![]() These people work in various places, have a stable wage, have travelled a lot and they understand what they want from the city. "All Muscovites have demands – people call them the creative class, oppositionists I call them new city professionals. "Everyone knows that I went to the protest at Bolotnaya Square," Kapkov said, referring to one of the big protests against Vladimir Putin's return to power that rocked the city earlier this year. That the project coincided with an eruption in popular protest and social activity unseen since the Soviet collapse is no coincidence. ![]() Overseeing the renovation of parks across the city has been his most visible achievement, an initiative launched by Sergei Sobyanin, who was appointed mayor in 2010. "Many people make money in Moscow, and many people spend money here, but there are very few people who smile at one another," said Sergey Kapkov, who was promoted to head the city's culture department after overseeing the renovation of Gorky Park. The park's renovation is part of a citywide attempt to make Moscow – or at least parts of it – more liveable. There are lounge chairs, free Wi-Fi, even a lawn filled with pillow-shaped beanbags for a mid-afternoon nap. Each summer night, an open air cinema blasts out hits new and old. There are neat rows of ping-pong tables and a pétanque court permanently occupied by the city's hipsters. ![]() Seemingly overnight, the park was transformed into an urban paradise, a rare spot of verdant tranquility in the midst of Moscow's overcrowded, traffic-clogged streets.
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