"ZIL auto plant rezoning will boost southeast Moscow’s development"

The Moscow Government has approved the basic parametres of a project to rezone the ZIL auto plant territory within 10 to 15 years. “In fact, our goal is to open up this area, which has been closed to the public since one of the city’s largest industrial areas was created at the bend of the Moskva River a hundred years ago,” Sergei Sobyanin said at the meeting. The mayor added that new residential neighbourhoods for 30,000 people would be built in the vast ZIL area, which occupies 378 hectares, and that 45,000 new jobs would be created there.

Automobile production will remain at the ZIL plant, although on a smaller scale and based on low-impact parametres, the Mayor said. “In general, the ZIL improvement project is designed to create a modern walkable space, including a pedestrian embankment, as well as boulevards, parks, an ice rink, a medical centre, outpatient clinics, schools, kindergartens and other social facilities,” Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that the project also includes building 900,000 square metres of housing.

Chief Architect Sergei Kuznetsov, First Deputy of Moscow’s Committee on Architecture and Urban Development, said that this industrial area has huge development potential. The real estate footprint is to be increased to 4.5 million square metres. The planned residential neighbourhood is to have 82 hectares of landscaped areas such as parks, public spaces, pedestrian zones and embankments open to both pedestrians and vehicles. The city also intends to preserve the historic buildings. “Many interesting historic buildings will be preserved and renovated in the ZIL area,” Mr Kuznetsov said.

The Smaller Moscow Belt Railway will run through the renovated area, where the Tekhnopark metro station will be built to simplify public access. A transport interchange hub will be built in the centre of the new neighbourhood. There are also plans to build new bridges and to repair roads inside and around the area.

“The ZIL project is designed to ultimately turn a large industrial area into a comfortable, multipurpose public space, and it will also boost the development of the city’s entire southeastern area,” Moscow’s chief architect said.

The Moscow Government has estimated the project at 42 billion roubles and expected investment in construction at 191 billion.