stylistic:tone
1991–present

When the USSR was dissolved in 1991, Moscow remained the capital of the Russian Federation. Since then, a market economy has emerged, producing an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles. The city continued to grow during the 1990s to 2000s, its population rising from below nine to above ten million. Mason and Nigmatullina argue that Soviet-era urban-growth controls produced controlled and sustainable metropolitan development, typified by the greenbelt built in 1935. Since then, however, there has been a dramatic growth of low-density suburban sprawl, created by heavy demand for single-family dwellings as opposed to crowded apartments. In 1995–97 the MKAD ring road was widened from the initial four to ten lanes.

In December 2002 Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo became the first Moscow Metro station that opened beyond the limits of MKAD. The Third Ring Road, intermediate between the early 19th-century Garden Ring and the Soviet-era outer ring road, was completed in 2004. The greenbelt is becoming more and more fragmented, and satellite cities are appearing at the fringe. Summer dachas are being converted into year-round residences, and with the proliferation of automobiles there is heavy traffic congestion. Multiple old churches and other examples of architectural heritage that had been demolished during the Stalin era have been restored, such as the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.In 2010s Moscow's Administration has launched some long duration projects like the Moja Ulitsa (in English: My Street) urban redevelopment program or the Residency renovation one.

By its territorial expansion on July 1, 2012, southwest into the Moscow Oblast the area of the capital more than doubled, going from 1,091 to 2,511 square kilometers (421 to 970 sq mi), resulting in Moscow becoming the largest city on the European continent by area; it also gained an additional population of 233,000 people. The annexed territory was officially named Новая Москва (New Moscow).