Urban planning in Russia and international standard for assessing the impact on the environment of BREEAM Communities

Abstract

Introduction. In order to implement the decisions of the Rio De Janeiro Conference 1992, the Russian President’s Decrees of 04.02.1994 No. 236 “On the State Strategy of the Russian Federation for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development” and from 01.04.1996 No. 440 “On the Concept of the Transition of the Russian Federation to Sustainable Development” were adopted. The Russian Urban Planning Codes of 1998 and 2005 laid the foundations for sustainable development of the territories in the field of urban planning. The 2005 Russian Urban Planning Code lacks applied provisions, which present all the requirements for urban documentation, and would set out an applied practical procedure for their preparation. This was due to numerous changes of Code. In accordance with the goals and objectives set in Russia to improve the quality and comfort of the living environment, it is necessary to use scientific and educational activities on the development of the territories and improve the specific requirements for urban planning documentation and its assessment to meet legitimate requirements, including foreign ones. Materials and methods. Comparative analysis of regulatory documents, scientific and practical review of information on the topic of urban planning regulation of sustainable development, based on the international assessment method BREEAM, which was developed in 1990 by the British state organization BRE Global. Results. The foundations of Russian and international urban planning regulation for sustainable development are outlined: overview and facts of the international assessment method BREEAM, incl. BREEAM Communities; basics of urban planning and regulation: information on the demand for urban planning, environmental, interdisciplinary technologies. BREEAM Communities certification for interested participants in urban planning activities is a kind of insurance and separation of responsibility of public authorities for approved (agreed) city planning documents. Conclusions. We believe that the method of certification known abroad as BREEAM, i.e. assessing the compliance of both planned and existing facilities and territories to certain requirements, will gain legitimacy and popularity in the Russian Federation. This is due to the adaptation of the international BREEAM assessment to the domestic regulatory framework (BREEAM RU), as well as to the educational programs for the training of BREEAM, including “BREEAM Communities”.