The way of elaborating a successful concept for the historical center development was discussed at the “Rebus” Forum in Kazan.
On July 4, Kazan hosted the journal “Project Russia” with a special session “Architectural and urban initiatives as drivers for the development of historical city centers” within the scope of the international Forum “REBUS: Economics of construction in the historical center” held at the site of the IT-Park named after Bashir Rameev.
The session presented case studies which have been already started or are about to be implemented, and initiatives that have the potential to change urban historical centers for the better.
The session was moderated by Yulia Shishalova, architectural journalist, Editor-in-Chief of the Project Russia media, Supervisor of exhibition, educational and publishing programs.

The session was opened by Nikolay Pereslegin, Kleinewelt Architekten, with the project “Work in the historical center of Moscow. Cases: Ilyinka 3/8 and Raushskaya Embankment, 10”.
Ilyinka, according to the speaker, is one of the most complex projects in Russia, as it is the closest living space near the Kremlin. The residential complex is located on the site of the single heated trading square, back in its time it was an innovation. It is important to preserve this status.
As part of the project, it is planned to construct solid-cast above-ground floors of new buildings as part of the Ilyinka 3/8 deluxe class apartment complex, located 200 meters from the Kremlin. The implementation of the apartment complex is carried out in two stages. The first stage involves construction of new 4-5-storey buildings: A, B, C and D. The second stage includes work on 3-storey historical buildings 1, 2, 3.
The new residential complex at Raushskaya, 10 is planned in a very interesting place, opposite Zaryadye, across the Moscow River. At present HPP-1 is located here, which has already celebrated its 125th anniversary. Nikolai Pereslegin did not disclose the details of the project, but noted that this is one of those projects that touched not only his soul, but it will happen with everyone who sees it.
- The most important thing is love for your project, without love between the architect and the customer you will get a dull and boring result, - the speaker noted.

Natalia Bavykina, APRELarchitects, presented the project “Revitalization of the Three Hierarchs historical district in the center of Nizhny Novgorod”. She believes that the main thing in the project is to have patience and be able to listen to all interested parties.
- An amazing districr has been preserved in the center of Nizhny Novgorod with buildings of the 19th-20th centuries. Its peculiarity is in a holistic historical environment: the Soviet construction ladle did not reach it; and in our time it is guarded by architects and residents. The block is located near the Church of the Three Hierarchs, which gave its name to the whole territory. It has a rich history and an interesting present activity: there is an unprecedented in Russia concentration of urban communities and projects here at present, which shows how positive and successful the transformation of urban spaces can be if the initiative of residents is supported.
The speaker said that attractor projects are needed to successfully revitalize the Three Hierarchs historical district, to start traffic in the area, which is currently marginal. Natalya Bavykina noted that with the appearance of a flow of tourists, a flow of investors will also start, which is essential, since at the moment the area of ​​objects subject to redevelopment is 8,500 square meters.

The project of residential complex on Lake Kaban in the territory of the Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda is being actively developed. It is a composition of several mansion houses with an open courtyard, said Natalya Sidorova, DNK ag, presenting the project “Design principles for a new residential development in the historical center on the example of a residential complex in Kazan”. The speaker noted that the complex will be built in a modern style and delicately fit into the panorama of the city.
The residential complex is planned to be built in the southern part of the Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda, on the western shore of Nizhniy Kaban Lake, between the constructivist art style building of the Mekhovshchikov Palace of Culture and the romantic red-brick plant building of the former Petzold Brewery. The complex is not high, up to 6 floors, and it goes down with steps of terraces on the side of the lake. It is built in the form of the Russian letter “П” (as they said in the XVIII century, the manor must be in the form of the letter “П” the first of the word “покой” meaning relaxation). The external line of the “П” frame forms the front of urban development along the red lines; the frame is open on the side of the lake, connecting the private courtyard of the building with the lake shore. The authors of the project, the architects of DNK ag, compare this construction with the morphology of historical buildings taking advantage of the location near the water. The courtyards of houses around the lakes in Kazan used to face the water. At that time, the street facade was the front one, and the lake facade was the utility one. At present there are two types of facades: street facades on three sides along the streets, and park facades, those from the side of the lake. A special pride of the architects is the yard; it is planned as an abundantly landscaped mini-park, opened, as has been mentioned, towards the lake.

