V. A. Orav. Residential Buildings of the Historical Center of Leningrad in 1949 — Late 1980s
as an Object of Urban Planning Policy // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 4, 2025, pp. 212–221.

DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_4_212

Abstract:

The historical center of St. Petersburg and its associated group of suburbs were recognized as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Well-preserved, despite the revolution, the Great Patriotic War and the siege, the city’s ordinary buildings became a significant factor in the designation of St. Petersburg as a major site of cultural heritage of humanity. Nevertheless, the old St. Petersburg was given to us in a changed form. The pre-revolutionary dwelling houses were demolished or rebuilt. A significant factor in these changes was comprehensive capital repair (CCR). The essence of the CCR was the replacement of all structural elements of the building (roof, ceilings, etc.) apart from brick walls only. In order to assess the degree of the impact on the historical center of Leningrad — St. Petersburg preservation, it is necessary to calculate the number of repaired and demolished houses. In this article (without claiming to finalize the conclusions) the calculation attempt is done. In the historiography this problem has not yet received coverage. From the early 1950s until 1981, the CCR was undergone 4.5 million square meters of residential space. Between 1950 and 1969, 3,113 houses were renovated. For the next two decades there is no data on the number of houses repaired, but a rough estimate is about another 1,420 houses. The total amount is about 4,533 houses, which is close to the data of the Housing Department of the Leningrad City Executive Committee of the early 1980s. During the 1980s, about 1.2 million square meters of total area (727 thousand residential, respectively) were subjected to CCR, and, therefore, about 625 houses. The total, according to preliminary calculations, is about 5158 houses for the whole Soviet period, but taking into account selective capital repairs. If we exclude the results of selective repairs, we can consider that about one third of the buildings was undergone comprehensive repair. To this we should also add that since the late 1970s about 30 houses have been demolished in the center. From the early 1960s to 1980, the number of pre-revolutionary houses in the center decreased from 7,619 to 7,411. Thus, the extent of the CCR impact on the preservation of the historic center should be recognized as significant.

Key words: comprehensive capital repair, historical center of Saint Petersburg, cultural heritage, housing economy, reconstruction, demolition.

Author:

Orav, Vladimir Alexeevich — PhD in history, Chief Archivist of the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: v.oraw@yandex.ru

References:

Avdeev, V. I., Sharashkin, E. V. Zhilishchnoe khozyaistvo [Housing Economy. In Russ.]. In Gorodskoe khozyaistvo i stroitel’stvo Leningrada za 50 let. Leningrad, Lenizdat press, 1967. 298 p.

Gorbatenko, S. B. Vsemirnoe nasledie — istoricheskii landshaft Sankt-Peterburgskoi aglomeratsii. [World Heritage — Historical Landscape of the St. Petersburg Agglomeration. In Russ.]. St Petersburg, Zodchii publ., 2011. 115 p.

Bolotnyi, V. V. (ed.). Gorodskoe khozyaistvo [Urban Economy. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Lenizdat press, 1957. 183 p.

Khimunin, S. D., Vol’fson, V. L. Organizatsiya kapital’nogo remonta zhilykh domov [Organisation of Capital Repairs of Residential Buildings. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Stroiizdat press, 1972. 65 p.

Popov, G. T., Burak, L. Ya. Tekhnicheskaya ekspertiza zhilykh zdanii staroi postroiki. [Technical Expertise of Residential Buildings of Old Construction. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Stroiizdat press, 1986. 240 p.

Popov, G. T., Oblenov, I. A. Vtoroe rozhdenie doma: Kompleksnyi plan ekonomicheskogo i sotsial’nogo razvitiya v deistvii [The Second Birth of the House: The Comprehensive Plan of Economic and Social Development in Action. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Lenizdat press, 1981. 55 p.

Shabrov, A. M. Obshchie zadachi kapital’nogo remonta zdanii v gorodskom khozyaistve. [General Tasks of Capital Repair of Buildings in the Urban Economy. In Russ.]. Leningrad, 1959. 19 p.

Sharlygina, K. A. Opyt rekonstruktsii istoricheskikh zhilykh zdanii Sankt-Peterburga. [Experience of
Reconstruction of Historical Residential Buildings of St. Petersburg. In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Petropolis publ., 2019. 135 p.

Vol’fson, V. L., Gomzin, N. G., Fomina, V. M. Organizatsiya kapital’nogo remonta zhilogo fonda: Iz opyta Leningrada. [Organisation of Capital Repair of the Housing Stock: From the Experience of Leningrad. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Stroiizdat press, 1968. 229 p.

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