Two top Moscow government officials stormed out of a hearing Friday at the Public Chamber during a heated debate over the future of City Hall’s long-term development plan.
Moscow’s chief architect Alexander Kuzmin and City Duma Speaker Vladimir Platonov walked out of the meeting on the city’s controversial plans for development over the next 15 years after fierce criticism fr om members of the body.
The walkout was sparked by a pointed remark from Marat Gelman, who heads the Museum of Modern Art in Perm.
“For us, Moscow is love, but for [Mayor Yury] Luzhkov, it’s a vegetable patch, from which he harvests,” Gelman said, RIA-Novosti reported.
Luzhkov has frequently been criticized for crony capitalism in the city. His wife, Inteko owner Yelena Baturina, built her successful construction business in Moscow, but he insists that she has never had any help from him in his official capacity.
As Kuzmin walked out, he said, “For words like that, you should be punched,” experts who attended the hearing said. “I never want to hit anyone in the Public Chamber, and that is why I have to leave.”
Cries of “shame” and “cowards” were heard as he and Platonov left the hearing.
The General Plan, or Genplan, for Moscow is a 1,500-page document that sets out how the city will develop up to 2025. The plan has passed two readings in the City Duma, dominated by United Russia, and it is expected to easily pass in the third and final reading.
The plan divides the city into different zones — for stabilization and development — which allow only for repairs in the former and demolition and new construction in the latter. It envisions 200 million square meters of construction over the next 15 years, up to 2.13 million parking spaces and 60 buildings more than 75 meters high.
Critics have been especially vocal about wh ere these zones have been placed, saying the plan is a “death sentence” for the city’s architectural heritage. Rustam Rakhmatullin, from architectural preservation society Arkhnadzor, said more than 1,000 cultural monuments were in danger because of the rezoning.
Critics also say the plan will not solve the capital’s traffic problems. Mikhail Blinkin, head of the Institute of Transport and Road Management, said public transportation “will die in a few years” if the plan is passed.
“Everyone knows that the Genplan is bad, but they are passing it for three reasons: greed, cowardice and indifference,” Gelman said at the hearing.
Public hearings to discuss the plan took place last summer, and the city says more than 160,000 Muscovites took part, offering in excess of 70,000 questions and complaints.
“We conducted honest public hearings, and it is offensive to hear a different opinion,” said Kuzmin, sparking laughter among those at the hearing, Kommersant reported.
“For two to three hours, we worked quite constructively, but then from certain members of the Public Chamber we heard insults, humiliation of our honor and dignity. We had to leave the session,” Platonov said, Interfax reported. “We will not appear again in the Public Chamber until we receive an apology.”
Speaking by phone on Sunday, Rakhmatullin stood by the Public Chamber’s criticism.
“It wasn’t the fault of the Public Chamber that the discussion was stopped,” he said, adding that the talks were tough but not personal. “They showed that they are members of Luzhkov’s team.”