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Housing construction to be scaled back in Minsk

 

Mikalay Ladutska, head of the Minsk City Executive Committee, announced plans on Friday to reduce the volume of housing construction in the Belarusian capital.

Speaking at a government conference chaired by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the official said that the city’s population density was 6,200 per square kilometer compared with 3,850 in Berlin, 4,100 in Beijing, 3,700 in Shanghai, 5,700 in Tokyo and 4,400 in Munich. The population density in Minsk’s Pawnochny Zakhad residential district is as high as 18,000 residents per square kilometer, he said.

Mr. Ladutska said that the annual volume of housing construction in Minsk would be limited to 500,000 square meters starting 2017. The largest share of housing is to be built at the site currently occupied by the Minsk 1 airport and industrial facilities, he said.

However, Mr. Ladutska promised that the construction of government-subsidized housing and rental housing would continue in the city.

There are plans to increase the construction of housing for Minsk residents in so-called “satellite cities,” such as Smalyavichy, Rudzensk, Sokal, Fanipal, Dzyarzhynsk and Maladzyechna, according to the official.

He said that the average cost of housing construction in Smalyavichy would be $1,800 per square meter. //BelaPAN