business planning course unisc

Registrations Now Open for Free Business Planning Course

Registrations are now open for the upcoming Business Planning Course, hosted at UniSC Caboolture Campus and proudly supported by the Queensland Department of Employment, Small Business and Training.

Micro and small businesses form the foundation of the Australian economy, employing approximately 44 percent of the Australian workforce and contributing around one-third of Australia's GDP. As approximately 97 percent of Australian organisations are categorised as micro and small businesses it is critical that this industry sector is supported in being successful.

The Business Planning Course is free and designed to provide local business owners with a clear understanding of the key factors that underpin their success and are critical to their long-term survival.

Participating in this course, comprised of a series of workshops, provides a platform for business owners to survive and thrive by adopting and implementing strategic management principles, thereby lowering the rate of business failure.

For businesses that are not located near a course delivery site, participants are welcome to join online, as per the below schedule. When registering, please choose the course with the most suitable dates.

Eligibility requirements

If your business employs fewer than 20 (full-time equivalent) staff and has been operating for at least 12 months, you are eligible to register for this series of workshops and we encourage you to take up this opportunity by registering now to participate.

Gain certification and credit

Participating in this course is a great way to experience what it is like to study at University and open up a pathway into a higher-level qualification. Upon completion of all modules and submission of assessment items, you will receive a UniSC Certificate of Completion and gain credit for one course in a UniSC postgraduate Business degree.

Course information

The content is delivered as workshops within this free , short course. The weekly schedule includes the development of a customised business plan that is suitably developed for sourcing funds from banks, investors or can be leveraged for grant applications. At the conclusion of the workshops there will be an opportunity for participants to deliver a 15-minute presentation to a panel of experts. Please note that minimum and maximum numbers may apply at each location.

Week 1: Overview of Strategy and Small Business Management Principles

Week 2: Organisation and Industry Analysis

Week 3: Marketing Strategy

Week 4: Business Structures, Operating Plan and Risk Management

Week 5: Succession Planning and Human Resource Strategy

Week 6: Financial Management

Week 7: Communications Skills and Preparing for the Presentation

Week 8: Presentations to panel

Week 1-7 are 90-minute workshops, followed by a 30-minute Q&A and networking session.

Click here to find out more

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Qld small business owners get a shot in the arm with free workforce planning course

USC Caboolture, Moreton Bay Business Planning Workshops. Wayne Graham. Photography by Lou O'Brien www.imagesbylouobrien.com

Queensland small and medium business owners that are struggling to find staff will have the opportunity to complete a free seven-week course to help them take on the task of workforce planning.

The part-time Workforce Planning Course , which will be held at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast campuses this year, is designed to help business owners and managers to fully understand their workforce.

Course participants have the option of attending classes in person or online, allowing small businesses owners with jam-packed schedules and not enough hours in the day to also partake in the course. 

The Workforce Planning Course is a result of a partnership between the Queensland Government, UniSC, and Jobs Queensland’s Workforce Planning Connect resources.

Dr Wayne Graham, a senior lecturer in management at UniSC who will be running the Workforce Planning Course, said the course will help business owners develop a plan that is tailored to their workplace. 

“The course plays a vital part in assisting with the implementation of the recently published Queensland Workforce Strategy which recommended the development and delivery of micro-credential courses with industry for industry and aimed at assisting organisations create their own workforce plan,” Dr Graham told SmartCompany .

“Business owners participating in the Workforce Planning Course will develop their own workforce plan, which includes components such as stakeholder planning and analysis, creating a workforce profile and identifying workforce supply-and-demand dynamics.”

Queensland Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer said small businesses already spend significant time and resources trying to fill labour shortages and the costs can keep adding up.

“Small businesses owners have to be everything — HR, IT, and marketing — so having a course that can help them with employment issues is critical in helping them to get on with their job” Minister Farmer said in a statement.

Jobs Queensland chair Donna Bonney added that the short course was developed in collaboration with both the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland, and small businesses have been involved in the testing of the resources. 

The Workforce Planning course builds on the state’s Business Planning Course, also developed by the UniSC with Queensland government support.

Approximately 370 business owners have registered for the Business Planning Course since it was first offered in 2020, and more than 80 have already signed up for 2023.

