Moscow Urban Forum attended by over 7.5 million people

This year, four large city venues, Zaryadye Park, Gostiny Dvor, the Manege Central Exhibition Hall and the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, hosted the Moscow Urban Forum events for the first time. They were attended by more than 7.5 million people. The Moscow Government Presidium summed up the forum results during the latest session.

The Moscow Urban Forum, which took place from August 1 to September 10, has become the major summer festival, offering Moscow residents and visitors a diverse educational and entertainment program.

Luzhniki Olympic Complex

The ambitious Luzhniki Olympic Complex program of the Moscow Urban Forum included about 350 daily cultural, sports and entertainment events. The major events are concerts dedicated to the National Flag Day and the City Day. On August 22, Russian rock legends performed at the Big Sports Arena. On September 9, the Luzhniki Stadium became a mini-version of the capital with the most famous landmarks: boulevards and avenues, rivers and parks, where popular Russian pop artists performed.

The Luzhniki Olympic Complex program featured night discos on Fridays and Saturdays at the Small Sports Arena. They involved popular performers and DJs.

Many Moscow theaters and musical groups gave their performances and presented their creative programs. The ‘Moscow Streets’ circus divertimento was very popular with the Moscow Urban Forum visitors-48 performances were given to a full house. One of the most vibrant events was the audiovisual performance 'City for Everyone’. Video mapping dedicated to the life of the technological megacity, created by modern media artists using neural networks, was shown daily on the façade of the Luzhniki Aqua Complex.

More than 35 themed areas were arranged at the venue of the My District program, hosting over 15,000 master classes. Guests saw elements of courtyard landscaping, an example of a city sports ground with various exercise equipment, including for people with disabilities, and examples of public space landscaping. An interactive sandbox and a safe rope course were available to younger visitors.

At the Models of Restoration Objects venue, visitors took tours of art objects, which are landmarks being restored. Throughout the entire forum, there was an exhibition of children’s drawings dedicated to Moscow. Their authors were participants in the Heritage of My District competition of various years.

The Luzhniki Olympic Complex sports program was also very popular. Over the six weeks, the Moscow Training Marathon took place there, including public Zumba, cycling and jumping classes with popular artists involved. Over 1,000 athletes from all over Russia competed in the second open Moscow Cup GTO Games 2023, and 41 records were set to make it into the GTO Multisport Competition Records Book. On September 1–3, the Sports Knowledge Day was held as part of the Sports Expo exhibition with a large cluster of sports facilities designed for the forum guests. 

Winter sports were available on the Journey to Christmas slide. Professional trainers helped beginners learn the basics of snowboarding, and visitors also took part in snow tubing. In addition, guests saw an example of hockey rinks appearing in Moscow courtyards. People were encouraged to learn to play roller hockey and take part in amateur competitions. Summer sports were widely available. In the wakeboarding pool, visitors were taught to wakeboard while holding onto a rope. At the Artificial Wave site, they were helped to stand up on a board. In the SUP pool, they were taught how to paddle.

Sports, culture and technology: 30+ themed Moscow Urban Forum spots to unfold in Luzhniki

In addition, there was a large cluster with interactive art objects. Visitors were invited to star in episodes of popular 20 th century films, including ‘The Girl Without an Address’, ‘Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears’, ‘Guest from the Future’. The Light Tunnel art object with a panoramic 30-meter screen was one of the most beloved landmarks.

In the Moscow Digital Technologies Pavilion, visitors were able to learn more about the city’s digital projects and services. The VR cinema and virtual tours of digital twins of capital attractions, including VDNKh, Red Square, Zaryadye Park, the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, Vorontsovsky Park, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, as well as the Pirogov interactive anatomy table, were very popular. Guests visited more than 10 interactive areas dedicated to a specific technology or service.

The Cube Pavilion showed how Moscow has changed over the last 12 years. There was a sensory show on the first floor. The second floor featured interactive installations dedicated to the achievements in the main areas of urban development.

The Made in Moscow festival brought together more than 500 brands. It introduced forum guests to the goods and services of Moscow entrepreneurs. More than 13,000 products were presented at the festival. In the fashion market, visitors explored the collections of young Russian designers.

