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the name of its project to Okhta Centre, named after a tributary of the Neva near
where the original design was supposed to be.
The name and location may have changed, but the beast has not. The Okhta
Centre will be the city's first skyscraper, towering more than 400m over the Neva
(that's three times higher than the spire of the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral).
The only other structure that even comes close to that height is the 310m TV
tower, which is well removed from the historic heart. The Okhta Centre was ori-
ginally planned to occupy the site of an abandoned factory on the Vyborg Side,
and international outcry at the plan that in 2010 City Hall backed down and can-
celled the project, to the joy of many locals. It was later announced that the
building would still be constructed at a new location called Lakhta, a good dis-
tance from the historic heart and beyond the Kirovsky Islands on the Vyborg
Side. Along with its new location, the project underwent a second name change
The project's massive public opposition underscored the lack of democratic
choice for residents of Europe's fourth biggest city, whose governor is appointed
by the president and only has to be confirmed by the City Legislative Assembly.
Many cited the poor handling of the Okhta Centre issue and the massive ex-
penditure of political capital on the project by then governor, Valentina Matvien-
ko, as one of the main reasons the Kremlin decided to remove her in 2011. The
completed building will be the tallest structure in Europe, though unsurprisingly
many locals are not really that proud of the achievement.
CONTEMPORARY ST PETERSBURG
Following the end of communism in the early 1990s, efforts were focused on the re-
construction of imperial-era buildings, many of which were derelict and literally fall-
ing down due to 70 years of neglect. Between 1991 and St Petersburg's tercentennial