UniSC Vice Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said the university developed the Business Planning Course in collaboration with industry when COVID hit to help guide businesses through particularly tough times.

source: supplied

“It has been increasingly popular each year, so I’m sure there will be strong interest in the new Workforce Planning Course, as businesses aim to attract the workforce they need for success,” Professor Bartlett said.

Lume Electrical business owner and manager Sara Hennessy is planning to complete the Workforce Planning Course, after gaining great value from the Business Planning Course.

“I came away with a road map to build a business that will be sustainable and the steps we need to take to get where we want to be in five years,” she said in a statement.

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Bachelor of Business

University of the sunshine coast (unisc).

Type of institution: University/Higher Education Institution Level: Undergraduate CRICOS: 01595D

Welcome to a fast-paced, dynamic and exciting world. Whether you want to work in international business, digital marketing, social enterprise or as an entrepreneur, this degree provides the skills and knowledge needed to make a positive impact across a changing economy.In this program you will study fundamentals of contemporary business and enterprise, including management, marketing, business law, corporate governance and social responsibility. You’ll learn to develop business products and services, identify and analyse markets, and think creatively and critically to solve business problems. You will also gain practical experience and apply learnings through a 96-hour internship or industry-facing project. Choose to major in Tourism, Leisure and Event Management, Business Administration, Marketing, Human Resource Management, and more.

Total units: 288

• Economics, Financial planning
• Human resource management
• International business
• Tourism, leisure and event management

Standard entry requirements

Have completed a minimum level of education similar to successful completion of Australian Year 12 with good grades.

Study pathways

Honours year is available. Credit Transfer available to graduates of relevant TAFE Diplomas.

Study information

Further information.

The University of the Sunshine Coast offers a Regional Preference Scheme for eligible applicants who reside or attend school in one of the following regional council areas: Sunshine Coast Regional Council; Noosa Council; Gympie Regional Council; Moreton Bay Regional Council; Somerset Regional Council; Fraser Coast Regional Council; South Burnett Regional Council. For eligible applicants an additional OP score of one or two selection ranks is granted.

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University of south australia (unisa).

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Australian catholic university (acu).

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Southern cross university.

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• If you're enrolling as a full-time student  (3-4 courses per semester) plan and enrol in your courses in the order shown in your study sequence.
• If you're enrolling as a part-time student  (1-2 courses per semester),  or if you have received credit for prior studies, it’s recommended you also view the instructions via  Study planning and progression .
• Students waiting on a credit application outcome , should enrol as per their study sequence, then amend their enrolment (if required) in line with key enrolment dates, once an outcome is received. Specific progression advice cannot be provided until credit has been finalised and appears on a student’s unofficial academic transcript .

Visit the  Academic Calendar  for timetable release and other key enrolment dates. Visit Enrolment on the Student Portal  for enrolment instructions. 

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• Workforce Planning microcredential

Current partnerships

• Business Chamber Queensland
• Queensland Care Consortium

Jobs Queensland has partnered with the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) to build on the business planning capacity of Queensland businesses with a focus on workforce planning.

Based on Jobs Queensland’s Workforce Planning Connect tools and resources, the Workforce Planning Course is designed to help business owners and managers fully understand their workforce, by developing an agile, flexible workforce plan to respond to changes in the business environment.

Employing principles of workforce planning and examining the operational, tactical and strategic focus, the plan will complement and integrate into an organisation’s overall business planning.

To find out more information and register your interest in participating in this free opportunity, visit www.usc.edu.au/study/courses-and-programs/business-short-courses-and-microcredentials/workforce-planning .

Last updated 19 April 2023

The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory

Free workforce planning course for queensland businesses kicks off.

Published Tuesday, 02 May, 2023 at 02:04 PM

Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development The Honourable Di Farmer

• Almost 150 participants have registered for a free seven-week Workforce Planning Course funded by the Queensland Government’s Jobs Queensland..
• The short-course helps small and medium sized businesses find the right people, with the right skill at the right time to support their business.
• The course is being delivered online and/or in person at the Caboolture and Sippy Downs campuses of University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC)

Helping small and medium sized business owners and managers develop an agile, flexible workforce plan is the aim of a free seven week course underway at the Caboolture and University of the Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) Sippy Downs campuses .

