Political forces running for the Yerevan municipal assembly make special references in their platforms to widespread concerns of the capital’s residents over construction and urban development projects, some of which have been a matter of great controversy in recent years.

Campaigns of nearly all candidates for the city’s top post pledge consideration of peculiarities of planning typical of large cities in construction and redevelopment projects that they say will preserve the spirit of the Yerevan once designed by famous architect Alexander Tamanyan.

But few residents appear to believe them in a period when there seems to be no lack of ‘tall’ promises.

“They have deformed the city center in a way that nothing is left from the Yerevan we used to know. The developers’ interests are in the first place, and they are not interested in what the city will look like at all. I do not believe that the new mayor will be able to change anything anymore,” says Armine Karapetyan, a resident of Yerevan’s western Malatia-Sebastia district.

During one campaign rallies, Gagik Beglaryan, the incumbent mayor and top candidate on the ruling Republican Party’s ticket, announced that on May 31 residents of Yerevan will vote in a way that will ensure they live in the next four years in a city they have dreamed about.

“We have the master plan of Yerevan. There are the most competent specialists on the City Planning Council who largely determine the prospects of the capital city’s development. In advance, any project that has a public interest will be shown to the public for ten days, and it will be presented for large-scale public discussions,” said Beglaryan. “In this respect, our doors will be open to all specialists and non-governmental organizations that care about the city.”

Sedrak Baghdasaryan, who heads the “Victims of State Needs” NGO, an organization embracing citizens who were evicted from their homes under court rulings to vacate some city center locations for developers, is skeptical of the promises made by pro-government politicians. He says he mostly pins his hopes on the opposition.

“The godfather of construction in Yerevan’s center is the Republican Party, and they still try to promise something. I do not believe the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun, the Prosperous Armenia Party, and the Orinats Yerkir Party. As part of the ruling coalition they did not manage to do anything, and now they try to promise that a number of things would be changed,” says Baghdasaryan. “I consider what the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) suggests to be a more modern approach. I believe that they will manage to reinstate us in our rights.”

It is mentioned in the election program of the ANC that all citizens who found themselves in the redevelopment zones in 2000-2008 will get a fair compensation. The order and principles of the compensation will be agreed with either the victims or with the organizations representing their interests.

“The construction of Yerevan will be carried out not according to the principle of elite arbitrariness and construction norms will not be superceded by the caprice of a customer. The further construction of the city’s ‘point’ and yard areas, as well as the public green zones and slopes will be excluded. A complex program of relieving the burden of the center of Yerevan will be implemented,” says ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who currently tops the ANC list of candidates in the city elections.

Heghine Bisharyan, the top candidate on the Orinats Yerkir slate, says that in order to make her election program different from those of her male opponents, she suggests creating gardens in the roofs of multi-apartment buildings, as well as planting trees and creating a garden for each multi-apartment building.

It is mentioned in the election program of Orinats Yerkir that the essential part of the elite construction in Yerevan was realized according to the following principle – ‘land is money,’ which resulted in destruction of green territories and wholesale violations of citizens’ rights. Orinats Yerkir suggests strengthening legality in the sphere of city building and preventing various manifestations of illegal construction. As a result of non-systemized building the capital city appeared on the edge of an environmental disaster; the architectural image and harmony of Yerevan are violated, the program mentions.

Artsvik Minasyan, the top candidate on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun ticket states that as a result of the non-coordinated city construction carried out during the past 18 years, as well as the uncontrolled and at times chaotic building process Yerevan lost 40 percent of public green areas (928 hectares). As a result of cutting trees and devastating the green areas and parks in Yerevan currently the index of 4.5 sq. m./person is registered instead of the previous 7.5 sq. m./person of green territory. Whereas according to the city planning norms, that index was supposed to be 2,600 hectares (21 sq. m./person).

“Unfortunately, Yerevan governance is now perceived at the level of solutions to urban problems. The most essential issues for the city authorities are road construction and renovation, but they do not adopt a strategic approach for Yerevan’s sustainable development,” the ARF election program states.

Residents of Yerevan suburbs warn that their communities are in a more difficult plight than the city center.

“It is already a few days that the center of the city is being asphalted, but I would suggest they enter the yards and inner secondary roads and see what the situation is like there. During the electioneering they try to close people’s eyes. But we are not stupid, and we understand very well why they started those works especially now,” says Anahit Harutyunyan, a resident of the city’s southeastern Erebuni district.

The election program of the Republican Party clearly states what construction works and improvements are envisaged for Yerevan.

Tigran Karapetyan, the top candidate on the People’s Party ticket, says that they would be especially strict towards city developers, they would increase the green areas, the number of garages would also be decreased, and instead underground parking facilities would be constructed.

But Baghdasaryan, an activist who himself lost the comfort of his home to one of the most controversial city center redevelopment plans in Yerevan since independence, says all these promises by politicians only make him laugh.

“It is amazing. During this electioneering they try to persuade people what they are planning to do if they are elected. It’s like I am hired to work in an office and I promise to be there on time, like at nine o’clock. The most important thing is what else they offer,” says Baghdasaryan.