On July 3, Kazan hosted the session “Intangible heritage as a resource of the territory development” 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 speakers discussed a number of issues related to the transformation of cities in terms of historical memory and the involvement of citizens in this process.
The event was moderated by Dmitry Zabirov, Head of project work at the Moscow School SKOLKOVO, Managing Partner of Kazan Play and Practice Center, ANO and Marya Leontyeva, sociologist, specialist in the socio-cultural development of historical territories, founder of the Tamga Institute of Urban Studies, and Expert of the Kazan City Development Institute. They took the welcoming floor.

The session was opened by the first speaker Dmitry Oinas, President of the business club “Naslediye I Ekonomika” (Heritage and Economics) ANO, Moscow. He noted that in order to assess non-material culture, it is necessary, first of all, to understand the fundamental difference between heritage and a monument. The main product of certain territory symbolization is the impressions of people. Consequently, economic efficiency is higher for those enterprises where there is an emphasis on intangible resources and work with emotions focused on this symbol.

Oleg Shapiro, Candidate of Architecture, co-founder of the architectural bureau WOWHAUS, highlighted the issue of the intangible basis for design. He proposed for consideration the reconstruction cases of the Tatar Theater named after Galiaskar Kamal and the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater named after D.A. Khvorostovskiy. Both buildings have their own identity, the fact which must be confirmed every time, which is achieved only by a peculiar approach. The speaker touched upon the problem of relocation of residents and noted that the true reasons for changing the place of living lie in the areas of dissatisfaction with career opportunities and socio-cultural needs.
- The processes of changing cities are long and expensive, so it is important to understand the intangible things of history and be able to distinguish the real from the imaginary.

Andrey Kochetkov, Director of the Samara Regional Local History Museum named after Pyotr Alabin, ideologist and organizer of the Tom Sawyer Fest, the festival for the restoration of the historical environment, highlighted the fundamental differences between residents of historical sites, citizens, tourists and authorities in terms of their attitude towards intangible heritage.
- Residents are inherently conservative, it is important for citizens to preserve places of memory, tourists demand diversity and multifunctionality, and the authorities consider this an opportunity for tourism development and a source of problems.

Marya Leontyeva also took a floor. She focused on the fact that it is important to perceive the historical city as an entity. Scenarios for the development of a historical city are determined by historical memory, the image and spirit of a place are preserved and developed in sustainable and reproducible practices in the same places, the interests of the bearers of these practices should be taken into account at all stages of project implementation.
And she confirmed her position with the example of the Kazan development concept.
-The development of the Kazan historical settlement territory occurs with the satisfaction of the needs of existing groups without prejudice to the ability of future generations to gain access to the material and spiritual values created in the past and important for the preservation and development of the identity of the city.

The session was concluded by Nailya Zinatullina, the Director of the Institute of Urban Development of the Republic of Tatarstan, who highlighted the sustainable principles of project implementation. Among them, she noted the work with the professional community, open communication, search and uncovering of identity, adaptation of traditions.