On 2nd October, 2020, the jury started accepting applications from participants of the Open International Architectural Competition to develop the territory of the right bank embankment of the Moscow River from the MKAD to Strogino Highway. The competition will be held online. Applications will be accepted on the official project website http://www.moskvarekastrogino.ru/ until October 15. The most important conditions to operate on the competition area include the need to comply with all environmental and other requirements for working with specially protected natural areas, and participating in teams of landscape architects.

The competition has been initiated by Moscomarchitecture and is organized by the state institution "NI and PI Gradplan of the City of Moscow" as a singe municipal operator to implement the urban development concept to develop territories adjacent to the Moscow River and the Khimki Reservoir.

"We have launched a competition for a new park in Strogino. There are excellent natural resources here that will not only be preserved, but also in some sense multiplied. If we provide this territory with a comfortable infrastructure, we will get a very interesting green space with a careful attitude to nature, safe at any time of the day, adapted for recreation and equally accessible to everyone. I encourage everyone who is interested in taking part in this exciting work, to submit applications. The competition has already been announced, so we started accepting the applications today."
  -Sergey Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow

The area of the competition territory is 105.5  ha. It is located in the North-Western administrative district of the city of Moscow and is bounded by the right bank of the Moscow River, the Moscow Ring Roadand Isakovsky Street. Strogino is one of the oldest districts in Moscow with good transport accessibility and developed infrastructure. There are three metro stations there – Strogino, Shchukinskaya and Myakinino. The territory under consideration is a key part of the city's natural and recreational framework, which is part of the Moskvoretsky natural and historical park.

"The goal of the competition is to create a high-quality, comfortable, inclusive urban environment for recreation of citizens, as well as to preserve and maintain a unique landscape creating a recognizable image of this territory, which is part of the Moskvoretsky natural and historical park. The Northern bank of the Strogino floodplain is sandy, and the sandy soil is most susceptible to the destructive effects of water. The sloping part of the Spassky Backwater bank is destroyed by river washout, and the high steep slopes facing the Moscow river are also destroyed by rainwater, whose active flow forms deep ravines and crevices. All this will eventually lead to the destruction of the bank, the fall of trees and the washing of soil into the water. Therefore, the primary task of the contestants is to offer interesting and innovative solutions to protect the riverbanks taking into account the specifics of this protected natural area. Other measures are also needed to preserve and maintain the unique natural landscape, to ensure maximum safety of people in this area."
-Dina Sattarova, Director of the state institution "NI and PI Gradplan of the City of Moscow"

The organizers are waiting for proposals coming from participants on architectural and planning, spatial and landscape solutions for the improvement of the embankment to integrate into the environment, taking into account the requirements for a specially protected natural area. That is why landscape architects, professionals in the field of strategic development of territories and urban planning, architecture, design, creation and development of public spaces are invited to participate. Preference will be given to teams with proven experience working with natural areas.

Chief Architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov is the Chairman of the jury. The jury consists of landscape architects, environmentalists, representatives of public authorities, experts in the field of architecture, economics, marketing, real estate and urban planning.

The total prize fund of the competition is 14,000,000 rubles. Of these, 11,000,000 rubles will be spent as payment fees to a winner and finalists of the second round. Another 3,000,000 rubles is an additional remuneration to the winner after the jury accepts his final revised concept version.

As part of the competition preparation, Gradplan as a single city operator and coordinator of projects developed on the Moscow river embankments, conducted a comprehensive analytical study of the territory to be improved on the Moscow river’s right bank from the MKAD to Strogino highway. The goal of the research was to identify the area potential and the needs of those who live there. As a result of the research, the current situation and the main directions to develop the territory were analyzed, the world experience of working with reference examples was consolidated, and the needs of the population were taken into account.