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The Russian city of St. Petersburg is considered one of the world's architectural marvels. After years of decay, money from the country's energy-fueled economic boom starting to flow into the city. But some residents contend that far from saving St. Petersburg, the new wealth is ruining its unique style and destroying some of its social fabric.
NPR's Gregory Feifer reports from the city that many Russians call the Venice of the North.
GREGORY FEIFER: Originally planned as a fortress to defend Russia from attack, St. Petersburg became a projection of the czar's imperial might. Pushkin wrote that it was Russia's window on the West, but it was expanded to show that Russia could build its own modern European city.
Peter the Great built Russia's new capital on swampland here on the windswept shores of the Neva River 300 years ago. Behind me is the extravagant colonnaded sprawl of the winter palace. In front of me across the icy water is the golden needle spire of The Peter and Paul Fortress. Now, much of this architectural museum city is under threat.
The Russian Revolution began here, but the Soviets moved the capital to Moscow and Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was renamed, became something of a backwater. More than a million people died during a Nazi blockade in World War II, but the ruined buildings were rebuilt. And then decades of neglect actually helped preserve the city's architecture. The end of communism left St. Petersburg impoverished, but Russia's new oil and gas wealth is now sending real estate prices soaring. New high rises are going up, and old buildings are sprouting incongruous new additions that compromise St. Petersburg's elaborate neoclassical style.
Historian and preservationist Alexander Margolis blames corruption.
Mr. ALEXANDER MARGOLIS (Historian, Russian): (Through translator) Much of the architecture here is protected by law. But under our style of capitalism, developers bribe officials to condemn sound buildings, and allow them to build whatever they want. It's not clear how much of the old St. Petersburg will survive that process.
FEIFER: A tram moves down a street flanked by grandiose apartment buildings. But inside many of those buildings lie dilapidated Soviet-era communal apartments. St. Petersburg still has the country's largest concentration of communal housing; some of it belonging to the scholars and other intellectuals who give the city its liberal reputation. As developers move in, those residents are being pushed out.
Legislative aide Alla Moskvina unlocks the door to her apartment building near the Hermitage Museum.
Ms. ALLA MOSKVINA (Legislative Aide): (Speaking in foreign language)
FEIFER: Moskvina describes growing up with her parents in one room, in an apartment building with more than 10 other families who shared one kitchen and one bathroom.
After the end of communism, Moskvina bought her own three-room apartment. But now, she says, a wealthy businessman who owns an adjacent building wants to take it over.
Ms. MOSKVINA: (Speaking in foreign language)
FEIFER: He's bribed officials to falsify ownership documents, she says. He sent thugs to break in and he's threatened to have us beaten. We've filed suit, but the authorities have done nothing to stop him.
One project in particular seems to symbolize the new reality in St. Petersburg. The giant state-controlled company Gazprom wants to build a 1,300-foot glass tower on a small island in the Neva River. The union of architects calls it an architectural crime, and UNESCO says the tower would threaten the city's world heritage status.
But the building's Scottish chief architect, Tony Kettle, dismiss the suggestions the soaring tower would ruin St. Petersburg's low, horizontal skyline.
Mr. TONY KETTLE (Architect): There are certain elements within the city that are celebrated, and these are always vertical dominants. And now, we have one of the world's most important companies and one of the key issues of our time, which is energy. And I think it's perfectly right and fitting that Gazprom, as a global energy company, should be celebrated within the city.
FEIFER: Others disagree. Anna Chernova is one of four local residents who filed suit to stop the construction.
Ms. ANNA CHERNOVA (Resident, St. Petersburg, Russia): (Speaking in foreign language)
FEIFER: It would be a catastrophe, she says. One building like that would be enough to destroy the entire city's architectural unity.
Some St. Petersburg residents believe the authorities are deliberately trying to take away St. Petersburg's unique culture, although historian Margolis blames bad taste. He says the pressure of money and power behind the projects means it would take another revolution to stop them.
Gregory Feifer, NPR News.