The formation of a sustainable approach to the development of the Arctic and the provision of master plans for Far Eastern and Arctic cities are the key topics of the XIV International Forum "The Arctic: Present and Future" named after A. N. Chilingarov. The Murmansk region in St. Petersburg was represented by Deputy Governor Olga Vovk.
"In developing master plans for our settlements, it is important to find a balance between putting the existing infrastructure in order and creating a new one, so as not to inflate the budget costs for construction and maintenance. We have found such a balance in the Murmansk region. I would like to voice our vision at this forum, because an important part of it is the resolution and the solutions that are proposed to further help the development of the entire Arctic zone of Russia," the Vice–governor stressed at the plenary session "Ahead of the challenges: future trajectories for the subjects of the Arctic zone."
On behalf of the President of Russia, the events of the master plans of the cities of the Far East and the Arctic will be prioritized, becoming part of new national projects. In turn, the expenditures of national projects are a priority of the federal budget.
In July 2023, after Vladimir Putin's visit to the Murmansk Region, 16 stronghold settlements of the Arctic zone were identified. From the region, they included the Murmansk agglomeration (Murmansk, Kola district and BUT Severomorsk), the Kirovsko-Apatitskaya agglomeration (Kirovsk, Apatity, Polar Dawns) and the Monchegorsk agglomeration (Monchegorsk).
Priority projects have already been selected to be implemented in the main settlements. It is planned that they will serve the development of not only agglomerations, but the entire Kola Arctic. One of these is the creation of a world–class campus in Murmansk, which also found support from the head of state, as he announced at the Eastern Economic Forum.
"The campus and the Arctic Center for Marine Engineering Developments will be formed on the basis of Murmansk Arctic University as part of its further modernization. The concept is currently being worked out. I think that the construction activities will begin no earlier than in a year," Olga Vovk noted.
Another major planned construction is underway in Kola, where project financing has been allocated for a residential complex. An agreement has already been signed with the company implementing the project to implement measures to connect to utility networks. Olga Vovk reported this at the working session of the forum "Comfortable minus 40: housing and urban environment in the Far North". The region assumed the costs of providing electricity and heat supply at the expense of an infrastructure budget loan. This will reduce the cost of buying apartments for the population and show federal developers, who are only considering the possibility of implementing projects in the Murmansk region, the government's readiness for dialogue.
/ Ministry of Urban Planning and Landscaping of the Murmansk region /