Substantiation of efficient use of land plots situated in the historical center of Saint Petersburg

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Each modern Russian city has its historical center. These places especially attract tourists as they are the cultural heritage of Russia. The appereance of such areas had been formed during hundreds or even thousands of years and as a result many buildings have become outdated, dilapidated and need an overhaul. Some of them are subject to demolition. Thus, an issue of saving the image of cultural centers arises.

Saint Petersburg is the Russian capital of Culture. While walking in the center, citizens and guests of our city can occasionally see an unoccupied fenced site or an abandoned and empty building or factory and have a question: “Why is such place in the center of the city abandoned when it can be used to improve the quality of life in the city?” This question is relevant and topical not only for St. Petersburg but for other cities too. Old houses are often impossible to overhaul and they must be demolished but having the land in the center of the city unoccupied is unefficient in terms of investment.

In native segment of scientific literature, the problem of efficient using of land is not widely discussed.

• V.K. Linov identifies the problems of public space development in the historical center of Saint Petersburg in his article [1].

• A. Buleev considers of the assessment of competitiveness of innovative investment projects in the historical city center in his article [2].

In the article [3] L.S. Romanova, O.G. Litvinova analyze the solution of the theoretical basis development problem and the methods of conservation and reconstruction of architectural building heritage in historical centers of the cities.

• L.S. Romanova, O.G. Litvinova offer the ways of space rehabilitation in historical city centers in the paper [4].

The problem of a building reconstruction with a change of the functional purpose in the historical city center is considered in the article [11].

The articles [5–10], in particular, give the reconstruction problems of the historical center of Saint Petersburg.

An illustrative example, the analysis and the substantiation methods of efficiency of using the historical object– Petrovsky Dock, and the land attached to it which is situated in Kronstadt – the historical part of St. Petersburg are shown in the article [12].

Also, a modern problem of land using in conditions of constrained residential development is discussed in the article [13], which is especially important for historical and fast-growing cities.

The problems of using traditional building systems as an activation and preservation tool for historical city centers are considered in the article [14] by authors F. Pérez Gálvez, P. Rubio de Hita, M. Ordóñez Martín, M.J. Morales Conde, C. Rodríguez Liñán.

In the paper [15] there are the technological aspects of reconstruction of historical buildings, the way of keeping typical features of a historical building in particular.

The methods of activity intensification given in the articles [16-–7] contribute to preserve and restore the historical monuments which are assigned with a new function – a zone extension and an adjustment of historical buildings by modern requirements.

The difficulty of residential quater reconstruction in existing development of the historical city center is one of the most important problems nowadays, which is discussed in the article [18].

The article [19] shows the main stages of reconstruction in a historical city center with their functional significance in a modern world.

The 21st century gives a lot of opportunities to use the city lands, but it is substantially to use them properly, so the principal trends of modern civil engineering in historical centers of middle and small towns are analyzed in the article [20].

The aim of this article is the substantiation of the most appropriate and efficient way of using the real estate – three vacant land plots located in the central districts of St. Petersburg, with considering of population’s interests and analysis of adjacent territories’ demand for objects of evaluated types of using.

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The following tasks are formed on the basis of the aim:

• -    to analyze past experience of using the land of demolished buildings in the historical center of St. Petersburg;

• -    to investigate the real estate market of the districts on which the land plots are located;

• -    to interview the citizens;

• -    to determine possible alternative ways of using the land;

• -    to choose the most appropriate and efficient way of using the vacant land plots.

2. Methods and Results

The data of experience of using vacant land in the central districts of

St. Petersburg was collected. The information about the research is given in the table 1.

Table 1. The experience of using the land of demolished buildings in the historical center of St. Petersburg.

№	Object 1 (Figure 1)	Object 2 (Figure 2)	Object 3 (Figure 3)	Object 3 (Figure 3)
Type of an object	The House of prince A.Y.Lobanov-Rostovsky – architectural monument	The House of F.Minaev – D.A. Durdin - architectural monument	The House of К. Geydeman – architectural monument	Post Office House (mansion of Shuvalov)-architectural monument
Address of an object	Saint Petersburg, Voznesenskiy prospect, 1	Saint Petersburg, Vosstanya street, 2	Saint Petersburg, Voznesenskiy prospect, 6	Saint Petersburg, Pochtamskaya street, 3-5
History of an object	It was built in 1817-1820 by architect Montferrand A.А. Demolished in 2007.	It was built in 19001902 by architect Gilev P.I. Demolished in 2007.	It was built in 1764-1776, was overbuilt in 1893, architect Iors I.N. Demolished in 2007.	It was built in the middle of the 18th century, was rebuilt in 1809 by architect Ruska Luigi, in 1859 by architect Grebenka N.P. Demolished in 2007-2010.
What is build there now	Hotel “Four Season Hotel Lion Palace”. The front facade was recreated.	Shopping center «Stockmann»The front facade was recreated.	Hotel «W St. Petersburg». The front facade was recreated.	Business center “Quattro Corti” with underground parking. The front facade was recreated.
Investors	Company «Tristar Investment Holdings». The owner – Administration of the President of Russia.	«Stockmann»-Finnish company	Company «R.E.D.»	Company «Galaxy»

Figure 1. Object 1: a) The House of prince A.Y.Lobanov-Rostovsky; b) Hotel “Four Season Hotel Lion Palace” [21].

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Figure 2. Object 2: a) The House of F.Minaev – D.A. Durdin; b) Shopping center “Stockmann” [21].

