Earlier this year, current mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced that the city would soon demolish 8,000 of them, displacing 1.6 million residents. More recently, Sobyanin revised that number downward: 4,566 buildings are currently targeted for demolition, which would displace 1 million residents. According to The Economist, owners and tenants of targeted buildings can vote on the matter until June 15. If two-thirds vote in favor of demolition or abstain, the building will be no longer and its residents will be moved into “replacement apartments of equal size, rather than equal value,” while anyone who refuses will face eviction and no chance to appeal in court.
A previous and more modest wave of Khrushchyovka clearance was initiated in the late ‘90s under then-mayor Yury Luzhkov, but that came with little public outcry. As explained in the Moscow Times, “Owners of apartments in buildings eligible for demolition were warned a year in advance. They were offered three alternatives in the same district, equivalent in market value. They could opt for a payout instead. Improved construction standards meant the new apartments tended to be larger and of a higher quality.”
Sobyanin’s plan, meanwhile, has caused great suspicion and anger. As reported by Ivan Davydov in Intersection, a Russia policy journal, it won’t just be Khrushchyovka biting the dust. Other historic buildings, late 20th-century homes, and even newly renovated residential buildings would be eligible for demolition under the most recent draft of the bill by the State Duma.
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