Jobs Queensland initiated the partnership with USC to extend the impact of their free Workforce Planning Connect resources - which were co-designed for industry by the Business Chamber Queensland.

A number of Industry Workforce Advisors will also be undertaking the course to increase their capability to work with individual businesses to identify workforce challenges, develop a workforce plan and suggest options to address the need.

Registrations have already opened for the next free Workforce Planning Course from 23 June. Participants can attend in person at UniSC’s Sunshine Coast campus or online.

Register for the next Workforce Planning Course at https://www.usc.edu.au/study/courses-and-programs/business-short-courses-and-microcredentials/workforce-planning .

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer :

“The free Workforce Planning Course is a great opportunity for small businesses to upskill quickly and support them to think about the bigger picture.

“I'm delighted to see the first participants taking part as micro-credentials offer a valuable pathway for businesses to learn about key issues, current research and how it can apply to them.

“With Queensland’s unemployment rate at 3.8 per cent, local small businesses looking for more staff need to be working smarter to recruit or develop the skills of the workers they need now and into the future. This partnership with UniSC and the Queensland Government is a valuable opportunity for business own ers to utilise Jobs Queensland’s free Workforce Planning Connect tools and resources to undertake their own workforce planning to better prepare for the future of their business.”

Quotes attributable to University of the Sunshine Coast Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Helen Bartlett:

“ Nearly 150 participants from across Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast have registered for the first round of delivery for the Workforce Planning Course at the Caboolture and Sunshine Coast campuses, which really reflects the demand for business skills in these two fast-growing regions,” Professor Bartlett said.

“It’s good to see so many companies taking advantage of this new opportunity which follows the successful delivery of the Business Planning Course at several locations including Caboolture, Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Fraser Coast and Townsville.

“And it’s not just small businesses owners who are signing up, we have schools, industry workforce advisors and some larger businesses who can all see the value of planning for the future.

“We can see that this free micro-credential appeals to business owners with busy schedules seeking information they can implement quickly, with the benefit that value is packed into a short timeframe. Those who choose to undertake the assignments will receive one course credit toward a postgraduate qualification in business administration.”

Explainer/fast fact and or further information:

To find out more about UniSC’s partnership with Jobs Queensland, visit www.jobsqueensland.qld.gov.au/current-partnerships/unisc-working-planning-course/

Jobs Queensland’s free Workforce Planning Connect resources can be accessed at www.jobsqueensland.qld.gov.au/wpc .

To find out more about Industry Workforce Advisors visit https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/employing/planning-workforce/industry-workforce-advisors .

Media contact – Gary Shipway 0458 090 906

Ukraine alleges Russia is planning drone training classes for school kids in occupied regions

• Russia plans to introduce drone classes in schools in occupied territory, Ukraine alleges.
• A Ukrainian official said the courses will cover UAV design features and assembly.
• Drones have played a crucial role for both Russian and Ukrainian forces in the war.

Russia will introduce drone training sessions to schools in occupied areas of Ukraine from September, alleged Ukraine's governor of the Zaporizhzhia region.

"On September 1, 2024, a new subject will be introduced in schools in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine — a course on the management of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)," wrote Ivan Fedorov on Telegram .

"Officially, they may call it 'training,' but in reality, they are preparing young people for murder," he continued, adding that it was "a blatant violation of international law."

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It follows a February report by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine, which was set up by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, which said Russia planned to teach children in Ukrainian territories "technologies, design features and assembly of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military purposes."

Fedorov said the Russian plan was to send drones and military personnel to schools to assist with the training.

It is not clear if the potential training sessions would be for all children or for specific age groups.

International humanitarian law prohibits recruiting and using children under the age of 15 in armed conflicts, and doing so is considered a war crime, according to the UN's Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict .

Drones have played a crucial role for both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries in the war so far, and they have been used for a wide variety of operations, including reconnaissance, guiding artillery, and carrying out airstrikes.

Defense One reported that Russia had set up a training center in occupied Ukraine to train both Russian military and civilian drone operators for combat.

Civilians who undergo training at the center in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine do not officially join the military, it noted, citing the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

A 2023 report by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab found that at least 6,000 children from Ukraine had been put through what it called Russian "re-education" camps that aimed at making them "more pro-Russia in their personal and political views."

