President Minnikhanov held a meeting to discuss SMART City Kazan

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov held a meeting today to discuss the realization of the project SMART City Kazan.

Government officials and heads of Tatarstan’s leading companies took part in the meeting, which was held in the Government House of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Opening the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov noted that SMART City Kazan plays a strategic role in the further development of Kazan into an international megapolis. “This project is a key driver for the development of our capital,” he said. “It is one of the most attractive points of development that we have, and the one with the most potential.”

The implementation of SMART City Kazan is supervised by the Tatarstan Investment Development Agency on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan. The project is directly managed by the Tatarstan Development Corporation, which organizes the work of SMART City Kazan’s planning consortium. The SMART City Kazan master plan is being developed by Malaysian companies AJM Planning & Urban Design Group and Straits Consulting Engineers in partnership with a local organization, Tatinvestgrazhdanproekt.

According to Rustam Minnikhanov, these companies have a rich experience in creating and planning “smart” cities. During his trip to Malaysia (8-10 January 2013), President Minnikhaov visited “Medini Iskandar Malaysia,” an urban development analogous to SMART City Kazan that was also developed by AJM Planning & Urban Design Group.

President Minnikhanov also highlighted the importance of developing SMART City Kazan with consideration of the further development plans of Kazan. “The development of Innopolis, SMART City Kazan, and the territory surrounding Zelenodolsky district will be successful only if they are integrated with each other into a larger concept of Greater Kazan,” he said. “Today we must already lay a proper foundation for the development of Kazan into a large-scale city.”

During his presentation, Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Chief Executive Linar Yakupov told those present about the conceptual basis of the project and its current status. SMART City Kazan will comprise 650 hectares of land situated 3 kilometers from Kazan International Airport and 15 kilometers from the center of Kazan. An Aeroexpress commuter railway will connect SMART City Kazan with the both the airport and city center.

The smart city will have a social and business center, research and education center, special economic zone, and a tourism cluster. The expected population of SMART City Kazan is roughly 56,000.

During the meeting issues regarding the city’s engineering and transport infrastructure were also discussed.     

Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Press Service