Background
The game was played on 18 December, 2009, on the premises of the Arcus business centre, which uses green technologies in its development. The participants included representatives of local authorities and the local education community, business people, architects and journalists, local residents, European experts (specialists on green architecture) and Russian ecologists from organisations such as Greenpeace, WWF, the ‘Zapovedniki’ Centre.
Objectives
The aim of the game was to generate new ideas for making Horoshevskiy District in the north of Moscow more environmentally friendly, including the following aspects: ecology and business, green architecture, eco-education development, ecology and culture. The Future City Game also facilitated dialogue between the participants, provided for the exchange of experience and helped them create a co-working space.
The game was co-organised by British Council Ecowiki project and Theories & Practices in partnership with the Prefecture of the northern administrative district of Moscow, the Arcus business centre (which was the platform for the game, and whose members were participants).
Lectures of the European experts
You can watch lectures of some of the experts who took part at the event:
- Architecture of Educational process by Tom Ebdon
- Reality and mythology: green architecture in Western Europe and in Russia by Guy Eames
- 21st century Urban Nature by Sander Lap
- Integrating and reflecting nature in the built environment by Paul Ciniglio
Winning idea
Eco-Strips
The project is based on the “green strips” concept, which is mentioned in its name. It is a complex space which joins different types of infrastructure, raising the ecological level of the district. The project begins from zero and develops step by step. It includes different aspects, such as culture (creativity), society (community, services), business (working places, small and medium business).
This complex consists of different parts:
Cultural level:
Communication centre,
‘Eco-Moscow’ competition
Open-air eco-theatre
Social level:
Eco-bar as a place to discuss new green initiatives and projects
Rethinking old buildings
Infrastructure for cyclists
Centre of eco-education
Business level:
Developing sources of green energy,
Recycling
New jobs in developing green business
All these infrastructure components are interconnected and concentrated in one place – on the green strip. For example, the eco-bar and communicative centre are situated in a building which uses green energy. The eco-centre can be used for business purposes, exhibitions etc.
Winning ideas from the other teams
Hodynka city park
The project is relevant because of the lack of cultural venues in the district: there are no meeting places, and too many offices and industrial sites. At the same time, Horoshevskiy District includes Hodinskoye pole, a place with abundant free space for green projects.
Purpose:
Create ‘Hodynka City Park’ eco-centre, including the following:
1. parks – green area for leisure and relaxation (Hodynka Gardens)
2. eco-building and development education centre
3. sports centre (tennis courts, golf course, open air ice-rink)
4. memorial aviation museum
Ideas:
Providing landscape gardening in the district
Creating a centre for leisure and education
Support for local residents
Finance:
Private investment
Support of the ‘Ecological House’ project
Support of local people
ECO city centre
Slogan:
Happy people breathe fresh air!
Ideas:
Creating a special zone for leasehold improvement along the railway line and in Zorge Street.
Included in the project are the following:
- A glass-domed building over the railway station
- Converting old garages and car service-centres into a new system of multifunctional buildings
- Enlarging Zorge Street to provide better access for transport
Purpose:
- Raising the ecological level of the district
- Developing the infrastructure
- Attracting investment to an unattractive district
- New jobs
Green paradise
This project is a global vision of how to make Horoshevskiy District greener, which means not only planting trees, but also making the lifestyle green. The team think that one can not make an area really green without affecting the lifestyle and thinking of its residents.
These are the most innovative ideas of the team:
· to regenerate the district as a brand, which in the distant future will enable it to influence the city;
· to transform Begovaya Street from a busy with traffic and polluted area into a park by rerouting traffic into a newly built tunnel and planting trees on the cleared area;
· to rehabilitate the river and clear an area for apartment blocks in an area where at the moment there is a busy traffic junction
Vision 20:20 MoscO2W
The name of the project is symbolic, with O2 being a symbol for the oxygen and fresh air which Moscow residents need so much. 20:20 vision symbolises that this development is to be completed by 2020.
The aim of the project is to create an ecological multi-complex ‘Hodynka’ which will combine a large number of opportunities for green education, art, culture, sustainable development, and green business.
First steps:
· Foundation of an eco-programme for residents
· Green architects award
· To establish an eco-investors foundation
· To create a MOSCО2W project team
