What do the French ghettos and St. Petersburg outskirts have in common?

Among urbanists there is a kind of saying “If there is no modern microdistrict with multi-storey buildings on the outskirts of the city, then you are either not in Russia, or you are lying”. Of course, this problem is not only a Russian scourge, but the fact remains that it exists. And she's terrible.

Recently I had a chance to visit one of the outskirts of St. Petersburg - the city of Kudrovo, and, believe me, this is a real showcase of the modern Russian multi-storey hell.

History of the issue

The culture of building panel houses came to the Soviet Union in the middle of the last century - then it was relevant and modern. All of Western Europe: France, Germany, Great Britain - they built up entire blocks of high-rise buildings. People simply had nowhere to live after the war, and panel houses solved this problem.

In the USSR, such buildings also fit well into the ideological guidelines of the party - all under one roof, like a friendly family - why not a cell of the coming communist paradise?

What's wrong?

Recently I was in France and visited the famous ensemble (the so-called multi-storey microdistricts) Mingeta. More precisely, its ruins. They were built up in the middle of the XX century, becoming the prototype of the modern, half a century later, Russian analogue. It took only 20 years for the French government to come to its senses and demolish them.

In no time, the new neighborhoods were marginalized due to cheap housing, immigrants, a large population and a disproportionately small number of social services. Already 15 years later, the ensembles, which were supposed to become a home for workers and a model of quality development, are beginning to be called slums.

It got to the point that the police left the territory of the district at night, leaving it at the mercy of young people who felt the lawlessness among the depersonalized high-rise buildings.

In the early 90s, the ensembles were demolished everywhere.

What does Russia have to do with it?

Now let's turn to Russian realities. In the photographs you can contemplate the Leningrad Region - an example of multi-storey buildings.

This particular area appeared on the map only 10 years ago, and already now it is gradually encountering the primary manifestations of the “French scenario” - the overpopulated area is not provided with infrastructure. Schools, hospitals, kindergartens cannot cope with the number of residents, and developers continue to build, and traffic jams for leaving St. Petersburg are lining up in kilometers.

What do you think? Would you live in such an area?

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