Moscow residents and visitors were told about how the Moscow tourism industry was developing in the mobile tourist information center. Moreover, quests, games and quizzes about Moscow were held in the Feel the City venue. Those interested had the opportunity to learn more about city jobs and try them out using VR simulators, as well as to apply for an internship at the Moscow Government.

Many events for children and adults in the Growth Trajectory tent were devoted to professional development. At the interactive Fitting Room of Jobs stands, young guests found out what type of occupation would be most suitable for them in the future, and using the VR simulator area, those of any age were able to virtually test themselves to see if they could become a pilot, race car driver, laboratory chemist or firefighter.

Moscow Urban Forum visitors to learn Moscow’s digital ecosystem

In the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, forum attendees had the opportunity to see the backstage urban economy. For example, they were offered to sit behind the wheel of municipal vehicles and try rescue and firefighting equipment. Visitors were able to climb a 12-meter climbing wall, play on modern children’s playgrounds, try their hand at the restoration and installation of art lighting of the Bolshoi Theater. A unique facility was a synthetic ice rink.

Over 20,000 times, forum guests did jigsaw puzzles depicting gas facilities. A pipe painting master class brought together young artists under the age of 10. The guys tried their hand at industrial art-they painted and then modeled an art object from water pipe elements. In addition, specialists from Rosseti Moscow Region held 210 exciting and fantastic Tesla shows. During the event, visitors were introduced to the electromagnetic field and the basic laws of physics.

Thanks to the urban economy festival, Muscovites also learned more about the nature of the capital. For example, an unusual installation called ‘Plant Library’ was presented. Residents heard the sounds of Moscow birds and learned a lot of interesting things about the nightingale, jackdaw, oriole, woodpecker, starling, owl and other birds. Visitors to the Ecosphere stand were introduced to the dynamics of natural environments.

In addition, young festival guests were taught how to sort waste. In more than a month, a reverse vending machine installed at the venue gave about 19,800 commemorative coins.

Gostiny Dvor

For six weeks, Gostiny Dvor turned into an interactive multimedia space with a unique exhibition dedicated to the development of healthcare, education, social security and other social sectors. The aesthetics of the exhibition space highlighted the main idea of the entire development of Moscow-all city services work for people and strive to become as perfect as the human body.

15 tour guides of My Documents public service centers organized more than 1,400 sightseeing tours for visitors.

Over 40,000 children took part in interactive entertainment programs, including science shows with spectacular experiments, master classes, including those from the legendary Soyuzmultfilm studio, theatrical performances and quests.

The venue hosted three major forums: the 3 rd Urban Health International Congress on the transformation of Moscow within the healthy urban infrastructure concept, the 1 st All-Russian Vocational Education Forum claiming large-scale transformation of this system, as well as the 5 th Regional Social Innovation Forum on breakthrough technologies and advanced approaches to the development of social services of the country and capital.

Gostiny Dvor hosted more than 365 business program events. About 1,400 speakers, including more than 20 experts from Belarus, Germany, Egypt, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Qatar, China, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Uzbekistan and France, gave online and offline speeches at the events.

The outstanding part of the forum was the cultural and educational program, including 314 events. Musicians, dancers, playwrights, science communicators and psychologists performed at Gostiny Dvor. Among them were Yuri Bashmet, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ivan Rudin, Sergei Polunin, Oleg Akkuratov, Ksenia Dezhneva, artists of the Great Moscow State Circus, Chaif and Moral Code X bands, Andrei Zvonky, ST, Alexander Marshal, Yulia Savicheva, Leonid Serebrennikov, Pelageya, Shaman, as well as Andrey Kurpatov, Artemy Lebedev, Alexander Tsypkin, Sergey Minaev, Alexander Dzidzaria, Seda Kasparova, Boris Lyubimov, Sergey Karyakin and many others. Meetings with athletes and businessmen were also held at the forum.

More than 250,000 people were able to assess the development of their metaskills, and over 135,000 guests identified their professional competencies in the Office of the Future.

117,000 people attended an express training course using medical simulation equipment. 38,000 guests learned how to give an injection and draw blood using special medical simulators, and over 37,000 people learned to provide first aid. More than 18,000 visitors had rapid tests to determine the risk of cardiovascular diseases and found out their biological age, and 1,200 people became emergency dispatchers and received simulated calls from patients daily.

