20 July 2011

Russky Island ~ New Vladivostok Developments!

I've long been fascinated by Vladivostok, the premier port city of Russia's Far East in the Primorsky Krai province. Together with nearby Nakhodka, this terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway is the key Eurasian translogistics node linking Russia and east Asian neighbors, the Koreas, Japan, northeast China, and beyond. Beautifully situated at the southern tip of the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, Vladivostok is extraordinarily well-positioned to become something akin to an easterly Saint Petersburg and northerly Hong Kong. Indeed, the latest developments include building an epic bridge southward to the just-offshore Russky Island and preparing the site for the APEC 2012 Summit and subsequent use as campus by FENU, the strategically expanding Far Eastern Federal University... Russky Island was a closed military zone in Soviet times, but with these latest developments -- plus prospective investments and wise leadership -- it is poised to help greater-Vladivostok become an educational and tourist zone and prospectively a new technological innovation epicenter -- much like the Boston-metro Hub is and as Skolkovo near Moscow aspires to be. For background, see here RT's 2007 report Russia Close-Up: Primorsky's forgotten island... And definitely check out this really epic-bridge building video!

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