Is it possible to apply modern technologies used in Barcelona for improvement of St. Petersburg?
I think that it`s real. Each city and town has its` own DNA. That is why a city as a person is unique. It means that while development planning one should take into account peculiarities of a metabolism. I like to compare cities with people. It gives an opportunity to go into details. I suppose that improvement of a city has to be based on individual approach. While preparing a concept of smart-city one risks to ignore personal features. It leads to turning an original center into a kind of McDonald`s. It means that a city will be typical because nobody takes into account a location, climate, mentality etc. I disagree with this approach.
However urban specialists don`t have to reinvent the wheel. They should understand what changes will affect their city positively. Our Urban Science lab deals with these issues. We study our city by analyzing peculiarities of complex social, economic and other flows. Speaking of urban sciences we use plural form because this field includes various disciplines. Thanks to studying all of them we can answer any question and solve any task.
It takes a lot of time. What hampers St. Petersburg`s development? How can we solve the problems?
Above all others all the cities should pay attention to transport flow problems. That is why we consider private cars as a key enemy. On the one hand, we can try to reduce the number of cars, make transport system more effective, but what then? How should we deal with multi-level junctions and other elements of the infrastructure that aim to improve urban mobility? I suppose that St. Petersburg public transport is one of the main parts of its` culture. For example, Saint Petersburg Metro, which was an object of envy for a long time. Why don`t you contribute to the development of this system?
Unfortunately St. Petersburg Metro is extremely conservative system. Moreover, some innovations are not implemented because of lack of money.
Use experience of other countries. Many cities have light rail transport. There are also other mobility ways. It is more about to change habits connected with transport using. I know that many of new ideas in your city don`t correlate with cultural heritage protection rules. It is the very time to find the balance between history and innovations. Today architecture is more than building construction. It includes looking for new approaches as well as taking into account up-to-date challenges and climate changes.
Do you think that new technological solutions is a universal remedy?
It is obviously that new technologies are useful but they will not be really effective without having a strategy. They can make transport faster of more eco-friendly. However all these solutions should be guided by the idea. For instance, it is planned to make transport system in several cities completely state-supported. It means that citizens will not pay for public transport. Moreover if free transport is also effective and convenient nobody will use personal cars, isn`t it?