Figure 3. Object 3: a) The House of К. Geydeman;

b) Hotel “W St. Petersburg” [21].

Figure 4. Object 4: а) Post Office House (mansion of Shuvalov) b) Business center “Quattro Corti” [21].

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Nowadays there are several land plots which have been vacant for a long time in St. Petersburg. 3 sectors in the central districts of the city were chosen for the research. The location of the sectors is shown in the figure 5. The characteristics of the sectors are given in the table 2.

Figure 5. The location of the sectors [22].

Table 2. The characteristics of the sectors.

№	Sector 1	Sector 2	Sector 3
Type of an object	Land plot, square 2251 m2	Land plot, square 816 m2	Land plot, square 2310 m2
Address of an object	Saint Petersburg, Zagorodny prospect, 3/17	Saint Petersburg, Bolshaya Podyacheskaya street, 28	Saint Petersburg, Griboedov Channel, 51, lit.B
District	Central	Admiralteysky	Central
Current use of an object	Sector is not used	Sector is not used	Sector is not used
Previously existed building	Historical monument –House of merchant Rogov	Historical monument – Apartment house of Krylov	Historical monument –-Assay Office Building
How long an object is not used	Since 2012	Since 2006	Since 2008
Investors	Company «Vektor»	Company «Avrora-stroy» State property	Company « Legion »
What was planned to be built	Shopping center with underground parking	3-star Hotel with parking	Hotel Complex “Radisson SAS”
Analysis of the real estate market of a district	Within 1 km of the sector there are : 3 cinemas, an underground station «Dostoevskaya-Vladimirskaya», shopping centers and shopping&entertainment centers, a business center «Vladimirsky Passage», schools and kindergartens.	Within 1 km of the sector there are : 2 cinemas, an underground station «Spasskaya-Sadovaya-Sennaya», a business center Izmaylovsky 2, schools and kindergartens.	Within 1 km of the sector there are : 3 cinemas, an underground station «Nevsky Prospect-Gostinny Dvor», shopping centers and shopping&entertainment centers , a business center Kazansky, schools and kindergartens.

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The comparison of the sectors based on the analysis of the characteristics was made. (Figure 5).

Figure 5. The comparison of the sectors.

During the process of research in efficiency of using the vacant land plots more than 50 people were interviewed. They gave their subjective assessment of the potential exploitation of the sectors described above.

In the interview, it was suggested to evaluate the potential exploitation of the sectors on the following criteria:

• -    Cultural development of the city.

• -    Creation of the moral environment for society and keeping its spiritual and moral principles.

• -    Increasing of the level of life of citizens and guests of the city.

• -   Reducing of ecological pollution.

• -  Economic benefits of the project.

For assessment of the potential exploitation of a sector there were given the following variants:

• -  Overground multi-storey parking;

• -  Shopping & entertainment center ;

• -  Business center;

• -  Sports center

• -  Art-development center.

Each type of a building could be evaluated from 1 to 5, 1 – the project is under the average; 2 – the project is barely under the average; 3 – the project is at the average level; 4 – the project is barely above the average; 5 – the project is above the average. In the table below there are the average subjective assessments on each criteria.

Table 3. The average subjective assessments of the most efficient way of using the sectors on each criteria.

№	Overground multi-storey parking	Shopping & entertainment center	Business center	Sports center	Art-development center
Cultural heritage	2.53	2.33	2.33	2.3	3.81
Moral significance	2.26	2.23	2.12	3.26	4.23
Social significance	3.7	2.95	2.53	3.12	3.05
Eco-friendly	2.58	1.88	2.09	2.63	3.09
Economic benefits	3.33	3.88	3.72	3.05	2.4
Historical significance	1.74	1.79	2.12	2.12	3.12
Result	2.58	2.42	2.45	2.73	3.23

Results

• ■    Overground multistorey parking

• ■    Shopping & entertainment center Business center

• ■    Sports center

3.    Discussion 4.    Conclusions

Art-development center

Figure 6. The result of the interview.

Thus, according to the results of the interview the most favorable buildings for the development on vacant places in the center of the city are: Art-development center, Sports center and Overground multi-storey parking. However, it is worth noting that centers of art-development are more popular in the city outskirts where a lot of families with children live (most of the responders were asked there) than in the city center. So, constructing of it will be unprofitable. One sports center is already situated within some meters of the investigated territory.

The center of St. Petersburg was formed some centuries ago and, of course, it is not adapted for a huge amount of cars. It is the reason why traffic jams and load center permanently appear. With a new overground multi-storey parking citizens will have an opportunity to leave their cars at the parking and continue their route by metro which has no traffic jams and is situated just round the corner or on foot.

For example, in the article [2] partly the same assessment criteria of the potential exploitation of a land plot are used: analysis of the location, analysis of the real estate market, cultural values and also qualitative analysis of possible using functions of the evaluated objects. And the most appropriate and efficient way of using a place becomes the space for garage boxing.

As a result of the research it was obtained that the most efficient way to use the land plot in the city center is to build an overground parking on it. According to the survey, Overground multi-storey parking is on the 3rd place, Sports center is on the 2nd and Art-development center is on the 1st. One sports center is already situated within some meters of the investigated territory which is not far from “Dostoevskaya” metro station. An artdevelopment center has no economic benefits – a good confirmation of such place is a center located on Kazanskaya street, 7: it gets little profit because the room spaces for group lessons or seminars are hard to rent

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as there is a less demand for them than for parking places in the city center. Furthermore, the potential square which could bring profit is unoccupied and doesn’t work on the owner of the center.