An international competition to design Europe's largest theme park has been launched by the Russian Green Building Council.

Park Russia will occupy 1000ha near Domodedovo airport on the south-eastern fringes of Moscow. The two-stage contest has a promised prize fund of $311,000.

It aims to become the "first entertainment and educational park where visitors will have the reason to stay for more than one-two days".

The park will contain several museums devoted to aspects of Russian history and achievements, as well as theatres, hotels, conference and retail facilities.

Each region of Russia will be showcased, giving international and domestic tourists a chance to discover the country without travelling far from the capital.

The competition is intended to find a creative team, led by an architect, landscape architect or urban planner, that can develop designs and a financial model for the park, which will be built in three stages.

The organisers said: "The concept should cover the general urban planning, layout, spatial, landscape and economical solutions for the park as a whole and for its particular units, which should be ecologically efficient and innovative."