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Saint Petersburg, Russia

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Saint Petersburg, Russia The New Metropolitan Mainstream in Saint Petersburg With a population of 4.6 million, Saint Petersburg (Sankt-Peter- alization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when this show- number of high-end residential housing complexes. burg) is the second largest city in the Russian Federation and the northernmost city in the world with a population over one million. in with tenement buildings. The shortcomings of Soviet-era hous- - The publicly owned transport system has been curtailed to make Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, it was the Russian capital ing and planning policy are also still felt: massive new housing way for private operators and a tidal wave of individual motorists. from 1712 to 1918, and was the site of the three revolutions (1905, construction from the sixties to the late eighties led to the emer- In 2001, Petersburg had the largest tram network in the world, but February 1917, October 1917) that led to the overthrow of the tsar- gence of an enormous ring of “bedroom communities” on the city’s now most of the tramlines in the central districts have been de- ist regime. The city has a total area of 1,439 square kilometers: outskirts, and planners failed to cope with the environmental and commissioned. 650 square kilometers of this land mass is densely developed, transportation infrastructure challenges that were generated by and approximately 10% is occupied by water. The city’s economy this expansion. - Since the perestroika period, more than 400 of the city’s kinder- is mainly based on manufacturing (heavy industry and food pro- gartens have been closed and their premises turned over to other cessing) and tourism. Approximately 3 million domestic and for- In the post-Soviet period, these problems have only been exar- tenants, mostly commercial. eign tourists visit the city annually. As the only large European city cerbated. Most of the major development projects in recent years whose 18th- and 19th-century built environment has been almost have either been infrastructural or residential. Other mega-proj- - Since 2005, more than 150 historic buildings have been demol- entirely preserved and untouched by high-rise construction, Pe- ects include the 400-meter-high Okhta Center skyscraper, a sec- ished in the city center. In many cases, they have been replaced tersburg is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Environmen- ond stage for the Mariinsky Theater, and a new football stadium. by unsightly faux-neoclassical or neo-functionalist buildings. tal conditions in the city are poor: all its rivers, canals, lakes, and At present, many of these projects are only in the planning or per- beaches are heavily polluted, the air is seriously contaminated by - In 2008–2009, the city’s height-zoning regulations were amend- automobile exhaust. The average male life expectancy in Peters- greater impact on Petersburg’s built environment and livability has ed so that so-called pinpoint dominants (i.e., high-rise structures) burg is 56 years. been made by a multitude of more localized developments and could be legally built in or near the (low-rise) historic protection planning decisions: districts. Saint Petersburg is hostage to its existing built environment, the Russia 17’075’400Km2 * Inhabitants 41,9 Mio. legacy of previous periods in its evolution. These include not only - Many green spaces throughout the city have been built over. its foundation period, when the “imperial” historic center was built The former public recreational areas on Krestovsky and Kamenny Urban Region 1’439Km2 * Inhabitants >5’000’000 on marsh lands surrounded by villages or the period of its industri- islands have been totally redeveloped to accommodate a large Text: Dmitriy Vorobyeb/Thomas Campbell Staraya Derevnya KAD Western Diameter (project) Lopukhinsky Garden New Zenit Stadium (in progress) closing of tramways to accommodate closing of tramways to accommodate Orlov Tunnel (project) Namyv (Maritime Façade) Europe Embankment (planned) Namyv closing of tramways to accommodate Okhta Center (project) Concerts by international pop stars Okhta on Palace Square Public Festivals and Holidays Nevskaja Ratusha (project) New passenger port (Namyv/Façade) Petersburg Cinema Forum Stokmann New Holland (in progress) Elf Square Underground parking lots (project) Apraksin Yard (planned) Rogov House TRK St. Petersburg International Eco- nomic Forum Mariinsky-2 (on progress) Ice Palace World Hockey Championships Legend Urban Region Central areas Areas of State-Led Reinvestment / Areas of Urban Regeneration Areas of Private Reinvestment / Areas of Intense Neighbourhood Upgrading Trendy Neighbourhoods Gated Communities / Exclusionary Zones Massive federal