Head of the City of Kurgan Anton Naumenko (center) with hackathon participants
The in-person stage of the "Goroda" (Cities) All-Russian Urban Planning Hackathon, organized by the "Creative Economy" Autonomous Non-Profit Organization, has concluded in Kurgan. Over the course of five days, young architects, urban planners, and specialists from related fields designed development concepts for the Tobol River embankment—one of the city's key public spaces.
Two projects shared the victory in the in-person stage of the competition. One of them was the "Heart of Kurgan" concept, developed by a team that included our university student Anna Galyuk (a second-year student at the Faculty of Architecture). Her co-authors were Elizaveta Chiyanova (N.S. Alfyorov Ural State University of Architecture and Art), Adil Khayrullin (Moscow Architectural Institute), and Artem Gavrilov (Saint Petersburg). They shared first place with the "Master Plan" project.
The Tobol River Embankment is one of Kurgan’s major urban improvement projects. Before the design phase began, the participants familiarized themselves with the city and the site of the future project.
They studied the area along the Tobol River and the features of the urban landscape, revisited the site multiple times, and analyzed existing routes and points of attraction. The work proceeded in several stages: teams successively presented interim results to experts, discussed proposed solutions, and refined their designs based on the feedback received.
A specific stage of the program was dedicated to meetings with residents, business representatives, architects, and civic organizations. Participants discussed the current use of the space, ideas residents consider promising for its development, and the features important to preserve.
The "Heart of Kurgan" concept focuses on transforming the central section of the embankment into a modern public space.
The "Goroda" (Cities) All-Russian Urban Planning Hackathon is a federal platform where young architects, urban planners, and related professionals—guided by leading experts—design area development concepts tailored to specific regional needs. Young professionals gain the opportunity to add a federal-level project to their portfolios and work alongside practicing industry experts. The project brings together three forces: talented architects, the professional community, and regional requirements.
