Great Paris and Great Moscow: Modernization Plans and Innovation

Abstract

The article examines the innovation policy, implemented by the leadership of global urban projects — “Greater Paris” and “Greater Moscow”. Paris and Moscow, originally two large European metropolitan areas, simultaneously began to implement global plans for the modernization and restructuring of the city space that are closely tied to the active implementation of digital technologies in the everyday life of citizens and the functioning of urban space. At the same time, the political and administrative leadership, implementing these projects, both in Moscow and Paris developed their projects according to completely different logic, in spite of the fact that initially the Moscow project tried to copy the French one to some extent. The article describes the solutions introduced for the development of both megacities, their similarities and differences. The author also compares conceptual development models used in practice in both cities (polycentric or monocentric models), and describes the process of the implementation of cluster projects, such as the “seven development clusters” in Paris and the Skolkovo project in Moscow. The third object of the study is the comparison of the policy of introducing information technologies in urban expansion projects in Paris and Moscow. Thus, it can be stated that despite the initially similar economic starting conditions, the projects of expansion, development and modernization of Paris and Moscow are currently being implemented in fundamentally different administrative and managerial concepts, which is primarily due to different mechanisms for political decision-making in France and Russia, as well as various interest groups, co-opted in the process of discussion and implementation of urban development projects. The author comes to the conclusion that at the moment (mid‑2018) the modernization project of “Greater Moscow” is more effective than the “Greater Paris” project for several reasons.