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Restructuring socialist housing estates and its impact on residents’ perceptions: “Renovatsiia” of khrushchevki in St. Petersburg, Russia

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This paper explores the issue of restructuring socialist housing estates in St. Petersburg, Russia, with an emphasis on residents’ perceptions of the wide range of economic, social, and environmental impacts of that restructuring. A new housing renewal program, “renovatsiia” (renovation) of khrushchevki, has been controversial from the very beginning and involves the demolition of existing khrushchevki and the construction of new housing on the same sites. By examining the issue within the framework of housing regeneration in the post-socialist context, the paper aims to provide insights into some of the challenges of urban renewal in the housing sector in the second largest Russian city. The paper at the same time investigates the viability of the collaborative planning model in the context of the post-socialist city.

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Sasha Tsenkova and Dominika Polanska, the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies at Sodertorn University, and to the anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Connecticut, 1084 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT, USA

    Nathaniel S. Trumbull

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Trumbull, N.S. Restructuring socialist housing estates and its impact on residents’ perceptions: “Renovatsiia” of khrushchevki in St. Petersburg, Russia. GeoJournal 79, 495–511 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-014-9534-1

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