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Institute of Spatial Planning

URBANICA

The Institute of Spatial Planning URBANICA was founded in

2009 and focuses on urban planning and long-term social

and economic development.

Our activities:

Developing urban planning documentation for municipal

districts; comprehensive plans for cities, towns, urban and rural

settlements; neighborhood layouts for different land areas; land

use and development regulations, zoning maps; urban planning

strategies for development of metropolitan areas.

Developing strategic planning documents for cities, towns,

municipal districts, urban and rural settlements.

Urban planning, financial, economic and marketing support for

developer’s projects.

Undertaking projects on complex development of urban

infrastructure, including transportation, utilities, recreation, public

spaces, housing, environment and sustainability.

Expert support for public events on urban planning (conferences,

business games, roundtables). Themes: cities, urban planning,

spatial planning, integrated development of public utilities and

infrastructure.

Contacts

St. Petersburg, Russia

http://urbanica.spb.ru

t. +7 (812) 332-92-71

info@urbanica.spb.ru

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City Rankings

Aggregate Ranking for 100 Largest Russian Cities (Top – 100)

Ranking is developed in cooperation with The Union of

Architects of Russia

Object and methodology of research

The aim of the ranking is to define the city which is the most

favorable in terms of living from 2 points:

Cost of living

Quality of living

This Ranking is a first try to estimate the city as a good or a

service for all dwellers. It also gives the possibility to estimate the

efficiency of the city policy as focused on increasing citizen

appeal.

The unique features of the ranking are as follows:

Complexity – the ranking includes data describing

(reflecting) all basic needs of citizens;

Representativeness – ranking operates only with issues that

are common for citizens of the time, such as: housing

issues, security, transport, food expenses, housing, and

public utilities expenses;

Objectivity – the ranking doesn’t use expert opinions, it

operates only with shared statistics including census data

(2010), real estate developers data, and common climatic

and environmental assessments.

There are 5 cities that have been excluded from the “Top-100″

ranking due to following reasons:

Moscow suburb cities of Balashiha, Khimki, Podolsk, and

Korolev were excluded from the ranking because of

economical and spatial role that they are playing within

Moscow metropolitan area. If they had not been

excluded, they might have been in some of the top 10

positions;

Norilsk was excluded due to specific conditions of living

that include climate, social and economic situation.

"Urbanica" Rankings

Aggregate Ranking for 100

Largest Russian Cities

The 250 Largest Industrial

Centers of Russia (Top-250)

Aggregate Ranking for 200

Largest Russian Cities (Top –

200)

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Urban planning concept of Yuzhny satellite town

Work on the project is being carried out in cooperation with the

Center of Applied Research of European University in Saint

Petersburg.

The goal of this project is to create a town concept that will be a

guide book for planners, engineers, and other experts that will

be executing the project.

Work performed during the project:

Analysis of current developmental trends of modern cities,

including Saint-Petersburg;

Analysis of surroundings – economic, social, and infrastructural

aspects of development on the south of Saint-Petersburg

metropolitan area;

Designing various development scenarios for the satellite town;

Analysis of possible business partners for Yuzhny satellite town;

Proposals on relevant types of property in the satellite town;

Proposals on urban environment in Yuzny satellite town;

Interviewing experts from different fields.

Client

Start Development LLC

Performance Period

2012 – present

Location

Saint-Petersburg

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Development of Baltiysky railway station

surroundings in Saint-Petersburg

In a series of meetings the following was discussed: methodology

and design approaches, private sector issues concerning

transport and engineering infrastructure development on the

current and surrounding areas, cost-effectiveness of the

proposed solutions, order of implementation.

Basic proposals of the groups:

A. Dot development of the area through creation of new

centers of attraction;

B. Complex development of the area through the

implementation of the separate stages, from less expensive to

more capital intensive stages;

C. Creating a new brand of the area, developing recreational

and entertainment zone;

D. Creating a district of furniture design and production.

Project Supervisors:

Oleg Pachenkov,

sociologist, director of the

Center for Independent

Social Research (CISR);

Anton Finogenov, urbanist,

managing director of

"URBANICA";

Daniyar Yusupov - architect,

urbanist, U: lab;

Mary Elkina, St. Petersburg

3.0 observer, RBC;

Mikhail Klimovsky - urbanist,

Head of NGO “Svobodnoye

prostranstvo” (literally “Free

Space”).

Form of work:

Students work in teams

guided by urbanists,

sociologists, architects and

an art historian

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“Moscow Agglomeration Development Concept

until 2050” competition

Proposals of consortium:

3 alternative scenarios of development of Moscow

agglomeration have been formed: hyperfuctionality, weak

center in a benefit of outskirts, shift of activity towards Moscow

Ring Road;

Particular areas for displacement of the future sub centers were

chosen, urban planning model of its development and proposals

of transport framework development were given;

Economic parameters of future development and possible

financial and organizational development patterns of realization

of project proposals were shown;

Inventory has been carried out and ranking of industrial zones

within the city of Moscow concerning possibilities of

displacement of governmental center and new significant

projects for the city has been performed.

