BRIC and megacities: the case of Moscow

• Grant number: 11/12495-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2011
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning
• Principal Investigator: Leandro Silva Medrano
• Grantee: Taina Ceccato Colombrini
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The phenomenon of migration towards cities has been gaining strength for six centuries, since the conception of the modern, post-feudal city. However, in the last three decades, this phenomenon became so special that it promoted the clustering of population groups around certain oversized urban centers, constituting the so-called megacities. The current configuration process of urban space has increasingly been a response to the downsides and benefits of megacities, which can be perceived especially in the collapse of infrastructure and in opportunities for income generation, respectively. Being the latter the main attraction of the megacity, the phenomenon is of particular strength in developing and underdeveloped countries. Thus, the scope of this study: is the BRIC economic group. The goal of this research is to identify the influence that historical and politic-economical processes performed on the urbanistic and architectural configuration of the Russian capital Moscow and understand the influence of those processes and of their consequences on the configuration of Moscow as a megacity. The aim is to understand the urban space under the scope of cause and effect, through bibliographic research and interviews, which will allow the grasping of the true formation processes of the urban fabric and also the maximum exploitation of the tacit capability of megacities. Moreover, comparisons will be established with other cities and megacities, particularly under the scope of the BRIC, and through the analysis of urban indicators. The results will be part of a series of studies on megacities, currently under development in LEAC (Laboratory of Contemporary Architecture).(AU)