World Urban Digest 2
2nd issue - January 2024
Topic 1. Urban Technology and Mobility
Chinese tech company Neolix Huitong Technologies has successfully conducted the country's first tests of unmanned police patrol vehicles at a testing ground in Beijing. The tests included patrolling, giving warnings and announcements, and rescue operations.
In July 2024, the Olympic Games will be held in Paris. The launch of air taxis is scheduled for the start of the Games. The air taxi was the German company Volocopter. Two-seat aircraft is fully powered by electric batteries, making them environmentally friendly. Its creators of anticipate that the Paris Olympics will be a milestone for the commercial use of air taxis, marking a breakthrough in air transport.
Volocopter aims to raise 25-30 million euros for demonstration flights over Paris between 2024 and 2025, with plans to enter the market in 2026 with a new four-seat version of the air taxi. The full implementation is projected to cost 200-300 million euros.
EHang's unmanned commercial air taxi had its first demonstration flights in Guangzhou and Hefei. Municipal authorities in Hefei have allocated over $100 million to purchase 100 unmanned EH216-S single-seat air taxis and support EHang's development and production.
The city's leadership has also approved an Action Plan for the development of a low-altitude economic cluster from 2023 to 2025, including the creation of a testing ground and certification process, a platform for flight maintenance and management, commercial routes, and logistics of air tourism.
Guangzhou has launched fifty unmanned buses that can cruise the city streets at 40 km/h. The total annual passenger traffic is expected to reach at least 1 million trips. It is expected that the use of unmanned buses will reduce the accident rate of public transportation.
Detroit city authorities have demonstrated an experimental 400-meter track equipped for wireless charging of electric cars. This technology allows for wireless charging whether the car is moving or stays parked along the road.
For this to function copper coils are installed in the road surface and the cars are equipped with special receivers.
New York has become the first U.S. city where drivers will be charged a fee for driving on streets where traffic congestion is most frequent. Drivers will be charged $15 for cars, $24 to $36 for trucks depending on the capacity, and $7.50 for motorcycles. During off-peak hours, these tolls will be reduced by 75%.
In December 2023, the Malaga City Council decided on the use of helmets making it mandatory when riding electric scooters, either shared or private. Local rental operators have expressed their outrage and threatened to leave the city if the measure comes into force.
Topic 2. Environmental Sustainability
The authorities of Valencia have planned more than 400 activities, including further development of urban green spaces, such as the Albufera Natural Park and the Turia Garden, and installing smart recycling bins that notify rubbish trucks when they are full.
Guadalajara city authorities have announced plans to create the first low-emission zone around the busy Ramon Corona intersection in the historic city center. The plan is to reduce air pollution and improve road safety, aiming for a 90% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2030, which should increase life expectancy in the area by 0.46 years.
Bratislava's municipal waste management company has announced a new initiative to collect and recycle cigarette butts, starting in 2024. The government has tested special containers to collect both conventional cigarette butts and those from modern tobacco heating devices. The collected waste will be used to produce asphalt for local roads.
Topic 3. Masterplans for Russian Far East Cities
Following the instructions from the President of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the Government, has approved long-term plans for the comprehensive socio-economic development until 2030 of 16 cities in the Far Eastern Federal District, with total funding of 4.4 trillion rubles.
The Blagoveshchensk masterplan includes over 50 measures to develop the city's infrastructure, with a total budget of 184.8 billion rubles. Key projects include:
- Expanding Blagoveshchensk International Airport. On April 23, 2021, the Government of the Amur Region and ABS LLC signed a concession agreement for the development of Blagoveshchensk International Airport for 30 years. It was agreed to build a new passenger terminal with an area of more than 25 thousand square meters and a cargo terminal with a capacity of at least 6 thousand tons of cargo per year. The total investment will exceed 13 billion rubles;
- The constructing a cross-border cableway across the Amur River to connect Blagoveshchensk with Heihe, China.
Vladivostok agglomeration masterplan includes 134 measures totaling 1.2 trillion rubles. The plan aims to transform Vladivostok into a scientific, financial, and logistics center in the Asia-Pacific region. Key areas of development include:
- Creation of a scientific cluster
- Renovation of Amur Bay embankment until 2030
- Creation of the Eastern Transport and Logistics Hub (based on the Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port) to stimulate container transit through the Northern Sea Route.
Khabarovsk masterplan includes 24 measures with total budget of 366.7 billion rubles that are aimed at creating comfortable living and working conditions for citizens. Major projects include:
- An embankment of more than 9 km (the longest in the Far Eastern Federal District)
- An interuniversity campus with a total area of 152.6 thousand m²
- A Far Eastern Art Museum with a total area of 22.5 thousand m²
- A new river station
- A cargo-passenger checkpoint on Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island.
Yakutsk agglomeration masterplan includes 33 measures with total budget of 448.8 billion rubles. Its strategic objective is to strengthen Russia's economic and cultural influence in the Asia-Pacific region and in the Arctic. Major projects include:
- Eliminate wooden housing unsuitable for residence and construct modern residential buildings for resettlement of 42 thousand citizens until 2030
- Construc a bridge across the Lena River by 2028, with a projected cost of about 130 billion rubles.
Topic 4. Russian Digest
In response to a significant increase in traffic accidents involving electric scooters, Moscow City Parliament Speaker Alexei Shaposhnikov proposed a bill introducing tougher fines for drivers of electric scooters and personal mobility devices. The proposes fines are as follows:
- 30 thousand rubles for drivers who had an accident under alcohol or drug influence, and 1-1.5 thousand rubles for leaving the scene of an accident
- 1-1.5 thousand rubles for violating traffic rules under alcohol or drug influence
- 1 thousand rubles for obstructing pedestrian traffic.
Deputy of the St. Petersburg City Parliament Alexei Tsivilev has proposed amendments to traffic laws to address the increased risk of accidents involving bicycles and scooters under unfavorable weather conditions.
DOM.RF institute of development of the housing sector Development is planning to approve the standart for green individual housing in the first quarter of 2024. Its key evaluation criteria include energy efficiency, facilities for children and sport, barrier-free environment, and separate waste collection. According to these criteria, 16% of buildings that now under construction are green.
The new standard will become the basis for assessing the environmental safety of construction and quality of life, and will minimize the negative impact on the environment. It is also planned to develop a green standard for renovation of buildings by the end of the year.
The new standard will become the basis for assessing the environmental safety of construction and quality of life, and will minimize the negative impact on the environment. It is also planned to develop a green standard for renovation of buildings by the end of the year.