The report said that children at some of the 43 camps had been given firearms training, although there appeared to be no evidence that the children had been sent to fight.

Watch: Drone footage shows thousands of Russians fleeing Putin's draft to fight in Ukraine

• Main content

Polar explorer gears up for trek to study Greenland's shrinking ice sheet

The rolling green hills of Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland are the last place you would expect to find a polar explorer training for an Arctic expedition.

In the lead-up to a one-month trip to Greenland, ice and snow scientist Adrian McCallum has been dragging tyres around the roads of his hometown of Maleny.

The gruelling workout will help prepare the 53-year-old for the rigours of a human-powered expedition across the dangerous terrain of the North Pole.

It will be the sixth expedition to the polar cap for the scientist, who is also head of engineering at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC). 

Dr McCallum will lead an eclectic international team, consisting of a civil engineer, a surgeon, a school teacher and a photographer.

Together they will trek more than 560 kilometres to study snow density and mass of the Greenland ice sheet and any changes that could impact sea levels. 

"It's actually places like Australia that might be more affected by melting of the Greenland ice caps," Dr McCallum said.

"So it's not obvious, but there's a lot of sense for Australians to be doing work in the Arctic because there are implications for Australia."

Putting in the hard yards

There'll be no snowmobiles or aerial survey planes involved.

The team will carry out their mission on foot and skis, dragging sledges carrying up to 100 kilograms of scientific equipment and food to highlight sustainable expeditions.  

Dr McCallum, who was in the Defence Force for 20 years prior to becoming a polar explorer, said the idea for the expedition, which is not his first human-powered Arctic trek, was hatched during the COVID pandemic and has been up to four years in the planning. 

He said it was a "very good platform" to demonstrate that the research could be carried out in a "relatively lightweight and relatively cheap manner". 

The cost for each explorer is $10,000, with UniSC partially paying for Dr McCallum's share.

Some data will be collected for UniSC, while some will be used by researchers at other universities around the world.

While scientific observations are a key objective of the expedition, they are not the only consideration for the seasoned polar explorer.

"There have been some sleepless nights prior to this expedition," Dr McCallum said.

"Because of my previous Antarctic and Arctic experience, I'm also the most experienced traveller so my job is to ultimately keep everyone alive on the ice." 

Dodging deadly threats

It's nearly summer in Greenland, but the group will still face sub-zero temperatures potentially as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.

"We're hoping it will ideally be between minus 10 and zero thereabouts, which is quite nice," Dr McCallum said.

He explained that temperatures of above zero make the surface more wet and problematic for carrying out the science and setting up tents.

He will also need to help the team maintain their health to avoid hypothermia.

"We need to make sure we have good communication because you can't always monitor yourself if you're going downhill," Dr McCallum said. 

"It's also a new team in a new environment so team dynamics will come to the fore and we have to work together so that we can successfully stay together, keep moving well together, get the science done and get to the other side after 30 to 40 days," he said.

Dr McCallum's colleagues, who hail from Greenland, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, have been training for the expedition in snowy, icy conditions.

He has had to settle for dragging two tyres roped together and attached to his waist as he trains in the heat and humidity of a Queensland summer.

The regime has helped his fitness — but his diet will soon change dramatically.

"One of the primary foods we'll be eating is butter and that's because butter is the most calorie dense food that we can carry for the weight we have," Dr McCallum said.

The explorers will also need to contend with deadly twin threats in and on the ice.

"On the edges of the islands we need to be aware of polar bears because they're of course looking for food and we could be a food source," the explorer said.

"And we do need to be very careful about how we move onto the ice cap itself because of crevasses.

"A very experienced Scandinavian explorer unfortunately died in a crevasse only a year or two ago so unfortunately it still happens."

Inspiring the next generation

Dr McCallum hopes to eventually establish a global explorers program and take student groups to challenge themselves in an unfamiliar country and terrain. 

"I'm a huge believer in getting students out of their comfort zone, forcing them to work in small teams to look out for one another, to learn about themselves, to learn a little bit about the landscape that they're travelling," he said.

"We're not yet at the point where we can take them across the ice cap but there are other treks or tramps in New Zealand for a couple of weeks where they can be near the ice and experience a very different landscape to the one we're in here on the Sunshine Coast."

