Updating Transportation
Following World War I Moscow became a very popular place to live. Industry was expanding rapidly, so by 1930 the first block housing buildings were being built on the outskirts of the city. In conjunction the subway was dug starting in 1930 to provide easy transportation for workers, since the streets of Moscow were becoming very crowded.
In 1935 a master plan for Moscow was drafted, which included vast expansion of the housing flats and subways systems. Both were realized by the 1950s, when the outskirts of Moscow were filled with high-rise concrete flat apartments and the circle loop was dug under the Old City to connect all the subway lines, as the expansion occurred radially from all sides of the city.
The plan did not call for any reorganization of the city's layout. The organic jumble of streets would remain within the existing city, while new housing blocks were set up on gridded portions. New master plans were adopted both in 1951 and 1971. Both of these related to the introduction of freeways into the city. The 1951 plan called for the conversion of some major radial roads into highways that would meet a new outer ring. It was similar to the subway, only that the ring was on the outskirts instead of under the center.
Elements of the Grand Manner exist in Moscow by default rather than design. The Kremlin's churches and buildings were the tallest buildings until the turn of the century. However, the large modern buildings in Moscow were built outside the Old City walls, so within the Old City they still take the hierarchical prize. Also, with the expansion of the radial streets, wide boulevards lead from the outskirts all the way to the walls of the Kremlin. Along these streets are the important buildings of the city, like the Mayor's House, Parliament, and many embassies, churches, academic buildings, and museums.
A new form of the Grand Manner exists within the soviet housing blocks. New urbanism had a big influence on the design of the urban spaces around the housing complexes. Also, with any capitol city, monuments occupy islands in the middle of busy intersections.