I. Metshin about the public spaces of Kazan and Tatarstan

Every year in the coming winter, we sum up the work on improvement. A huge amount of work has been done, and much remains to be done yet. But now I can say: I am following very closely the changes in other cities. And besides Moscow and St. Petersburg, nowhere else they pay so much attention to public spaces as we do. Tatarstan and Kazan are the flagships of this big movement, which is only gaining momentum around the country. It's nice to realize that this work began precisely with our initiative within the framework of the Five-Year Health Program. And it turned into a big project headed personally by the President of the RT.

The transformations affected not only such large cities as Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhnekamsk, and Almetyevsk but also all regional centers. And it is a completely different level of improvement, which residents immediately notice. They closely monitor everything that happens in the parks. They take the most active part in the discussion, for which they have our gratitude. Every space, every park passes a public hearing, examination from our residents, and we decide together what to do there.

Our main city parks have already been transformed. But we have moved on and are taking on new projects, implementing plans for improvement along with the GC “Taif” and “Kazanorgsintez”. We saw what wonderful photographs have already been made on the Lebyazhie Lake. This is something that is already done today. At the planning stage, I could not even imagine that it would be so great but what turned out was more beautiful than what was on papers. There is still much work to be done but the ski base will open already this winter, and the forest will be available in a new format to our residents.

Much work is ahead on improving the public space around the Family Center “Kazan” starting from the metro station “Kozya Sloboda”, near the “Tatmedia” and along the big pedestrian embankment to the square. Also, the road through Bondarenko Street, which connects S. Hakim and Chistopolskaya streets, will be made and Rabochaya Street will be overhauled as well. The entire landscaped cascade will be left for residents and guests of the capital after the FIFA World Championship.

There are many plans. The fact that well-equipped facilities are already in demand, encourages us to work further. After all, parks are not just a recreation area today. They are also the best fitness centers. It pleases when you meet citizens of different ages in the parks at any time of the day, when you see how more and more citizens are engaged in active sports. This is a real request from the citizens and our task is to give them all the opportunities in our parks.