Strategic or Master Plan?

Abstract

After President V.V. Putin ordered the Government of the Russian Federation to develop the proposals to replace the master plans of large cities with strategic plans, the process of developing master plans of cities equated to strategic plans was intensified. At the same time the discussion on the question of "what is the difference between master plans and general plans" was unfolded. In this regard, the following three actual questions are considered in the article: what are the differences between master plans and general plans; is
the master plan identical to the strategic plan; is it necessary to replace the general plan with a strategic plan, or both documents are necessary? In addition, the article discusses Mr. Putin's Decree dated November 8, 2021 No. 633 "On Approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Sphere of Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation", which notes the need to develop an architecture of strategic planning documents. In its absence, Government instruction continues to indicate the need to develop master plans for 25 cities of the Russian East, which already have numerous documentations on socio-economic and spatial planning. In conclusion, it is noted that the existing chaos in the strategic planning system should be replaced by an "architecture" of the ordered documents indicating their connection and sequence of development.