3,400 visitors lived a day in the old age simulator, and 3,200 people helped the characters of the immersive show called ‘Dementia. Is There Tomorrow?! ’ make decisions. More than 3,000 Moscow residents and visitors took part in cycling races along Moscow virtual streets daily. Over 2,900 people tried a snowboarding and alpine skiing simulator, and 2,000 visitors had their speech analyzed using artificial intelligence. Over 1,000 visitors played FIFA 2023, CS: GO, Dota 2 and other games at cyber tournaments.

About 1,000 city residents took part in the employment marathon and had interviews with Moscow’s largest employers. 60 Moscow residents got married at Gostiny Dvor on the Day of Love.

From genetics to rehabilitation: healthcare developments presented at the Moscow Urban Forum in Gostiny Dvor

Zaryadye Park

Zaryadye Park and the Zaryadye Concert Hall hosted more than 800 exciting events. Guests were offered educational, entertainment, sports and cultural events.

Until August 31, the concert hall building housed an exhibition of key urban planning and infrastructure projects called 'City for Everyone’. It was attended by more than 262,000 people. Guests learned more about Moscow’s megaprojects, discovered innovative technological solutions and found out how the city’s infrastructure would develop in the near future.

As part of the educational program, more than 300 events, including lectures and master classes dedicated to the improvement of public spaces and the development of the comfortable urban environment, were organized.

The creative events included pottery, scrapbooking and comic strip master classes. Zaryadye Park hosted 125 events for young Muscovites. Both children and adults were able to learn new skills after getting recommendations from professional mentors.

The key event of the forum was the business program, which included plenary sessions, round tables and expert speeches. This year, 17 foreign speakers from 12 countries took part in the forum sessions, including the author of the 8 80 Cities concept Gil Penalosa, the pioneer of green architecture from Malaysia Ken Yeang, and the author of the 93-kilometer cycling super highway project in Dubai Baharash Bagherian. 42 sessions took place as part of the business program, which were attended by more than 27,000 people.

The events focused on six themed areas: urban transformation, new city economy, social analysis of urban trends, architecture and construction, technology and neural networks, culture and art.

As part of the business program, a youth track, bringing together more than 150 young urban planning specialists, was held. At the strategic sessions, 11 projects were selected to be included in the atlas of urban solutions, and a model of the association of urbanists was developed.

The forum also included the Economy Day and the Urban Economy Complex Day, when federal ministers and heads of Moscow departments discussed their focus areas. 107 speakers gave speeches during the specialized sessions called ‘Urban Housing and Public Utilities’. Round tables and lectures on urban economy were attended by more than 4,500 people.

In addition, Zaryadye Park became the venue of the Cloud City BRICS International Innovation Forum. More than 5,000 people took part in it, including international experts from 30 countries. Mayors and heads of governmental agencies/departments from Russia, other BRICS countries, Asia and the Middle East discussed how next-gen technologies were changing the lives of people in megacities, evaluated the best IT solutions for the public sector and the business community, and shared their experience in supporting innovators in their respective countries.

BRICS International Innovation Forum experts discuss how technology is changing tourismFirst Cloud City BRICS International Innovation Forum assembles over 5,000 participants from more than 30 countries

For the first time, the forum organized the Financial Literacy Week, a family educational marathon offering many interactive formats. More than 20,000 residents took part in lectures, games, master classes, attended digital exhibitions and film lectures. Muscovites learned how to make personal and household budgets, ensure their financial security, check their credit history, start investing and become an entrepreneur. A financial check-up allowed visitors to determine their level of financial literacy. Based on its results, they got a set of personal recommendations for further financial education.

Assisted by the Moscow Mayor, the Zaryadye Concert Hall hosted the awarding ceremony of the Best Completed Construction Project competition and festive events dedicated to the Builder’s Day.

In addition, as part of the forum, the winners of the MUF Community Awards were awarded. Traditionally, the prize is awarded to city communities and independent projects, individuals and startups for their contribution to the city development. This year, there were 14 categories, including City for Business, City Services, City Design and New Spaces, City for Children, City Exhibitions, Cultural Initiatives, Educational Initiatives, Sports and Health Projects, Charity and Social Projects, Urban Media and Blogs, Green City, City for Animals, Urban Gastronomy and Urban Health.

