THE WATER AND PLANTING INFRASTRUCTURE FRAMEWORK OF YEKATERINBURG: PAST, PROBLEMS, AND FUTURE

The study explores the water and planting infrastructure framework of Yekaterinburg. Currently, this framework of Yekaterinburg is degrading due, first of all, to the utilitarian approach to the place and role of the river in the city historically established in the course of evolution of this Ural plant town. As a result, the Iset River as the main element of the water and planting infrastructure framework lost its most important function of communication due to the multiple barriers preventing access to water, circulation routes in the transverse direction relative to the river, and super-dense development in the river area. All these factors hinder the development of a modern water and planting infrastructure framework. The study reviews landscape and urban planning experiences in the construction of water and planting infrastructures and identifies requirements for developing a water and planting infrastructure framework and its role in urban development. We have also reviewed the modern-day concepts of water-and-planting infrastructure framework development proposed by the architectural community and the authorities. These are shown not to meet modern requirements for water-and-planting infrastructure frameworks. The authors propose their own system of requirements and demonstrate that the key element for the water-and-planting framework is the concept of riverine area, which should be delineated spatially and given a legal definition to ensure its status of protected area.