LED 2016 Group B Landscape Democracy Challenge 4
Park Of The 300th Anniversary Of St. Petersburg
| Place name | Park Of The 300th Anniversary Of St. Petersburg | |
| Location | St. Petersburg | |
| Country | Russia | |
| Author(s) | Julia S. | |
| ||
The park was founded in 1995, and it was open in 2003. The total area of the park was around 90ha back then. It was one of few public parks located at the shore of the Gulf of Finland. The citizens have been quite happy with the new recreational area, and popularity of the park has been increasing rather fast. But in 2008, despite the will of dwellers the construction works started in the park. Only 54ha of green area remained... Several years after, when the disputes in the media abated, the government decided to build a new hospital and museum center there. Now, there are a lot of debates concerning this topic. Local dwellers keep fighting for the remained park area, while businessmen are looking forward the new development. The case study has had a strong resonance in the media for years. The future of the green area still stays vague. Park or urban development? Businessmen or dwellers? Money or people? Who will be the winner in this race? Is there a way out of this situation? Or is there a possible compromise?
Representation of your observations
- you are basically free to use one or a mix of different presentation techniques
- possibilities are: analytical drawings, graphical representations, collages, video clips, comic/graphic novel, written essay/visual essay
- please add any visual material to the gallery, videos can be placed below, you may add text as you like
- Yourfilename1.jpg
case representation
- Yourfilename2.jpg
case representation
- Yourfilename3.jpg
case representation
- Yourfilename4.jpg
case representation
Reflection
What are the major challenges for changing the situation?
Money rules the world. This area has extremely high rates for development (and for real estate). It is so much more profitable to build it up, instead of maintaining the park (in its present state).
Corruption.
No participation. The possible changes are not even discussed with local dwellers. Their opinion is not considered at all. Locals do not know what to expect from new development.
What could be a starting point for democractically-based change?
It's time for government to listen for the people's opinion or to explain the necessity of changes. There's no way out of this crisis without open dialog between dwellers and local authorities.
References
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Park_of_300_Years_Spb_-_Baltic_Beach_01.jpg
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