#engineerednature

Imagine an eerily beautiful suburban landscape, where the familiar comfort of manicured lawns and tree-lined streets is strangely, unsettlingly intertwined with biopunk elements. Under the ominous glow of a colossal, obsidian moon, this idyllic setting reveals a darker, more organic nature. Here, in the enigmatic neighborhood of Harmony Heights, obsidian structures gleam amidst lush, artificially…

As it was said by Michael Syardin, ex-chief architect of Togliatti and Administrations of Togliatti and present lead of GOPROGOR, an urban planning corporation, governments aof Togliatti and Samara now are on their way to a great collaboration. The plan is to create a modern and well developed settlement, the only multy-core agglomeration in Russia and the third megalopolis (2,5 mln citizens) in the country.

Concept of agglomeration development

The idea has a great potential, according to industrial development of the region, recreational natural resourses and transport location.

Pattern:

1. 

Samarskaya Luka has 3 city centers: Syzran, Samara, Togliatti. 

Syzran is the oldest - the beginning of Volga 1 (early plants, salt production, Alexandrovskiy bridge to Siberia) and Volga 2 (Syzranskaya GES). 

Samara was developed a bit later - Volga 1 and mostly Volga 2 after creation of Zhigulevskaya GES (plus later productions and industrialization). 

Togliatti is the triumph city of Volga 2. 

Today in Volga 3 - all the cities are gathered together in agglomeration - Samara-Togliatti, transportation hubs (Syzran 1, Kinel, bridges) and strategical  industries (avia and space production).

2.

Nature is a big issue for the region. If bridges construction is more or less organizing the transport system all around the agglomeration, then bridges and transportations inside the cities are quite controversial issue. Samara kept the rule not to build bridge over the Volga to the natural preserved area over 30 years. 

Togliatti has big transportation issues because of the different planning of 3 city districts (but let’s be fare - towns) divided by forest.  Transportation via the forrest    could be the most obvious way to connect the three parts… but it’s a big issue how to do it - whether it’s a auto road or speed tramway - that are the issues to be solved. 

Person

Mikhail Syardin is ex-chief architect of Togliatti, director of Giprogor and one of the authors of the Samara-Toglatti agglomeration. 

“We with the former chief architect of Samara analyzed out common potentials (157 billions of goods production in Samara + 270 billions of goods production in Togliatti) and decided to concentrate our efforts to create a centre which could have 3rd place in Russia among city agglomerations”. 

Case

“The GES can be done from the geographical flat rivers, but they won’t serve for long time - 50-100 years as minimum. The level of Kuybyshev water reservoir will lower. So after this the centre of Togliatti will appear in former Stavropol which was flooded. This will unite the city creating a natural Togliatti city centre”.  

Land reclamations have taken place on the Sviyaga river. One of them was in order to build the new shopping centre called “Aquamall”. It is planed to expand the area of artificial land up to 4,5 hectares.