TASS, October 17. A list of the Russian Federation Arctic Zone's backbone territories is ready. It unites 16 agglomerations of 26 settlements, the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic's head of the Department for Development of the Russian Arctic Zone and Infrastructure Projects, Maxim Dankin, said.

In July, President Vladimir Putin told the government to make a list of backbone Arctic settlements. He noted that the list may include both cities and small towns that are of strategic importance for the country.

"These 16 backbone settlements are: the Murmansk agglomeration, which includes the Northern Fleet's base and Severomorsk, the Kirov-Apatity agglomeration, <...> the Monchegorsk agglomeration, <...> the Kemsk-Belomorsk agglomeration in Karelia, <...> the Arkhangelsk agglomeration, <...> the Naryan-Mar agglomeration; in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region - Novy Urengoy, Noyabrsk, Salekhard. In Komi - the Vorkuta agglomeration, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory - Norilsk, Dudinka, <...> Dixon, Tiksi in Yakutia, in Chukotka - Pevek, Anadyr," he said at a meeting on development of the Russian Federation Arctic Zone's settlements.

In considering settlements, experts eyed their functional characteristics, he continued. A separate attention was paid to settlements of the Northern Supplies program, as well as those along the Northern Sea Route development and those implementing large tourist investment projects.

"We have focused on closed territories, on military formations' locations, on border zones, the extractive industry, on bases to develop deposits, including for the uninterrupted supply of metallurgical enterprises with strategically important raw materials to substitute earlier imported products, as well as on the presence of large investment projects, including those related to the technological sovereignty," the official said.

Great future for small towns

Russia's Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov noted the population size should not determine decisions regarding the development of Arctic cities and settlements within backbone agglomerations.

"I believe that Russia has every reason to develop competencies and to be the best country in the ability and planning of how to develop life in the Arctic settlements of any sizes. Dixon, where 300 people live, should also be a world-class model settlement in a certain category - it is a strategic point on the Northern Sea Route. Those few 300 people hold such a large economic potential comparable with the Arkhangelsk agglomeration with half a million people or the Murmansk agglomeration with 300,000. Those 300 people in Dixon should get the best solutions, which further on the world's urbanists and architects will be using in their work," the minister stressed.

Development master plans to 2035 for the chosen settlements must be prepared by July 1, 2024, he added. A long-term complex plan, based on the master plans, to develop those settlements would be adopted by October 1, 2024.

Work on master plans

Representatives of the Economic Development Ministry and the Ministry of Construction, participating in the meeting, noted that work on master plans was underway. Dmitry Degtyarev of the Economic Development Ministry added the experience of Far Eastern regions could be used when developing long-term plans for the Arctic.

"During this and last years' work on long-term plans to develop the agglomerations, we have formed methodical recommendations for such plans. I believe it would be correct to use this work in making master plans for Arctic backbone settlements, where the methods would also be applicable," he said, adding the methods mostly refer to big cities, and to a less extent to settlements where several hundred or thousands people live. However, for the agglomerations like Murmansk or Arkhangelsk the methods could be used, he said.

Maria Sinichich of the Ministry of Construction stressed as necessary the focus on the infrastructural and integrated development of backbone cities, and highlighted the work on military garrisons where military personnel and their families live.

"In our opinion, we should expand, find and use the approaches that exist in urban development in difficult climatic territories. The Ministry of Construction has a permanent working group on the restricted-access areas, and we have been analyzing and putting together a list of what is to be done to develop infrastructures in those settlements. Now, in line with the savings on special treasury loans approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin, we plan to allocate 2 billion rubles ($21 million) for development of those settlements," she said.