In light of holding the Open International Architectural Competition to develop the territory of the right bank embankment of the River Moskva from Moscow Ring Road to Stroginskoe Shosse, a project webinar (online-meeting) was held with the residents of Strogino, Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo, Tushino and others.

More than 300 people took part in this event, which lasted nearly 4 hours. The organizers and managers of the competition talked through information on the competition itself, as well as its stages.

The residents were told about the qualities of a competition environment, calling special attention to analytical research that was done in spring and the results of questionnaires aimed at calling light to the demands residents had concerning the future of said competitive environment.

After all of the speeches, the webinar participants split into 4 groups, corresponding with the topic that most caught their interest:
· Abiding by and maintaining the norms set for specially protected natural areas:  specifically, which regimes of the current security zones should be abided by; which of the more significant sites should be examined further; which particular qualities should be taken into account during improvement - which elements are subject to deconstruction, which sites should be cleared of overgrowth; how it’s possible to raise the level of security; which services does the territory require - renting sports equipment, outdoor seating, blankets; the need in cultural events; which organizational arrangements should be enhanced (garbage cleanup, security patrol, dividing recreational areas from dog-walking zones, solving the homeless animal problem).

· Recreational infrastructure: which improvements should be made on the territory – small architectural sites, еco-trails, navigation; which sporting and games grounds hold necessity – the positioning of playgrounds, retail infrastructure; are cafes and other sources of food necessary, their amount and positioning; riverside infrastructure - equipping spots dedicated to winter swimming, building piers, organizing site-seeing spots, improving beaches.

· Transportation infrastructure and route connectivity: expanding or shrinking lanes; setting up stops; organizing regulated cross-walks.

· Leisure purposes: determining the goal of visiting this park; the preferred format in which events will take place in different parts of the territory.

In accordance with the chosen theme, the representatives of each group and the residents themselves were given the opportunity to voice their opinions online. Moderators and experts answered questions and recorded people’s thoughts on the matter.

The most burning questions were about the level of improvement on the specially protected natural areasterritories and the possibility of building a pedestrian bridge between the Strogino and Pokrovskoe Streshnevo areas.

While discussing organizational and legal measures, the people voiced a wish that the priority in resolving issues of improvement was left to the conservation of biological diversity of flora and fauna in specially protected natural areas, in accordance with the legal system.

An important result of this event was the established dialog between the event organizers and the residents, that all opinions were laid out and discussed. The ideas and queries voiced will be taken into account during further work on technical tasks for the participants and will help shape the future image of the territory the way that the residents see it.
We remind you, that the competitive lakeside territory of Moskva River is located in the Strogino Northwest administrative district of the city of Moscow. Three metro stations are within easy access: “Strogino”, “Shukinskaya”, “Myakinino”. This is a key area of the city's natural recreational framework, that’s part of an especially protected natural area “Natural and Historical park “Moskvoretskiy”. It connects the city and suburban riverside territories.

The Open International Competition will take place in two phases. Until the 15th of October you’d have to fill out an official application on the competition’s website www.moskvarekastrogino.ru, provide a portfolio of projects you’ve completed, that demonstrate experience relevant to the project, as well as an essay describing the main ideas that will turn out to be the base of the future concept. Based on these conditions, on the 21st of October the judges will announce the three finalists, that will work on developing propositions for the competition. The judges will assess the presented work and will choose a winner on the 2nd of December. The panel of judges will consist of government officials, experts in architecture, economics, marketing, real estate and urban planning, landscape architects.

The total prize fund of the competition is 14 000 000 rubles. Of these, the rewards to the winner and finalists of the II round are 11,000,000 rubles and an additional reward of 3,000,000 rubles to the winner after the revised concept is accepted.

This competition was initiated by the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow (Moskomarkhitektura) and organized by the State Research and Design Institute for Urban Development of the City of Moscow (GRADPLAN Moscow). The operator – Agency for Strategic Development CENTER.