Organizer of the competition

Administration of Moscow

Performance Period

2012

URBANICA was one of two

Russian urban planning

companies to participate in

the competition

Project work was

conducted as a part of

consortium led by Andrey

Chernikhov (Architecture

design workshop of

professor A.A. Chernikhov)

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Low-rise development

Objects of the urban planning conclusion:

Analysis of planning restrictions for the land plot;

Proposals on the best types of housing for the area

considering its economical and geographical location and

the level of social infrastructure;

Analysis of competitive environment;

Planning of social infrastructure, commercial property and

public spaces;

Assessment of existing infrastructure to define possibilities for

providing housing in the considered areas;

Sketch for development of the area.

Client

Development and investment

companies

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Defining social and economic characteristics of

municipal entities for development of technical

part of competition documentation to execute the

project of high-speed railway “Moscow-Saint

Petersburg”.

Project Goal:

Complex analysis of municipal entities affected within the high-

speed railway line "Saint-Petersburg – Moscow" project

Field of use for the project outcome:

Co-ordination of obligatory approval procedures with local

authorities;

Minimizing possible negative impact of planned high-speed

railway;

Maximizing positive externality of the planned high-speed

railway.

Client

Neva-Project LLC

Performance Period

2011

Location

Saint-Petersburg, Leningrad

Oblast, Novgorod Oblast,

Tver Oblast, Moscow Oblast,

the city of Moscow

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Construction industry of Murmansk Oblast:

Development strategy

Project Conditions:

Complicated demographic setting;

Lack of housing construction;

Extreme environmental conditions;

Degradation of manufacturing facilities in construction materials

production.

Key Solutions:

New types of dwellings relevant to the Far North region were

proposed based on the study of international practices;

Balance of demand and production of structures and

construction materials was calculated;

Proposals on new construction materials production were made;

Measures for stimulating demand for new housing and

renovation of the old housing stock were defined.

Client

Ministry of real estate

development and spatial

development of Murmansk

Oblast

Performance Period

2011

Location

Murmansk Oblast

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Spatial Plan of Leningrad Oblast

Technical Aspects of the Project:

The document was developed very fast during a short period of

time;

When developing the project, all urban planning documents on

a municipal level were investigated and taken into

consideration;

Spatial Plan was coordinated with all municipal entities of

Leningrad Oblast;

Spatial Plan was made ahead of development of social-

economic Strategy of Development of Leningrad Oblast, so a lot

of analytical work was done to provide the economic solutions.

Work performed during the project:

Inspection of all investment areas in the region (industrial districts

and areas that can be used for housing development in the

future);

Spatial model for sustainable development of Saint-Petersburg

metropolitan area was formed based on the development

trends of said area;

Urban planning approach for development of old industrial

areas and outskirts of Leningrad Oblast (including sub-centers of

second and third level) was formed.

Client

Administration of Leningrad

Oblast (sub-contract

agreement with State

Unitary Enterprise Research

and Project Institute of

Masterplan of Moscow)

Performance Period

August 2012-December

2012

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Comprehensive Plans:

Technical aspects of development:

Collecting reference data is a long and labour-intensive process:

it takes over 400 inquiries and over 15 technical meetings;

The final project consists of about 400 pages of text materials

and 30 mapping schemes, 7 of which are to be used in the

“approved” part of the project;

Approval process: coordinating and receiving conclusions,

making changes according to comments of the client,

conducting public hearings.

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Town of Nikolskoye: Comprehensive Plan

Existing conditions at the start:

Area of the town is included in the closest zone of St. Petersburg

metropolitan area and is attractive to both residential and

commercial real estate development;

Town of Nikolskoe was historically formed as industrial center with

a cluster of construction industry factories within the town

borders;

Town of Nikolskoe is known for its unique natural landscape

(Sablino caves, cascade and canyon).

Key Solutions:

Development of dense high-rise residential housing, combined

with individual low-rise buildings;

Forming a large urban recreation area alongside the natural

complex of Tosno River which serves as the planning axis of the

town.

Client

Administration of Nikolskoye

Urban settlement

Performance Period

February 2011-September

2012

Location

Tosnensky District, Leningrad

Oblast

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Town of Volosovo: Comprehensive Plan

Existing conditions at the start:

Transit railway line divides town into two parts;

Lack of territories for development;

Large industrial areas, some of them are obsolete and

abandoned.

Key Solutions:

Demolition and resettlement, reconstruction of dilapidated

buildings. Building low-rise high-density housing on vacated

areas;

Ensuring internal coherence of transport system within the town

by constructing a car crossover as well as pedestrian tunnel

under the railway;

Restoration of industrial zones with its partial reclamation.

Client

Administration of Volosovo

Urban settlement

Performance Period

January 2011 – February

2013

Location

Volosovsky District,

Leningrad Oblast