Moscow has undergone a dramatic transition from communism to rampant consumerism in the past 20 years. Shopping malls and luxury stores have popped up everywhere, with Moscow now being one of the most expensive cities in the world. However, this consumerist lifestyle is out of reach for many residents. As a result, there is a stark contrast between the expensive, high-end shopping centers and the cheap, unofficial street markets that have sprouted up. These informal markets produce large amounts of garbage and social issues but provide affordable options for many. The document calls for new types of public spaces that are not focused on consumption to help address these challenges.

2. From communism to consumerism: 20 years of transition

4. Ideology is at rest. What has taken it’s place? Another ideology: consumerism.

5. GUM (Main Department Store), or the Upper Trading Rows, were built between 1890 and 1893 by Alexander Pomerantsev (responsible for architecture) and Vladimir Shukhov (responsible for engineering). The façade faces the Red Square. The glass roof (14 meters in diameter) made the building unique at the time of construction .

6. In the end of 2008 the total space of shopping centres in Moscow amounted to 3,9 million sq/m. The rental price is approximately $2.000 a year per sq/m.

7. Underground shopping mall “Okhotny Ryad” near Kremlin is the largest in Europe. It was built in 1997 by Zurab Tsereteli, responsible for many new, shiny, and tasteless buildings in Moscow. The total space is 70.000 sq/m, the rent is about $6.000 a year per sq/m.

8. Auchan, the French hypermarket chain, opened the first Russian store in 2002. Now it has 29 hypermarkets and supermarkets in Russia, 12 of them are in the Moscow area.

9. To drive to the hypermarket at the outskirts of Moscow, you need a car. At the beginning of 2009 the population of Moscow was 10,6 million, with 2,6 million car owners.

13. You go shopping not because you need something…

14. But because shopping is fun!

17. Traffic jams are only the half of the problem.

18. Another problem is the lack of parking space. And in Moscow you need not just a parking space, but a real shelter for you car. Otherwise…

19. Here is the solution: metal tents, so-called “shells”. Cheap, efficient and ugly…

20. And here is the reaction of the Moscow authorities… Since 2007 they removed 7.000 illegal car tents. But about 160.000 are still there…

21. Solution #2: Don’t drive a car, buy locally! 30% of all turnover in Russia comes from street retail.

22. Officially authorized…

23. And not exactly authorised…

24. You can buy knitted socks and sweaters…

25. … or flowers

26. But what’s left after the sale is over? Yes, a lot of garbage!

27. Garbage bins: A source of inspiration…

28. … and of some useful stuff!

29. Inhabitants of Moscow produce 5,5 million ton of garbage a year. Garbage removal industry is organized officially…

30. … and locally.