02.08.2021

On July 30, scientists of Samara State University of Economics N. Polyanskova, M. Simonova,  E. Gusakova, L. Agaeva together with the Administration of the Municipal District Bezenchuk and the Samara Governor's Duma held a project-educational session "Improvement and development of public spaces with the involvement of residents in the territory of Bezenchuk settlement".

The aim of the session was to increase the level of participation of local residents in the improvement of socially significant territories. During the preliminary voting three objects were selected: the Alley on Kuybisheva Street, the Square at the intersection of Pushkin Street and Lugovtsev Street, the area adjacent to the Registry Office at the intersection of Sovetskaya Street and Mamistova Street.

At the beginning of the session, Vladimir Anikin, Head of Bezenchuk Municipal District, and Maria Sidukhina, Chair of the Committee for Health, Demography and Social Policy of the Samara State Duma, greeted the citizens. N. Polyanskova, Head of the Department of Regional Economy and Management of the SSEU, held a presentation that provided the residents with the opportunity to learn about the process of citizen participation and experience in implementing similar projects. At present SSEU has vast experience in the successful organization of projects for the improvement of public areas.

During the session more than 70 inhabitants of the settlement presented their vision of development of the territory of the future square, alley and Registry Office territory.

Currently, these areas are not suitable for safe and comfortable recreation, but  they have a high potential for development. District architects presented preliminary landscaping projects for these public spaces.

During the discussion all three territories provoked lively debate and interest of the local residents. They identified the main problems of the territories, such as the lack of road pavement, lighting, benches, separation of traffic flows, cyclists and pedestrians. Illegal facilities were also identified, but which residents would like to keep by legalizing their activities.    

The main wishes of the residents in the improvement of the objects were their safety, lack of noise, since there are residential buildings nearby. Installation of photo-zones on the objects, commemorative signs related to the name of the street, construction of bicycle paths, design code for the nearby houses were suggested.

All the proposals were recorded on the territory improvement project design maps and will be submitted to the Governor of the Samara Region in August 2021. The next step is preparation of design estimates and implementation of projects in 2022.

Thanks to such activities, the efficiency of implementation of improvement projects in municipalities increases, and the active involvement of citizens is the key to successful development of public spaces. This is facilitated by the use of science-based approaches to the implementation of such projects developed by scientists of Samara State University of Economics. Scientists of SSEU proposed to replicate this practice on all territories of the Samara region and to work out the Program of development of public spaces of Samara region with citizens' involvement for 2022-2024.