The conference on ensuring a comfortable urban environment “The Arctic is a Territory of Development” was held in Yakutsk fr om May 22-25 as part of the main events of the Russian Federation’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021-2023, operated by the Roscongress Foundation. Within the framework of the session “The Arctic Hectare as an Opportunity for Self-Realization,” organized by the operator of the “Hectare” program – the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, and representatives of the Arctic regions discussed the first results of the program and presented successful projects, solutions used on the Arctic land, as well as voiced promising development proposals.

First Deputy Chairman of the government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Kirill Bychkov opened the session by noting the importance of implementing the “Hectare” program and presenting the results of its implementation in the region. “In Yakutia, the annual temperature change exceeds 110 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the region ranks second in terms of the number of land plots provided - about 12,000. That is, the land is in demand, and the mechanism for providing land is working. People snap up “hectares” to build their own housing, for agricultural purposes, entrepreneurship, and to open tourism projects. To date, 15 “hectare” agglomerations have been deployed in the region, and 4 of them have already been provided with infrastructure. With the support of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, more than 171 million rubles have been allocated, and more significant amounts are required for the future for these purposes,” Kirill Bychkov stated. He also made a proposal to develop amendments to the law on “hectares” to simplify the procedures for securing infrastructure on plots located in forest zones. It was proposed to establish a simplified procedure for the transfer of forest fund lands to lands of settlements for sites necessary to ensure travel and access to “hectares,” as well as for sites where social, transport, and engineering infrastructure is planned for the development of agglomerations. According to Kirill Bychkov, this mechanism will simplify the provision of “hectares” with infrastructure and is in demand in the “Hectare” regions.

Representative of the Republic of Karelia noted the high interest of citizens in the “hectare” - to date, about 2,500 applications have been received for the provision of plots, of which about 178 are collective. “Citizens are actively grabbing up land to construct housing and turning to authorized bodies with requests to expand existing settlements. We take this into account and expect that our agglomerations will soon begin to grow thanks to the “hectare.” We’re additionally considering the possibility of expanding territories around settlements under the “hectare” - this is in demand and has been confirmed by a survey,” said Minister of Property and Land Relations of the Republic of Karelia Yanina Svidskaya. Other popular uses of land in Karelia include tourism, household plots, and agriculture. The minister also noted the effectiveness of the case for collective preparation and filing of applications by employees of enterprises; when people had previously chosen land, agreed, and now jointly receive it, where they will create a future settlement.

Minister of Property Relations of the Murmansk Region Viktoria Minkina noted that land in the Murmansk Region is of interest to people wanting to build personal housing and launch tourism projects For the convenience of citizens, the ministry has developed a map of the land most in demand, where the spots of greatest interest are marked - this helps to determine the choice of land. Seventeen land plot agglomerations have been identified in the Murmansk Region to date. The largest of them are located near settlements, transport infrastructure, and tourist attractions. “Currently, the opportunity is being considered to help citizens’ associations via mechanisms for the joint rational use of territories, support in the development of urban planning documentation, and via compensation for the costs of cutting down forested areas on a “hectare.” Financial measures to support housing construction are in great demand. The government of the Murmansk Region has developed the project “Master a house in the Arctic” - this is 1 million rubles to construct housing and 1.5 million for large families. In addition, a number of promising business support measures have been developed. Within the framework of the “Governor’s Startup,” 4 projects by “hectare” recipients have already been marked,” Viktoria Minkina said. “There is a need to provide infrastructure. We expect the experience of the Far East will be used in financing the construction of infrastructure facilities.”

All of the meeting’s participants noted the high demand for “hectares” to build personal housing. The reason for this is the possibility of getting land in a settlement or in the immediate vicinity of one. The demand for additional measures to support housing construction was noted, and the effectiveness of the program “Far Eastern Mortgage” was also highlighted. Dmitry Yurkov, representative of the governor of the Arkhangelsk Region for the development of the Arctic, proposed spreading the mechanism for subsidizing mortgage rates for citizens building housing in the Arctic: “The principles of the “Far Eastern Mortgage” must be extended to the construction of individual housing in the Arctic “hectares.” That is to say program participants in the Arctic should be able to take out a mortgage loan of up to 6 million rubles for up to 20 years at 2% per annum. This will help ensure comfortable living conditions in the Arctic territories and will solve the housing problem.”

As part of the event, director of ANPO Industry of the Future Ivan Stepanov presented the concept of a micropolis, to create a new model of a village in the Arctic with elements of urban life. He defined the project as “a territory of the future with a new way of life, based on a new technological foundation for the shared economy and a cooperative model of organizing society.” The process of implementing the concept based on the agglomeration of land plots in the village of Magaras in the Gorny District has already begun - a master plan has been developed, and in the summer of 2022, construction of housing, an agricultural complex, and tourist facilities will begin. By 2025 a microdistrict is planned, which by 2030 should develop into a settlement, and then into a micropolis. The use of both federal and regional support measures is expected as the territory develops. “By 2035, it will already be a micropolis, wh ere from 3,000 to 5,000 people will live. As part of this, manufacturing, entrepreneurial, socially oriented, agricultural, tourism, and art clusters will be created. Via the aid of cooperation mechanisms, the settlement will not only provide itself with what it needs, but also “export” its product,” Ivan Stepanov said. According to the expert, the micropolis project has a high potential for replication and will allow the image of small settlements to be radically altered, changing the very concept of rural life.

General Director of the Russian Institute of Urban Planning and Investment Development Giprogor, Elena Chuguevskaya made a proposal to update the approach in terms of allocating land under the “hectare” program: “It is proposed to provide territories for the allocation of Arctic “hectares” as part of the draft master plans for long-term development with the calculation of the balance of the required infrastructure. At the same time, it is worth defining these territories for multifunctional use with an expanded list of types of permitted land plots. In addition, we consider it rational to use the cluster approach when determining territories for the Arctic “hectare” [program]. For instance, to form tourist, residential, agro-industrial, and other clusters. For already formed territories, to develop documentation for planning the territory based on the principles of integrated development.”

First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Vyacheslav Loginov spoke about the consideration of amendments to the “Hectare” law. He identified the “hectare amnesty” as the most significant, which will allow program participants to extend the deadline for submitting an application to register a property, as well as the possibility of replacing a “hectare” if a citizen cannot use the land in accordance with the approved type of use.

Let’s recall that the “Hectare” program is being implemented in the Far East and the Arctic. Since 2016, land can be obtained free of charge in the Far Eastern Federal District, and since 2021 the program has been extended to the Arctic territories of six more regions - the Murmansk Region, the Nenets Autonomous District, and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, as well as in the municipal districts of the Arkhangelsk Region, the Republic of Komi, and the Republic of Karelia.

According to the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, to date, 103,500 people have received “hectares” in the Far East, and about 3,000 in the Arctic. To submit an application, you must log in to the site using your Gosuslugi account, and you can sel ect land on an interactive map. According to the “hectare” law, a citizen themselves determines the form, area, and permitted type of activity on the site. Individually, you can have a plot of up to 1 hectare, and upon application fr om a team of up to 10 people - up to 10 hectares, and each member of the group shall have no more than 1 hectare. In other words, you can have both 10 acres to build a house or a shop, and 10 hectares for a tourism project.