He said two qualities were essentially for aspiring polar explorers.

"I'd say probably self-discipline and belief, you need to know what you want to achieve," Dr McCallum.

"That's often the hardest part."

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Free workforce planning course for Queensland small businesses

UniSC News  |  17 Feb 2023

Businesses seeking skilled staff will benefit from a new free short course developed by the University of the Sunshine Coast in partnership with the Queensland Government.

The Workforce Planning Course micro-credential will help guide Queensland business owners improve their workforce retention and productivity, and identify future skills needs in order to plan for the future.

The micro-credential comes on the back of UniSC’s Business Planning Course , which had supported 370 business owners since its inception in 2020.

UniSC Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said more than 80 business owners had already signed up for 2023.

“We developed the Business Planning Course in collaboration with industry when COVID hit to help guide businesses through particularly tough times, and it remains relevant today,” Professor Bartlett said.

“It has been increasingly popular each year, so I’m sure there will be strong interest in the new Workforce Planning Course, as businesses aim to attract the workforce they need for success.”

Professor Bartlett said micro-credentials appealed to business owners with busy schedules seeking information they could implement quickly.

“The advantage of these free micro-credentials is that they are value-packed into a short timeframe, and those who choose to undertake the assignments will receive one course credit toward a postgraduate qualification,” she said.

Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer announced the Workforce Planning Course on Friday, with aims to start signing up participants by April.

“The Queensland Government has recognised the value of this training, and we want to thank them for the funding that allows us to not only continue, but to expand to areas like Townsville and support more businesses in our regions,” Professor Bartlett said.

Sara Hennessy, Sunshine Coast business owner and manager at Lume Electrical plans to complete the Workforce Planning Course, after gaining great value from the Business Planning Course.

“I came away with a roadmap to build a business that will be sustainable and the steps we need to take to get where we want to be in five years,” Mrs Hennessy said.

“We have plans to not only expand, but to make sure we find the right people to support that expansion, particularly as my husband who started the company becomes less available to work onsite.

“At first I didn’t know what to expect from a university course, because it seemed a bit daunting but, having done the course, I would definitely recommend it to other local businesses,” she said.

The Workforce Planning Course will use Jobs Queensland’s great Workforce Planning Connect resources and take advantage of the expertise and experience of UniSC staff.

To find out more about the University of the Sunshine Coast’s School of Business and Creative Industries short courses including the Business Planning Course and Workforce Planning Course, visit this link.  

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Moscow's High Rise Bohemia: The International Business District With No Business

• Written by Dario Goodwin
• Published on March 17, 2015

The Moscow International Business Center (Also known as Moskva-City ) was meant to be Russia ’s ticket into the Western world. First conceived in 1992, the district at the edge of Moscow’s city center is intended to contain up to 300,000 inhabitants, employees and visitors at any given moment and, when completed, will house over 4 million square meters of prime retail, hotel and office space to create what the Russian government desired most from this project: an enormous financial district that could dwarf London’s Canary Wharf and challenge Manhattan . Twenty three years later though, Moscow-based real estate company Blackwood estimates that as much as 45% of this new space is entirely vacant and rents have plummeted far below the average for the rest of Moscow. The only press Moskva-City is attracting is for tenants like the High Level Hostel , a hostel catering to backpackers and other asset-poor tourists on the 43rd floor of the Imperia Tower , with prices starting at $25.50 for a bed in a six-person room. This is not the glittering world of western high finance that was envisioned back in the post-Soviet 90s; but what has it become instead?

As one might expect from a project of this sheer ambition, Moskva-City has a troubled past. The economic crash in 2008 hit Russia hard enough to evict the previous Mayor of Moscow , Yuri Luzhkov, who had been a cheerleader for the district, and replace him with the considerably more austere Sergei Sobyanin, who famously declared that the whole idea was an “urban planning mistake.” But as recently as 2013, the Wall Street Journal was triumphantly claiming that Moskva-City had risen from the dead, citing 80% occupancy rates and glowing quotes from industry insiders claiming that Moskva-City was the "place to be." Driven by record highs in oil prices, Moscow looked poised to become the next Dubai .

