Rostov 300

Challenge

Rostov-on-Don will turn 300 in 2049. The city had development plans for the coming years, but no shared picture of what it wants to be in three decades. The aim was to start that conversation — openly, and with people who know the city from different sides.

What was done

Urban Factory created Rostov 300, an expert platform of the city’s urban community. Mihail Veklenko wrote the concept and the programme, co-curated the project with Alexandra Chernova of the Don State Public Library and led the project team.

The programme had eight themed discussions: heritage and history; culture and sport; the urban environment; economy, infrastructure, trade and tourism; education and technology; urban sociology; human capital; and ecology. The concept was written in February 2020. The platform opened on 5 March 2020 at the Don State Public Library with a first discussion on heritage — which historic buildings to keep, and what Rostov risks losing.

When the pandemic closed public venues, the project moved online in April 2020. Mihail recorded video interviews with economists, architects, transport and cycling experts, branding and tourism specialists, and cultural figures. The core question in every conversation: what challenges does the city face now? The project team included sociologist Daria Rud, who led a socio-cultural study of the city, and journalist Nikolay Protsenko, who worked on the texts.

Twelve videos were published on the project’s YouTube channel, including a discussion of the project team on the sociology of the city.

Numbers

• 8 themed discussions in the programme
• 12 video interviews
• About 13.5 hours of content
• About 10,500 views on YouTube

Result

Rostov 300 gave the city an open archive of expert views on its future — on heritage, transport, economy, identity and the environment. The interviews remain a public resource for anyone working on the city’s long-term strategy.