Приморский район — это место, где “Gazprom” is planning to build two more skyscrapers – “Lakhta Center-2” and “Lakhta Center-3” with heights of 555 and 703 meters respectively (as “Novaya Gazeta” has reported on these plans multiple times). Until April 13, the opinions of residents of the Primorsky district and deputies of the Legislative Assembly (only they have the right to submit comments) on the projects will be collected, the exposition of which is posted on the official website of the Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture. The comments are already there. And they are significant. Another question is whether this will affect the construction plans, as in recent years public opinion on these matters is usually disregarded.

In the first place, a large part of the territory planned for the construction of skyscrapers falls within the boundaries of the World Heritage site “Historic Center of St. Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.” This imposes serious obligations not only on St. Petersburg, but also on Russia as a whole. This includes the obligation to inform the UNESCO World Heritage Committee of intentions to undertake or allow construction work on a territory protected under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, which could impact the outstanding universal value of the site. However, according to the Guidelines for the Implementation of the Convention, notification must be sent as soon as possible (for example, before preparing project documents for specific projects) and before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, so that the Committee can “assist in finding appropriate solutions to guarantee the full preservation of the outstanding universal value of the site.” The mentioned Convention was ratified back in the Soviet years. But the documentation submitted for hearings claims that there has been no federal legislation in these years implementing the provisions of the Convention into our national legislation, therefore the St. Petersburg authorities refuse to comply with this Convention.

Directly stated: yes, this is a World Heritage site, but we have no obligations to UNESCO, we can build whatever, however, and wherever we want. This position, to say the least, is questionable. The norms of the Convention are, as they say, self-executing: neither the Convention itself nor UNESCO require the adoption of any federal laws to begin implementing the Convention. Moreover, the existence of detailed Guidelines for the Implementation of the Convention essentially constitutes the “implementation” of the Convention into the legislation of all member states. But the authorities in St. Petersburg, seeking to support the construction of new skyscrapers in Lakhta, ignore these norms. The UNESCO mission, as reported by “Novaya Gazeta,” was in St. Petersburg not long ago. They were informed about the construction plans in Lakhta. However, the results – the final report on the impact of the construction on the World Heritage site – are still unknown, but the planning documentation for the area is already being put up for hearings without waiting for the mission’s report. The most serious objection to the documentation (already being sent by residents) is that the new skyscrapers will inevitably appear against the backdrop of the panoramas of the historic center of St. Petersburg. The city administration takes a cunning position: since the construction area itself does not fall within the boundaries of the protected cultural heritage sites, buildings of any height can be constructed there.

But this is not all of the comments that residents are directing towards the planning documentation. They write that the project violates the requirements of the Land Use and Development Rules of St. Petersburg in terms of the maximum permissible land use coefficient. The exceeding density of construction creates an excessive anthropogenic and technical burden not provided for by the existing General Plan, while the existing road network in this area is already operating at maximum capacity. The implementation of the project without a proportionate development of the road network will lead to a transport collapse in the Primorsky district (where systematic traffic jams and kilometer-long queues are already recorded). Public transport is overloaded, the distances between bus stops are increased, violating the norms of transport accessibility and quality of service for the population. The increase in traffic will block the passage of emergency service vehicles (EMERCOM, ambulances) and restrict citizens’ right to unimpeded access to housing and recreational areas.

And much more, justifying the residents’ demands to reject the planning project put up for hearings. However, whether the authorities in St. Petersburg will listen to them remains to be seen. Sadly, there are numerous examples of disregard for public opinion: often, even when the citizens’ opinion is almost unanimously negative, urban planning documentation is still approved. After all, the decision made at the hearings, by law, only has a recommendatory nature for the authorities. Recall that “Novaya Gazeta” reported how in Krasnodar, despite almost a hundred percent negative public opinion, the authorities still approved urban planning documents for the construction of a temple on Yubileynaya Embankment, simply brushing off public opinion. Whether this situation will be repeated in the Northern capital remains a question. However, the way city authorities have been reacting in recent years to public opinion on such matters does not inspire much optimism. But let’s wait and see what UNESCO has to say.