Post-Soviet urban environment: the experience of St. Petersburg

Abstract

Cities form the backbone of human civilization, but only 600 of them become centers of world development. A special elite club consists of 183 world cities (according to Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) methodology), which represent the network substance of the globalized geoeconomic space. It is cities that lay down the global policy agenda, determine guidelines of economic management, and generate innovations and technological or consumer impulses. Intensive transformations take place in million-plus cities that affect the structure of the economy, urban space, and public realms. Most of these trends reflect processes that have affected most of the modern urbanized world. Study of the millionplus cities yields great opportunities for geographers. St. Petersburg, which is one of the world cities (gamma+), is experiencing a period of internal transformation within the paradigm change of economic development. Like other world cities, St. Petersburg has entered the postindustrial stage of development. This paper studies and interprets St. Petersburg’s main economic, territorial, and spatial transformation trends. In fact, the city is a testing ground for studying global urban trends in Russian practice. Particular attention is devoted to the remaining old post-Soviet features and the those of a new world city.