Another important event was the first Cultural Code competition. The project is a great way to see Moscow, its culture, way of life and development through the eyes of Muscovites. It also aimed at showing Moscow as an open and livable city. Following the competition, a large video collection of the ideas Muscovites came up with was built up.

In addition, Moscow residents and visitors attended screenings of documentary and feature films made by leading Russian film studios. This year, the cultural program was diverse and included more than 180 events.

The River Overlook Footbridge offered yoga and meditation classes with singing bowls and training sessions with sports stars for fans of an active and healthy lifestyle. Functional training for all muscle groups was given by one of the most titled Russian climbers Stanislav Kokorin, as well as famous figure skaters Kamila Valieva, Alexandra Trusova and Alina Zagitova. 65 sporting events took place at the Zaryadye Park venue. Forum guests spent a total of 48 hours engaging in physical activity.

The highlight of the forum was the three-day street culture festival called ‘Street Classics’. Its program included rap battles, a graffiti exhibition, performances by dance groups and DJing master classes.

As part of the music program, Zaryadye Park hosted 69 events. During all the days of the forum, guests attended modern and classical music concerts. Maestro Yuri Bashmet performed twice in the large amphitheater. He took part in the concert-play ‘This Was From Me’ together with theater and film actor Andrei Merzlikin and the Moscow Soloists chamber ensemble. The first performance of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yuri Bashmet took place on the same stage. Konstantin Khabensky also took part in the concert. Another star of the musical program was pianist Denis Matsuev, who gave a concert with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. The performances of Mot, Cream Soda, Lovanda, Tosya Chaikina, Yulia Chicherina and other artists were very popular.

Manege Central Exhibition Hall

The Manege Station exhibition, held as part of the Moscow Urban Forum from August 19 to September 10 in the Manege Central Exhibition Hall, had new attendance records and became the most popular event in the history of the venue. Over the 23 days, it was attended by 226,000 people.

The Manege Station became one of the key events of the big exhibition ‘The Year of the New Transport Framework’, dedicated to the capital’s transport achievements over the last decade. It allowed visitors to learn in a fascinating way about the key large-scale projects of the Moscow Government in this area, as well as assess their impact on the life of the Moscow region. It is one of the largest multimedia transport exhibitions in the world.

The exhibition showed how the opening of new transport routes-the Moscow Central Circle, the Big Circle Line, the Moscow Central Diameters (MCD) -had improved traffic in the Moscow agglomeration, and also told visitors about new projects-the MCD-3 and the MCD-4. By the way, on August 17, at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall venue, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Russian President Vladimir Putin launched traffic on the MCD-3, a new above-ground metro line.

The exhibition covering an area of 9,000 square meters included 6 themed areas. Each of the interactive multimedia areas enabled visitors to interact with many exhibits. The largest space covering 420 square meters was dedicated to the MCD.

For the first time, two real cars were installed in front of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Ivolga 3.0 and Moskva-2020, which became symbols of innovative changes in Moscow transport. On the first day of the exhibition, more than 1,000 ice cream bars were given to guests.

The exhibition featured over 1,000 unique exhibits-from Troika themed cards and the 2014 Olympic torch to a model of the promising MCD-5 tunnel.

A 37-meter hologram with the Ivolga 3.0 train made it into the Russian Book of Records. Two electric train cab simulators became the real stars of the exhibition, and each visitor was able to try their hand at driving trains.

In the Manege Central Exhibition Hall, 1.2 kilometers of rails were laid and five mobile models of the Ivolga 3.0 and Moskva-2020 cars were installed to conveniently move between different exhibition areas.

In addition, eight experimental Moskvich cars produced between the 1970 s and the 1990 s were presented, some of which were one-of-a-kind. Guests saw the three latest models, Moskvich 3, Moskvich 3 e and Moskvich 6, which are to be produced and distributed this year. The Aurus hydrogen-powered limousine and the Aurus Merlon electric motorcycle were among the exhibits.

A family leisure center became an important part of the Manege Station. 14,000 children made 26,550 handmade items. The children’s motorcycle school gave more than 7,500 licenses to drive a balance bike.

The employer’s stand‘Moscow Transport is People’ attracted more than 1,700 applicants who submitted their resumes at the exhibition.

Over the 23 days, the exhibition lecture hall brought together 125 speakers, including transport experts, actors, bloggers and journalists.