Moscow's Public Treasures: A Tour of Parks & Public Spaces in a Post-Socialist City

Public spaces such as parks play a key role in a city’s urban fabric: they function as aesthetic charms that line up a city, as well as meeting places for all sorts of different people. Even more importantly, though, they serve important purposes of commemorating, remembering, and exhibiting. 

In a recent exploratory case study by The Guardian, it was said that: 

Five years ago, to take a walk along the embankment of the Moscow river, south-west of the Kremlin, would have been a miserable affair – through the depressing, weed-strewn expanse of Gorky Park, navigating pot-holed roads and dodging stray dogs.

Now, it is a very different experience. The waterfront has been redeveloped and the park totally remodelled – it is now packed with families strolling in the summer sunshine or skating on its frozen paths, depending on the time of year. Along the way, all manner of eateries and coffee shops cater to newly acquired tastes; people on bikes speed past in the cycle lanes. [1] 

This is something to keep in mind as we visit all our parks today. The world, particularly Russia, has changed in a monumental way in the last decade, and parks and other public spaces today serve as an indication of this. They are key contributors to the social fabric of a city, and can be treated as sorts of “museums” in their own right. We will explore five such key parks and large open spaces in the city of Moscow, which celebrate, remember, alter, and honor the nation’s past.

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[1] Walker, Shaun. “Is the 'Moscow experiment' over?” The Guardian, 8 Jun 2015.