Garage amnesty and/or integrated territorial development?

Abstract

This study continues the author's article series aimed at examining the territory of garage cooperatives (GCs) in Irkutsk as prospective development areas and reserves of urban lands. The “garage amnesty” law accepted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation provides the citizens with the possibility to legalise their garages and land plots, which makes the integrated development of GCs highly specific. The study analyses territories of the most valuable landscapes in the southern part of the Sverdlovsk Okrug occupied with GCs, which impede their integrated development. An empirical research method was used, including a description, comparison by districts and calculation of actual GC areas formed by 2021 in Irkutsk. An analysis of the GC location was carried out with the provision of absolute and relative indicators. In the process of the study, a strategy for improving the quality of the living environment by transforming the areas of garage cooperatives into attractive recreational zones with highly effective multifunctional facilities was developed. This strategy proposes a compact storage of cars, their maintenance, arrangement of individual vegetable storages and organisation of other public functions at the places of GC location with the transformation of the latter into a comfortable environment both for owners of personal vehicles and neighbourhood residents. GC territories can be transformed into potential sites of city development. The paper contains schemes and research results obtained in the framework of the final qualification work in the "Architecture" speciality of student M.V. Malkina (2021) under the guidance of the author of the present article at the Irkutsk National Research Technical University (INRTU).