Geomorphological resources of New Moscow

Abstract

Based on the analysis of geological and geomorphological conditions and the existing structure of land use in the territory of New Moscow, lands potentially suitable for the expansion of urban infrastructure were assessed and mapped. A medium-scale general geomorphological map and a map of geomorphological resources of New Moscow were developed. The area and geomorphological position of lands with different types of land use were assessed. It was found that as of 2023, about half of the lands potentially suitable for urban infrastructure in New Moscow were already under urban or rural development. These lands are generally characterized by favorable geological and geomorphological conditions, their development, for the most part, did not require large-scale excavation works and enormous costs of the transformation of the relief and geological environment and engineering protection. Further expansion of urban infrastructure is possible either through the development and transfer of agricultural lands to another cadastral category, or through partial reorganization of rural settlements. It is shown that only a quarter of potentially developable agricultural lands is characterized by geological and geomorphological conditions favorable enough for construction. At the same time, a significant part of such lands is remote from the main highways and the old metropolitan center, which makes their development rather costly. The performed assessment allows us to assume that if the rate of urban infrastructure expansion in New Moscow is maintained, construction costs will steadily increase in the coming decades due to the involvement in the development zone of more and more lands requiring additional financial investment in the transformation of relief and geological environment as well as in engineering protection of the territory from geomorphological hazards.