The willow tree that changed Russia

This urbanology talk will present an award-winning program for Participative Public Space Design in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, which has been rolled out at many different scales and typologies, in both rural and urban areas. 

Tatarstan has been referred to as the Switzerland of the Russian Federation: multi-ethnic, multicultural, with Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims peacefully coexisting, a very solid economy and considerable independence from Moscow.  The objective of the program has been to create high quality public spaces in collaboration with the inhabitants, and also with the participation of multiple stakeholders, including ecologists, small businesses, cultural actors, economists, anthropoligists, dendrologists and others. The impact of the program has extended to the Russian Federation, and it is proposed as a model of participative public space design, that also includes improving the quality of design and construction, as well as the training of young architectural talents.