Redeveloping the historical centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia: a new approach

This paper describes the problems and potential solutions for redeveloping the attractive historic quarters of central Saint Petersburg in Russia. They were mostly built in the nineteenth century as intimate networks of passages and squares, and were designed to encourage trade and social interaction. Ironically, the confined layouts make the areas unattractive for redevelopment by modern commercial developers, resulting in continuing decay, piecemeal reconstruction and an overall lack of planning strategy. This paper compares the city's quarters with those of other similarly old European cities such as Paris, Versailles, Stockholm, Budapest and Berlin. Five distinct types of historic urban area are proposed based on their functionality, regularity of development and perimeters. Urban redevelopment strategies are then proposed for each type of area.