The buzzword for Moscow now is ‘reconstruction boom’. Some eight months ago any pavement change inevitably ignited heated debates among home-grown urbanists. Now one strolls indifferently among — no, better say ‘along’ — interminable construction sites which are currently most streets downtown.
Cars and drivers are little by little being squeezed out of the city, traffic gradually calms down with shrinking opportunities for long-term and chaotic parking. Pedestrian zones are being widened up, at the cost of what was yesterday driving lanes illegally colonized for parking.
The city is becoming more and more user-friendly, with navigation signs leading you to some sites up-to-present unknown even to me as a local. But the most important is positive information approach. Every reconstruction site is now accompanied by detailed and nicely visualized explanation what’s going on and, of course, catchphrases like ‘It is going to be a better and more comfortable place here very soon’ or even historical explanations: ‘Escalators should be replaced due to technical requirements: at Baumanskaya station they are arguably the oldest on our underground, dating back to 1930s’.
Moscou, je t’aime.
6 July 2015. — Saint Petersburg