OREANDA-NEWS. Vladimir Putin spoke at a training seminar for mayors of Russian cities. The event, which took place under the Presidential Executive Office’s aegis, focused on domestic policy issues and modern effective management principles.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today, we are meeting at this training seminar. As you know, a few months ago, I met with your colleagues, the regional governors, here at this very same venue.

Today’s seminar, like the earlier one, is not a one-off event. We are developing a regular system of events to raise the qualifications of state managers. People at every level of government, from federal to municipal, will receive training. If we want to be a country with an advanced economy and high living standards, we obviously need to have modern and effective management methods. 

You represent local government in our country’s biggest cities. Between them, these cities are home to more than 45 million people, nearly a third of Russia’s population. Most of you are mayors or the heads of administrations in regional capitals.

You have big responsibilities, a lot of pressure and a huge amount of work. This is all your direct responsibility. I know what this is like from back when I was working in St Petersburg. There is nothing more important, responsible and complicated than direct contact with the public and direct responsibility for tackling the challenges that big cities and even municipalities face.

City residents have higher demands when it comes to living standards and urban development in general. City residents are the most active part of the population. They are quick to acquire new knowledge and master new technology, and even if they do not have the opportunity to use it themselves, they are quick to learn about it, know what it is and where and how it is used, and they expect their local authorities to make use of best practice.

People want progress, and the quality of city management and the principles on which we base our cities’ development must correspond in full measure to what the times demand and what our people want.

Our cities should aim for the future, and so their development strategies and urban development plans must take into account political, social, economic and environmental factors and the latest city planning trends. It is important at the same time to preserve the historical and architectural heritage, cultural code and unique identity of our towns. As I was discussing with your colleagues just before, this is not a problem or not much of a problem for Moscow, St Petersburg and a few other cities, where people always have something to be proud of. This is not the case everywhere, but it should be, and this is what we must aim for. People need to feel a sense of belonging to the place they live in and should feel proud of it. It depends a lot on us to develop the centres that will create people’s sense of identification with the place in which they live.

City people need to feel that life is getting better here and now. They need to be able to see this in concrete examples, in streets, parks and the other places where they spend time nearly every day and see what is going on there. They need to see that their cities are changing and becoming a more convenient and comfortable place for life, and so developing and shaping the city environment is a task of paramount importance. 

Our big cities are filled with offices, shopping centres and industrial zones today. These are all necessary things of course and we all know that it cannot be otherwise. This means jobs and tax revenue for the budget. But this is not enough for normal everyday life. These might be necessary things, but normal life today requires more than this.

We also need what urban development experts call modern public spaces. Put simply, these are well-kept and designed embankments and squares, playgrounds and sportsgrounds, and places for families to relax. Teenagers and young people need to have spaces for their leisure. They need places where they can get together, play sport, and simply spend time together. These should be modern places, not squeezed out to the edges somewhere or pushed underground, but open, transparent and attractive, so that young people can come there and meet, talk, play sport, move, roller-skate or whatever else. This is very important.  

It is equally important for senior citizens to feel at ease in our cities. Cities should be convenient for people of all ages, and for people with disabilities too. Every detail needs attention here. Everything is important, cleaning apartment building entrances, lighting for streets, cleaning yards, including clearing snow, and landscaping public places. It is not right when some mayors say, “What’s the point of clearing the snow when it will soon melt anyway?” Maybe it will indeed soon melt, but before it does, how many people will slip, fall and injure themselves, break a leg? What’s more, if a town always looks like no one bothers cleaning up there, it will inevitably affect people’s attitudes and will immediately have an impact on their opinion of the city authorities’ performance.

These details also play a part in shaping the way people look at the world and creating an atmosphere of trust and calm, or as we used to say, a feeling of confidence in tomorrow. People sense when their city is alive and developing, becoming a more comfortable and attractive place for life, and that the local authorities’ work is based not on abstract plans but people’s concerns and concrete interests.