Magadan residents vote to transform their public spaces for 2027
Our website, April 21 – For the sixth year in a row, residents of Russia's Magadan Region are voting to decide which public spaces will be prioritized for improvement—and this time, the project's reach is expanding. In addition to towns and settlements with populations over 20,000, smaller but strategically important communities will now take part.
Anyone aged 14 or older can cast their vote: online at *zagorodsreda.gosuslugi.ru, through the Gosuslugi. Reshaem Vmeste* (Government Services: Decide Together) app, or with the help of volunteers at designated information points. The core principle remains unchanged: residents themselves decide which parks, squares, and public areas will be renovated first. The projects receiving the most votes will be implemented as early as 2027 and beyond, based on proposals submitted by local residents.
Interest in the vote has grown steadily each year. In 2023, over 15,500 people across the region participated, selecting from 17 sites and four design projects. Five winning initiatives were chosen, and work is already underway: Cosmonauts Square in Magadan's regional center, the Vokzal (Station) Square in the town of Talaya, and public spaces in Seimchan and Omsukchan are all being upgraded.
Since 2019, the Formation of a Comfortable Urban Environment federal program—part of the Infrastructure for Life national project—has transformed the region. A total of 79 public and residential areas have been revitalized, including Admiral Nagayev Alley, Roman Voronov Square, and the Alley of Memory in Magadan; the town park in Susuman; the central square in Seimchan; Valery Antonenko Square in Ust-Omchug; and the area in front of the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Yagodnoye. Seven of these projects have also won the all-Russian Best Urban Environment competition, such as Mayak (Beacon) and Dyukcha parks, now landmarks of the regional capital.
This year, eight municipalities in Magadan Region are taking part, with the list of candidates drawn entirely from resident proposals. In Magadan, voters can choose between two iconic sites: Bilibin Square on Portovaya Street and the Alley of Memory (Alley of Honorable Citizens) on Lenin Prospect.
Launched at the initiative of the Russian president, the federal program has been consistently supported by the United Russia party, which secures its annual funding. "What matters most is that residents themselves determine which areas need urgent attention," said Denis Smirnov, coordinator of the party's Urban Environment project in Magadan Region and a local deputy. "We see real results—these projects don't just stay on paper. They're built and become gathering places for people. Our goal is to ensure every decision is implemented with quality and on time."
Voting runs until June 12, giving every resident of Kolyma the chance to shape the future of their town or village in the years ahead.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