The historical center is also actively developing in Ulan-Ude. To date, buildings of municipal property subject to reconstruction have been identified, said Ivan Kuryachiy, “Novaya Zemlya”, speaking of the project “Economics of the Ulan-Ude center reconstruction”.
The “wooden” city center should be transformed into a modern territory with high-quality infrastructure, comfortable housing, cultural and commercial centers of attraction, green areas and a spacious, beautiful promenade for walking. Perhaps the most difficult stage is the resettlement of residents of houses which fall under the development project. Part of the buildings will be subject to demolition for the construction of new homes and social facilities, the others will be bought out and re-profiled for other objects. In addition to housing, there are plans to build a new school for 760 places and two kindergartens for 470 places, as well as a complete rebooting of the entire engineering network of the city center to provide enough power for all facilities.
- The main task is to attract a tourist flow; it will require reconstruction of 3 thousand square meters and build 19.5 thousand square meters of objects with tourist functions. This will improve the visual appearance of the historical center and saturate it with new popular functions, - the speaker noted.

Tatyana Minaeva spoke about the project for the revitalization of cultural heritage sites settled under the “Dal” resettlement program, as well as the project of the historic property aggregator in the historical centers of cities from Zaraysk to Tyumen.
- The program “Dal” allows getting a card of a historical building, which contains all the documents, stories from the archives and even people's memories. This will greatly simplify the redevelopment of the object, - the speaker said. 4 buildings which found investors due to the Dal project could serve an example. The speaker noted that it is necessary to implement this project throughout the country; this will allow cultural heritage sites to be brought into proper form much faster.
Using the example of the revitalization of the historical center of Zaraysk, for which a program for the integrated development of the historical center was developed, Tatyana showed what successes have already been achieved:
1. The objects of the territory were trampled into the list of the best public spaces of 2020 according to Afisha Daily.
2. Launched 7 new business projects in the field of tourism in the historical center, and 2 socio-cultural projects.
3. 9 historically valuable abandoned objects were transferred to investors through privatization and lease.
4. The first preferential privatization of cultural heritage sites in the history of the Moscow Region was carried out.

The session was closed by Sergey Mayarenkov, Director of “Irkutskiye Kvartaly” ANO with the project “Irkutskiye Kvartaly: Continuation”.
The goal of the project is to create a modern city center, taking into account its history, a convenient and holistic architectural environment, accessible for walking, and active the use of public spaces, as well as create conditions for new entrepreneurial projects and the growth of the urban economy.
The history of the 130^th quarter began in 2009, at that time there was not even a sewerage system. After the creation of the development concept for this territory, the organizational scheme of design and survey work for the regeneration of the 130^th quarter of the city of Irkutsk was implemented for the first time. This is the first completely open pedestrian quarter in the city, built up mainly with wooden buildings, architectural monuments and objects recreated in compliance with archival drawings and measurements.
The main principles of the project are multifunctionality, preservation of the historical environment, environmental friendliness, mobility and openness, the availability of space for entrepreneurs, as well as the construction of a winter city, which will become a unique module of the project.
- The experience of the project has proven that historical buildings can be attractive for investment, which as a result amounted to 6.7 billion rubles. The 130^th quarter provided the city with almost 2,000 new jobs, more than 9 billion rubles of revenues per year for the entrepreneurs and more than 1 billion rubles in tax deductions to all budgets, - Sergey Mayarenkov said.
Summing up, the speaker noted that if the emphasis is on tourists, then the project will be seasonal. It is important to create residential areas, because if the citizens realize the urban scenario, the potential of the place becomes more interesting for both tourists and investors.