The green areas of Nizhny Novgorod may increase by 40 hectares.

      The head of Nizhny Novgorod, Yuri Shalabaev, instructed the relevant departments – urban improvement and urban development and architecture – to work on the issue of increasing the area of urban green spaces, which he reported on his social media. According to him, in the first approximation, the green areas of Nizhny Novgorod could increase by 40 hectares. "There is a concept called 'OTOP' - green areas of public use. Simply put, these are essentially inviolable green zones of the city. We have almost 2,300 hectares of them. They cannot be built on or reduced in area, and if there is logging, the losses are compensated in kind within the existing boundaries. The conclusion is simple and unequivocal: the more OTOP, the better for the city and its residents. There are no problems with this in Nizhny Novgorod, but considering two important factors: active construction and the merger with the Kstovo district, our task is not only to maintain the regulatory area of OTOP per resident of Nizhny Novgorod but also to increase this indicator," the mayor concluded. He also mentioned that together with the relevant regional ministry, 10 urban areas with a total area of 40 hectares have been approved. They will change their status and become part of the green areas of Nizhny Novgorod. "Now a large-scale work of all departments on the implementation of changes to the boundaries of urban OTOP is beginning," emphasized Yuri Shalabaev.