Instead, Moscow is now in the grip of an economic winter prompted by western sanctions and drops in the price of oil. The large financial groupings that Moskva-City was meant to shelter have been warned off by their inability to issue credit to international markets, for example - but Moskva-City isn’t just an Empire State Building left empty by the Great Depression.

A fundamental problem that is holding Moskva back compared to the rest of Moscow is the simple fact that currently, getting to Moskva-City is nigh-on impossible at peak hours. Moscow has long been plagued with transport problems, ever since the government failed to match the dramatic expansion of the city with a dramatic expansion of the transport system after the Second World War. Despite being only 2.5 miles from the Kremlin , Moskva-City is only just inside the ring road that bounds the city center and which acts as the only real transport link to it (and as a result, is clogged by construction vehicles.) A railway and metro hub has been finished, but so far only runs a one-stop shuttle service to the closest Metro station that is actually integrated with the rest of Moscow Metro. The isolation of the outer districts is a large, negative part of the Moscow psyche, and it’s not surprising that this is driving away the globetrotting financial elite this project was meant to attract.

The project is managed by architectural practice No.6, which is a constituent part of the large Moscow based practice Mosproject-2 , which is itself a public corporation headed up by Mikhail Vasilyevich Posokhin, who is apparently the “People’s Architect of Russia.” Despite all this state involvement, the project has still managed to become bogged down in bureaucratic infighting - each lot is managed and developed individually, which has led to developers competing for occupants by slashing rates.

Much has been written about the way modern financial districts and towers that inhabit them can be unwelcoming, forbidding or even hostile by design, but the skyscrapers of Moskva-City seem even less friendly than usual. The site - a former stone quarry, chosen out of necessity as the only place in the city center where a new district could be plausibly constructed - is isolated both physically and visually, leaving the cluster a stark anomaly on the city skyline. Even the names seem more imposing than optimistic now: Imperia, City of Capitals , Steel Peak.

The Mercury City Tower , so far the tallest completed building on the site, is officially “a strong reference to Russian constructivism, [which] gives the tower a strong vertical thrust similar to the one found in New York's Chrysler building .” It would be easy to criticize the Mercury City Tower for picking ‘inspirations’ that are so totally opposed to each other - The Chrysler building the defining emblem of American pre-crash confidence and Constructivism created with the express purpose (especially architecturally) of extending the Bolshevik revolution into a social revolution - but the way they smash those two inspirations together is almost beautifully ironic.

Even though the High Level Hostel is less an asset to a financial district than it is a PR problem, it’s been a huge success since opening in September, already ranked 27th out of 766 hostels in Moscow by TripAdvisor. According to the management agency for Moskva-City , 58% of the new occupant signings this year have been non-financial, including a number of small to medium size businesses. Other areas of office space have been occupied by a restaurant and a culinary school, while another space has been redeveloped into a 6,000 seat theater.

While Moskva-City is failing to be a financial district that could take on the world, it’s inadvertently becoming a humanized space catering to the very groups that the Russian economic miracle left behind. Taking advantage of rents lower than the rest of Moscow , the world class facilities and the sheer desperation of the developers, the humanization of Moskva-City could well create the world’s first high-rise bohemia.

Of course, these are not spaces designed for a community, or even for people: these are spaces designed for money, and there’s little scope for changing something that seems so baked into the design of Moskva-City . The High Level Hostel is trading off of the irony of being a hostel in a banking tower, but it’s perfectly possible that at some point people will no longer find this joke funny (especially in a building that seems hostile to the very idea of humor). The isolation of Moskva, even though it allowed this community to spring up in the first place, is just as detrimental to a humanized district as it is to a financial one: even bohemians need to move around the city, or the district risks becoming a black-spot instead of a hot-spot.

Moskva-City’s isolation won’t last forever. The end of construction will open the roads up to traffic, and plans to properly integrate the spur lines of the Metro in this area into the wider system are well under way. The integration of the district will inevitably push up rents, and the Russian economy will eventually boom once again. When that happens, Moskva-City is prime territory to be reconquered by the giants of international finance, and it seems unlikely that the municipal or national governments would want to step in to protect this accidental district. For now, though, the towers capture perfectly this moment of Russia ’s schizophrenic understanding of its place in the world.

• Sustainability

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