Many of the issues that we face in our own cities are mirrored in the evolution of Moscow in the last couple of decades. The rapid increase in personal wealth and automobile ownership has facilitated middle class flight to the outer suburbs; this has created a staggering traffic problem that repeats itself daily. The jobs however are located in the center city with relatively few jobs in the outer rings of the metropolitan area. To make matters worse, Moscow’s famed metro system, built in the 1930s and 40s, is already over capacity handling some 8 million passengers a day. The resulting pattern is one we are all too familiar with in places like the Washington, Atlanta or Los Angeles – unrelenting congestion for much of the day and night.

 

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