housing construc- Areas of Privatization tion project (many places) Very High Income Area Almost all mega-projects (many places) Areas of disinvestment Other (many places) Subcentres Strategic Urban Infrastructure Projects Flagship Projects Events Failed and Grounded (large) Projects Informal Settlements Spaces and Places of Resistance / Alternatives scale 1:25.000 other Saint Petersburg, Russia An awakened northern beauty – St. Petersburg St. Petersburg with its 5 Mio. inhabitants is not only the most tions, destruction of cultural heritage or social infrastructure (like northern Mega-City in the World – it is a most beautiful one, too: city center, where communal apartments still exist. Mixed income the “Northern Venice” with its baroque city centre – entirely pro- tected by UNESCO as a “World Cultural Heritage” – attracts more spatially representing the anti-segregation policy of the Soviet than 1.5 Mio. tourists every year. At the same time it is the most polluted Russian city besides Moscow, due to its industry (above in the Anglo-Saxon world. Nevertheless gated communities and private partnerships like the Western Rapid Diameter or the new all food processing, machinery and car industries). a big sector of luxury apartments in the most beautiful spots of airport Pulkovo 3 should improve a collapsing transport situation. St. Petersburg prove a growing gap between rich and poor. With the crash of the Soviet Union not only Russia, but also her Despite an authoritarian regime, there is a variety of urban initia- cities underwent a deep “transition” towards a neoliberal system. One of the most pressing issues is disinvestment due to neolib- - While Moscow showed the more chaotic laisser faire character- eral refusal by the state to renovate buildings and, on the other ects, mega-projects, the privatization of social infrastructure, dis- istics of the new model of urban development, St. Petersburg side, lacking funds of the population. Nevertheless, the state tries placement from dormitories or communal apartments, for more was the blueprint for a new system drawn after the global cities green spaces, trams or public uses. Many of these groups are of the new world. tower, the second stage of the Marinskij theater or the new Ku- ad-hoc initiatives, but since 2005 there is more organizing effort rokava stadion – all of them failed so far – or mega-events (the and some institutionalized networks like the ecologically oriented That’s why St. Petersburg shows all characteristics of a globalised G8, International Economic Forum etc.). Money is scarce and EKOM institute, the preservationist “living city” network or the city: An increasingly segregated social structure with gated com- the rapidly erected, partly low quality houses from the commu- “movement of civic initiatives”, which is mostly focused on social nist past turn slowly into slums; even the historical centre was issues. on the other, deindustrialization and tertiarisation going hand in falling into decay. - ects for upgrading purposes (attracting capital) or the festivalisa- Corruption and need breed low quality and new construction is Russia 17’075’400Km2 * Inhabitants 41,9 Mio. tion of the city to attract tourists. - Urban Region 800Km2 * Inhabitants 4’500’000 tions eliminate the rare green spaces and deteriorate ecology All these signs of the NMM overlay a communist (and a bour- and quality of life in the dense city. Disrespect of height restric- Text: Vesna Tomse “Western High Speed Diametre” Stadion Kisho Kurakava Social Forum 2006 New metro station The “Orlovskiy tunnel” Gazprom tower Fairy passenger terminal New metro station New Holland Pushkinskaya 10/Fish Fabrique St. Petersburg International Information centre “Memorial” Economic Forum 2nd scene of the Marinskiy theatre Center of different independent NGOs Legend Urban Region Central areas Areas of State-Led Reinvestment / Areas of Urban Regeneration Areas of Private Reinvestment / Areas of Intense Neighbourhood Upgrading Trendy Neighbourhoods Gated Communities / Exclusionary Zones Areas of Privatization Very High Income Area Areas of disinvestment Subcentres Strategic Urban Infrastructure Projects Flagship Projects Events Failed and Grounded (large) Projects Informal Settlements Spaces and Places of Resistance / Alternatives other scale 1:25.000 Light rail project “overground express” Failed Project: Masterplan/Urban Infrastructure Flagship Project: Event: Municipal Law on Common Use Green Okhta Social and Business Center “Silver Horseshoe” G8 Summit 2006 Spaces in Saint Petersburg (ZNOP) “Okhta Center” Purpose Grassroots campaign against the in ll Purpose To catalogue and map the city’s green Purpose Mixed-use development with corporate Main Venue July 15–17, 2006 building project (“Silver Horseshoe”) on spaces (squares, parks, courtyards) and of ces and
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