignoring their voices and ruining their city with gentrification and construction that is creating traffic jams everywhere.
“As a lot of Muscovites born and raised here, I feel the Moscow government hasn’t just failed to understand the city, it outright hates it,” said Ksenia Moldavskaya, 50, who has lived in Moscow all her life. “They first have to live here. As it is, they are taking away our city from us. Not just parts of it, but its very spirit.”
Making the city more pedestrian-friendly is taking a heavy toll on drivers and pedestrians alike, who have to navigate detours and chaotic construction sites. The Garden Ring, a major road that encircles central Moscow, sees daily gridlock because of work to restore the gardens.
“On the one hand, if you have pedestrian sidewalks and a city that looks like Western Europe where you can walk, then that’s good,” Moldavskaya said. But echoing what has become a pet peeve for longtime city dwellers here, Moldavskaya roiled against Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s obsession with replacing concrete with brickwork, something that has garnered accusations of corruption and nepotism against Sobyanin, whose wife has been linked to a brickmaking business, according to local media.
Part of the problem, according to the plan’s critics, comes down to taste. “If it’s going to be the same tasteless Sobyanin kitsch, it’s not worth the traffic jams,” Moldavskaya said.
Even more divisive have been plans to demolish 5,000 Sovietera building blocks, which would force about 1.6 million residents to give up their apartments in favor of whatever the city chooses for them.
In May, up to 30,000 people demonstrated against the residential renovation program, which they felt was imposed on them without respecting their private property. In June, dozens were arrested in an unsanctioned protest.
For Julia Galyamina, a professor and local politician who organized the protest, the issue hit home earlier this year. “Our apartment block is in a nice, green neighborhood, and it was under threat of demolition,” she said. “We were able to fight it back.”
The protests are in stark contrast to the days before the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, when city authorities did not care about residents’ opinions. Today, Sobyanin’s government has developed an online portal called “Active Citizen” to engage residents.
Still, fighting for change is tough, activists say.
“With the protest, we were able to scare the authorities. We got the number of buildings to be razed to about 5,000, down from about 8,500,” said Galyamina, who is also coordinating a project organizing against the residential renovation program.
In part, thanks to her efforts, the law on the residential renovation program has been changed to allow residents to fight it in court. “They give us ultimatums, we give them ultimatums,” she said.
Hundreds of historic buildings also face renovations that endanger Moscow’s heritage, says Arkhnadzor, a non-profit working to protect architectural monuments. It has been negotiating with city authorities to preserve older buildings.
“We have managed to get 150 buildings on a preservation rather than demolition list. There are 288 more buildings (slated to be demolished) that should be preserved,” said Arkhnadzor coordinator Konstantin Mikhailov.
He said authorities often ignore the city’s archaeological treasures. Earlier this summer, work on Ilyinka Street uncovered parts of a a 13th-century church, including weapons and relics. Archaeologists had to fight city authorities to allow them to continue exploration at the site.
“The Russian mentality is based on this idea of constant change,” said entrepreneur Rieth. “Anything could happen, the regime could change, the ruble could fall. Sanctions could hit us ... so we can’t hold onto something constantly.”
“They are taking away our city from us. Not just parts of it, but its very spirit.” Ksenia Moldavskaya