Major repair and reconstruction of the historical housing development in Saint Petersburg

Abstract

The article provides results of housing technical state examination in the historical development of Saint Petersburg, performed by experts of the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The described methodology developed by the authors serves a basis to find the most efficient solution for issues arising in Saint Petersburg, and fully meets all social, scientific, technical and economic conditions of modern urban development. This is especially important when implementing the concepts of Smart City and Smart Home intended to become a basis for development of modern urban environment within the existing historical city. As for cultural heritage sites, it is possible to extend the useful life of a historical building by its timely reconstruction. Reconstruction shall be performed following a clear plan with account for the sequence of stages: from handing archive materials and a city plan to identify the historical appearance of a building to a possible need for reconstruction of not only a separate building but also a whole block. In case of a major repair of an apartment building, or reconstruction of historical cultural heritage sites, activities improving energy efficiency of buildings are required, which are associated with significant costs that sometimes exceed the federal or city budget.