Sobyanin previously served as the governor of Tyumen Oblast (2001–2005), Head of the presidential administration (2005–2008) and Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (2008–2010 in Vladimir Putin's Second Cabinet).

[5][6][7] As the Mayor of Moscow, Sobyanin has gradually relaxed the massive construction projects of his predecessor Yury Luzhkov, for which he has won acclaim for the "most sane piece of city planning in years.

[12] Sergey Sobyanin was born in an ethnic Mansi village of Nyaksimvol in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (then in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union).

On 23 May 2007, at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Jurisprudence at Government of Russia, defence of Sobyanin's higher doctoral thesis "RF subject in economical and social development of the state" were to take place on the basis of his monograph published shortly before the event.

[citation needed] The preservation organization Archnadzor criticized Sobyanin for his razing of historical landmarks to make way for contemporary buildings.

Under the plan, 12,500 trees were planted, sidewalks were widened and redone in granite pavers, the city center got 20 km of protected cycling lanes, decorative street lighting and Velobike a new public bike share system.

[18] Moscow Urban Renewal Initiative involves the demolition of dilapidated five-story blocks of flats known as Khrushchevka and the relocation of their residents to modern high-rise housing.

The project's aim is to identify and demolish Khrushchevka which are often hazardous and unfit for living and replace them with higher density modern and safe structures.

[19] The list of buildings in the program includes the demolition and replacement more than 5,000 housing blocks with a total area of about 16,000,000 square metres and about 1.6 million residents.