PUG 2040 — MANIFESTO OF THE GENERAL URBAN PLAN OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Chișinău. A Metropolis Without a Predefined Future
0. Preface
On March 26, a major conference will take place dedicated to the development of the General Urban Plan of Chișinău until 2040. A significant and truly valuable part of the work has already been completed — an audit has been conducted, data has been collected, and key problems and contradictions have been identified.
This is a rare situation in which the city is at a point where it is possible not only to update a document, but to change the very logic of managing development.
The main risk now is not the lack of information, but the possibility that the next step will be taken by inertia. According to the methodology of the last century.
It may appear again:
a multi-volume document;
a system of forecasts;
calculations that will become outdated before approval;
an attempt to describe the future instead of managing it.
Today there is an opportunity to do otherwise.
This manifesto is not a draft document.
It is an attempt to define the principles without which a General Urban Plan of the 21st century is impossible.
1. The End of the General Urban Plan as a Document
The General Urban Plan of the 20th century was a document.
It consisted of:
a set of texts;
schemes;
calculations;
forecasts;
regulations.
It assumed that the city could be:
described;
calculated;
fixed;
implemented in stages.
But this no longer works.
The city cannot be described as a final form.
The city is a process.
2. The City as a System of Uncertainty
The modern city exists under conditions of:
unstable demography;
migration;
technological leaps;
changes in employment;
new forms of mobility;
global crises;
geopolitical pressure;
unpredictable events.
None of these factors can be accurately forecast for 20 years ahead.
This means:
the future of the city does not exist as a predefined model.
3. The Illusion of Forecasting
A traditional General Urban Plan begins with the question:
“How many people will live in the city in 2040?”
But this is a false question.
No one can reliably predict:
population size;
migration flows;
level of urbanization;
economic structure;
transport behavior;
impact of technologies;
consequences of crises.
Any number is a hypothesis.
4. Rejection of Forecasts
From this follows the principle:
The General Urban Plan of the 21st century must abandon forecasts as a foundation.
This means:
no calculated population;
no “optimistic / pessimistic” scenarios;
no attempt to describe the future economy;
no fixation of a transport model;
5. The Only Thing That Can Be Fixed — Goals
If the future cannot be predicted,
what then can be the basis of the General Urban Plan?
The answer:
goals.
Goals:
do not depend on specific numbers;
remain relevant under any conditions;
set direction;
allow evaluation of decisions.
6. The General Urban Plan as a Management System
The General Urban Plan ceases to be a document.
It becomes:
a system of goals;
a system of criteria;
a system for evaluating decisions;
a management tool.
7. Management Instead of Planning
A key transition occurs:
Was → Becomes
Plan → Management
Forecast → Evaluation
Document → System
Form → Process
8. Territories of Adaptive Development
The city already exists.
We are not building it from scratch.
Therefore:
The General Urban Plan should work not with the entire city, but with territories of change.
8.1. A New Approach
Instead of:
rigid functional zoning
there is:
identification of territories of adaptive development
8.2. What Is Fixed
Not functions.
But:
potential;
constraints;
thresholds;
conditions of development.
8.3. What Is NOT Fixed
specific functions;
rigid scenarios;
predefined solutions.
8.4. Result
development without adjusting the General Urban Plan;
flexibility;
adaptation in real time.
9. Real Time as a Foundation
The General Urban Plan does not operate “once every 10 years.”
It operates:
continuously.
Every decision:
is evaluated;
is adjusted;
is made in the current context.
10. The Metropolis as a System
The city does not exist separately.
It is part of a metropolis.
Therefore:
the object of the General Urban Plan is not the boundary of the city, but the system of connections.
11. Sustainability as the Key Criterion
The goal of the city is not simply development.
The goal is:
the ability to function under any conditions.
12. A New Type of Thinking
The main change is not in the tools.
But in thinking.
12.1. Was
to predict
to fix
to implement
12.2. Becomes
to define goals
to evaluate decisions
to adapt
13. The Role of the Architect and Planner
The planner is no longer the author of form.
He or she is:
a creator of systems;
a moderator of decisions;
an architect of processes.
14. From Imitation to Reality
The old General Urban Plan often creates:
the illusion of control;
the illusion of precision;
the illusion of knowledge of the future.
The new General Urban Plan:
works with reality.
15. Minimum Form — Maximum Meaning
The General Urban Plan no longer requires:
dozens of volumes;
complex calculations;
excessive schemes.
It is sufficient to have:
clear goals;
understandable criteria;
a management system.
16. Symbol of the New Logic
The PUG 2040 sign reflects:
absence of a center;
absence of a single direction;
presence of multiple vectors;
breaks;
errors;
uncertainty.
17. Main Conclusion
The city cannot be built once.
It can only be managed.
18. Final Formula
PUG 2040 = goals + adaptation + decisions
19. Conclusion
Chișinău is now at a point of choice.
It is possible to:
repeat the model of the past;
create another document;
fix a structure that will become outdated.
Or:
create a system for managing a 21st century city.
20. Final Thought
This is not a plan.
It is a direction.
And even that is not predefined.
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