2.m NEW HOMES

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32382, 22 August 1970, Page 6

2.m NEW HOMES

Russian Plans

In a record-breaking expansion of its housing programme, the U.S.S.R. plans to build about 2,600,000 new homes this year. This is an increase of over an eighth on last year’s These housing facts were given by Mr Ignaty Novikov, chairman of the State Building Organisation, at a Moscow conference of building experts. On average, 9000 Soviet families move into new flats each day, Mr Gennady Fomin, chairman of the Committee for Civil Engineering and Architecture, told the conference. A key feature of Soviet town planning, said Mr Fomin, was that schools, health centres, shops and cinemas were built in proportion to the number of new flats.

Plans are ready for 1700 new standard projects for blocks of flats and about 1200 schemes for public buildings. In the future there would be a wider choice and bigger flats, he said. By the midseventies flats would be at least a fifth larger. The new projects provide for different finishes for exteriors, halls and balconies. Buildings on squares and main thoroughfares will also use standard structural elements.

Mr Novikov said that, since the revolution, 3000 new towns had been built and about 41,000 large industrial enterprises. He called for industry to be located in relation to population and for town planning to take account of the natural features of the area. He also referred to the danger of pollution and told planners to take the growth in private car owners ship into full account— Novosti Press Agency.