Acceptance of applications for the Open International Competition for the development of an architectural and planning renovation concept for the city of Norilsk up to 2035 has ended.

The competition began in July at the initiative of the municipality and the Norilsk Development Agency, supported by Nornickel. The operator is International Urban Laboratory CENTER Lab.

To participate, it was necessary to register on the project website https://norilsk2035.ru/, provide a portfolio of completed projects and an essay on the transformation of Norilsk, taking into account the unique geographical location of the polar city, climate characteristics, historical features of buildings, as well as a new vision of the territory, which is currently seeing active development both as a world-class metalworking hub and a skill, knowledge, and research center in the Arctic.

27 participants filled out applications fulfilling all the competition rules: 12 individual applicants and 15 consortia, with a total of 73 companies.

The geography of the participants is vast, including 13 countries and 22 cities. Applications of architectural bureaus from Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Kirovsk, Yakutsk, Reutov and Saratov), the United Kingdom (London), Denmark (Copenhagen), Belarus (Minsk), China (Changchun), Turkey (Istanbul), India (Mumbai), USA (Charlottesville), Canada (Toronto), France (Paris and Charenton), the Netherlands (Utrecht), Sweden (Stockholm) and Norway (Tromsø and Bodø).

On October 19, a jury of experts in the field of integrated territory development, the environment, economics and spatial planning, marketing and communications, technology and innovation from Russia and abroad will choose three finalists who will develop competitive proposals. The participants will have to propose their solutions on making Norilsk more appealing as a place to live, study, and work in; improving social activity in urban areas; overhauling the existing objects; and developing the transport and engineering infrastructures.

The competition will complete in March 2022.

The creation of the architectural and planning concept for the renovation of Norilsk up to 2035 is an important stage of the city’s social and economic development program under the four-sided agreement between the governments of the Russian Federation and Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Norilsk city administration, and Nornickel.