The Ministry of Construction and DOM.RF presented the Urban Environment Quality Index for 2023

On Monday, April 1, DOM.RF and the Ministry of Construction of Russia presented the Urban Environment Quality Index for the past year at the TASS press center. The compilers of the index, government officials and other industry experts assessed the main trends in the improvement of Russian cities. Details in our material.

The goal is to improve people’s living standards

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin noted that President Vladimir Putin ordered to increase the share of cities with a favorable urban environment to 80% by 2030 and to increase the average value of the urban environment quality index by one and a half times.

“The Urban Environment Quality Index is not a competition between cities, but an effective tool for determining their development priorities. It helps to understand what priority measures need to be taken to solve problems, what areas need to be more actively developed in order to improve the quality of the urban environment and ultimately improve people’s living standards. This year we counted it for the sixth time,” noted Khusnullin.

If the locality index value exceeds 50%, the urban environment is favorable. At the end of 2023, the share of cities with a favorable environment over five years has increased two and a half times to 68%; today their number in Russia has reached 759, with a planned value of 603. And the average index value for the country was 200 points.

“These are not just numbers, but real deeds. Because people see how cities are changing,” concluded the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. He recalled that citizens can take part in the all-Russian online voting for improvement projects. It will last until April 30.

Major Index Leaders

The top ten large Russian cities with the highest index scores include Mytishchi, Khimki, Yaroslavl, Belgorod, Tyumen, Grozny, Kaliningrad, Balashikha, Sochi and Bryansk. Moreover, 98% of cities with a population of 250 thousand or more have a favorable urban environment.

“The main goal of the Index is to draw the attention of management teams to weaknesses in urban infrastructure, for example, an obvious shortage of important facilities for people – schools, kindergartens, sports, medical and cultural facilities, an insufficient level of landscaping or transport accessibility,” said the CEO DOM.RF Vitaly Mutko.

Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation Alexey Eresko clarified that the urban environment quality index is formed on the basis of 36 indicators of the level of comfort of living in the city. The maximum index score is 360 points.

“The level of comfort is not only the improvement of urban spaces, the number of parks and playgrounds. This is the state of infrastructure, ease of life, safety and attractiveness of the city for citizens and business,” noted Eresko, adding that at the end of 2023, three new cities were included in the index: Kurchaloy, Murino and Belozersky.

The important role of regional cooperation

“We are faced with a very important task to improve the quality of the urban environment by 2030, outlined by the President of the Russian Federation. The urban environment quality index is a tool for monitoring the development and improvement of life in Russian cities, which evaluates not only the improvement of territories and public spaces, but also the development of the road network and transport and social and leisure infrastructure, pedestrian accessibility to city attraction points, and safety,” said Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation Irek Faizullin.

The creation of regional master plans plays a major role in improving the quality of the urban environment. These are comprehensive documents that allow the authorities to develop a strategy for the development of the territory. Through zoning and infrastructure optimization, the master plan helps create a city that is comfortable to live in and has points of attraction.

As an example of such interaction, Denis Filippov, Deputy General Director of DOM.RF, cited cities where the index has increased significantly.

“In 2023, we started master plans for Grozny and the Cheboksary agglomeration, the concept for the capital of the Chechen Republic has already been prepared, work on Cheboksary is close to completion. Both cities are already included in the group with a favorable environment, but the master plans will open up new opportunities for them to improve people’s living standards and promising points of economic and industrial growth. In this regard, bringing master planning to the level of a federal program with the preparation of 200 concepts will become the basis for positive changes in large and small cities,” Denis Filippov clarified. In addition, the speaker recalled the “Architects.pf” program, thanks to which Russian cities annually receive high-quality industry specialists.

“The urban environment quality index is unemotional. He really measures what’s going on dryly. And it clearly demonstrates positive changes; managers, experts and, of course, residents see this,” said the director of the Center for Geodemography and Spatial Development of Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov Alexander Panin.

Seven out of ten Russians are satisfied with the urban environment

VTsIOM General Director Konstantin Abramov voiced the assessment of the quality of the urban environment from the Russians surveyed. According to the Foundation, 69% of residents over 18 years of age generally see the good quality of the urban environment in their places of residence. In two capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg, 87% of citizens are satisfied with the quality of the urban environment. The majority of respondents consider municipal authorities responsible for this indicator.

The survey showed that the majority of the population, 85% of residents, want to take an active part in measures to improve the urban environment, and only 11% are not ready to help the authorities in this matter. Russians are enthusiastically ready to go to cleanup days in parks and their own yards, participate in voting and public discussions on the topic of improvement, as well as help charitable organizations and leave feedback on the quality of work.

“Seven out of ten Russians today characterize the state of the urban environment as good. Urbanization and region of residence are the most important factors in assessing the state of the urban environment: the larger the city, the more often people give positive assessments… One of the important engines of city development is youth, who need to be involved in solving issues of urban environment development,” concluded Konstantin Abramov.