Six such settlements are planned: Dzerzhinsk, Zaslavl, Logoisk, Smolevichi, Fanipol and Rudensk. All are located no more than 60km from Minsk, with good local transport infrastructure and several industrial enterprises located nearby, for employment.
Mr. Luchinovich explains, “Much attention will be paid to developing Minsk’s agglomeration, which is related to developing satellite-cities for the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park and to constructing the second ring road. Everything has been taken into consideration in developing a new general plan.”
Only one house has been constructed so far, in Smolevichi. According to the First Deputy of the Minsk City Executive Committee’s Construction and Investment Department, Nikolay Butrim, by late November, the 2016 budget will have been discussed at the city council’s session. In particular, participants will focus on the volume of financing for a district of high-rise homes in Rudensk. 700,000 square metres of accommodation (or over 10,000 flats) are to be built there. “Builders will come to Rudensk after about two years,” Mr. Butrim tells us.
Moreover, in line with a Governmental decree, state enterprises and joint stock companies (with a 50 percent state owned share) are obliged to build 250,000 square metres of accommodation in 2016, or around 4,000 flats: 180,000 of these square metres will be in Minsk and in the Minsk Region.
As regards other satellite-cities, various challenges exist, such as Zaslavl’s overburdened drainage system and the need for purification works to be built alongside accommodation. Dzerzhinsk lacks enough jobs for new residents, while current engineering networks would fail to cope with the increased burden. In Fanipol, there is an industrial zone but little spare land. Meanwhile, Minsk is close to settlements covering 6,600 hectares, with up to 5 people per hectare. If these are ‘compressed’ 4-5 times, then up to 100,000 Minskers could live there. Importantly, huge sums are not required to be spent on infrastructure.
By Olga Stasova
