All remaining moscow ‘khrushchyovkas’ to be demolished

Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the proposal of Mayor Sergey Sobyanin to continue resettlement of inhabitants from dilapidated five-story buildings and start an unprecedented large-scale program of residential construction in the Russian capital.

«The problem of dilapidated housing did not appear in Moscow out of the blue: five-story buildings were originally built as a temporary solution to resettle people from barracks and communal flats, and the task was fulfilled. However, over time they have worn out morally and physically. Until recently, the five-story building demolition program launched in 1999 has been underway in Moscow. Thanks to it, about 1700 buildings were demolished and about 350 thousand people were resettled,» — says Chief Architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov.

The previous five-story building demolition program was completed by more than 95%. According to the old plan, approved in late 1990, only certain types of ‘khrushchevkas’ were subject to demolition — built mainly with lightweight panels, although a number of five-story building of other series are still there. According to experts the state of wear of these buildings makes any repair virtually useless.

«It is impossible to do restauration without resettling people from their apartments. The utility systems are normally built-in in the walls, there are no basements,»- says Sergey Kuznetsov. — By law, in case of a resettlement people are offered a new similar and equivalent accommodation in their area, following the ‘flat for a flat’, ‘room for a room’ principle«.

According to Kuznetsov, all modern densely-built and compactly-inhabited metropolises are now going along this path. Five-story buildings will be substituted by the so-called compound development rather than the conventional bedroom communities. Daycare facilities, schools, hospitals and office buildings need to be within walking distance. Moreover, the new buildings on the site of the demolished ones will meet the new standards of housing approved in Moscow in 2015. «In developing these requirements, we were guided by the principle of creating a lifestyle and a comfortable urban environment; new planning requirements were promoted and approved in respect of private and public space blocks through angular sections, pattern of buildings, different altitude, the ground public floors, comfortable courtyards without cars, convenient planning solutions entrances, variability of facade solutions, etc.», — says Kuznetsov.

Sergey Kuznetsov also said that during the demolition Moscow will not lose historically valuable five-story buildings.