In a bid to gradually eradicate excessive smoking in the city, Arbat is about to be made a no-smoking area. 

      The street that has seen Alexander Pushkin and has been commemorated in a song by Bulat Okudzhava is packed with edifices of architectural and historic value, cafes and bars, and diverse and sundry musicians, artists, and book-sellers entertaining and trading with the passers-by. The lanes are planted with many a remarkable monuments and churches, including the famous pentagonal building by the famous Russian architect Konstantin Melnikov. Now that the State Duma is making an assault on excessive smoking and drinking, a proposition to turn this historic area into a smoke-free space has been warmly accepted.

      A relevant bill is expected to pass in the Russian parliament to allow the municipal governments to use their own judgement in choosing the no-smoking areas in cities and towns. Particularly in Moscow, the deputies hope to turn Arbat and a number of pedestrian streets and public gardens into no-smoking areas.