Convenient metropolis: where to live comfortably in Moscow

Convenience in the understanding of modern metropolitan residents is safety and health care, developed infrastructure and daily time savings, proximity to the center and silence. And also, of course, beauty and style. How the most comfortable cities in the world are arranged and what Moscow took over from them - we figured out the issue together with urbanists (and chose the best places to live in the Russian capital).

We have collected even more useful information about life in a modern city.

What is urban comfort?

“There are more opportunities”, “You can work for decent money”, “Children will get a good education” - this is how people answer when they are asked about why they decided to move from a small town to a metropolis. These answers can be combined into one: it is more convenient to live in a metropolis.

A comfortable urban environment is made up of five factors:

financial stability;
favorable state of the environment;
accessibility of education;
accessibility of healthcare;
developed infrastructure.

The ratings of the most comfortable cities in the world are annually - 140 settlements are fighting for the first place (and the opportunity to enter at least the top twenty). It's not just about prestige - getting into the rating (EIU) or allowing cities to compete to attract investment, integrate new technologies and inflow human capital.

A very important role in such ratings is played by the quality of natural resources in the city - the area of greenery, the quality of air and water, the degree of soil pollution.

Alexander Akishin urbanist and environmental psychologist

Environmental health is one of two key factors (financial stability the other) for which cities receive the highest scores. In 2018 and 2019, Vienna took the first place in the ratings - and both times the air quality here was estimated at a maximum of 25 points. The top ten also includes Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Toronto and other cities.

Moscow is only in 68th place, but urbanists believe that such a low position may be due to the lack of transparency in the data: international consulting agencies do not always manage to study the actual statistics that measure urban comfort in the Russian capital. There is also good news: analysts have included Moscow in the list of settlements whose comfort indicators have increased significantly over the past five years.

Big city psychology

Scientists and urbanists have been talking about the fact that residents of large cities do not know their neighbors. It turns out that the inability to feel “like one” in one's own area leads to the development of emotional discomfort and an increase in feelings of anxiety. This fact is manifested as a litmus test in all important social processes and in pop culture: serious musicians sang about the loneliness of the inhabitants of the metropolis and the heroines of the series "Sex and the City" talked about it.

But how to make friends for an adult whose main resource is time? You don't go up to strangers on the street just to chat.

Comfortable urban environment: Nagatino I-Land

Urbanist and psychologist Alexander Akishin believes that the multifunctionality of modern housing can help solve this problem. As in a residential complex, where the ground floors of houses are occupied by cafes, bank branches, medical centers and other useful services, and schools and kindergartens are within walking distance.

“Multifunctionality is very important for socialization,” Akishin says. - It makes it possible to form a community, and also allows a person not to waste time on what is called “going to the city” - to the center where important services and services are concentrated. All this helps to improve the quality of life."

Visible and invisible architecture: two important components of comfort

One of the most important conditions for comfort for a modern person is this: it should be quiet. Why modern? Because before the industrial revolution in Western Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, city streets were relatively silent: factories did not rumble, and later, cars and trains.

Measuring the noise level and working with it began already in the 20th century. Now the impact of environmental factors on humans is being studied by environmental psychology and it is already known that noise provokes stress.

Noise - even if it is quiet, but ambient, that is, "white" - actually constantly loads our nervous system, forcing us to analyze the "incoming" sound. This affects the quality of sleep, the ability to rest, concentrate on work - and ultimately negatively affects people's lives. And the city is forced to bear the costs of health care: people often go to doctors, take sick leave.

Alexander Akishin

According to sanitary standards, the acceptable noise level in a residential building is 40–45 dB during the day and no more than 35 dB at night. Of course, it is unlikely that you will be able to achieve complete sound comfort within 24 hours, but you can reduce stress levels: for example, by reducing the time spent commuting to work and favorite activities.

Comfortable urban environment: Nafatino i-Land, embankment

The residential complex is located just 10 kilometers from the center of Moscow, on the "green island", which occupies 15 hectares between the parks Kolomenskoye, Tyufeleva Roshcha and Nagatinskaya Poima. This means that there is no need to waste time getting to a place where you can run or ride a bike.

Also, for the residents of the complex, underground parking is provided, which makes it possible to apply the convenient European concept of a "courtyard without cars" - as in Vienna or Tokyo. And yet - the beauty around. Even for those people who do not consider themselves to be visuals, the opportunity to see beauty is important: whether it is the layout of their own apartment, the architecture of the courtyard, or the view of the river from the window. “This allows a person to form a feeling of attachment to space, caring for it,” says Alexander Akishin. "And improve the quality of everyday life."