St. Petersburg
THE FACTS
City: St. Petersburg
Major Cities: St. Petersburg
Country: Russian Federation
Population: 4,879,566 (Census 2010)
Population Density: 3,485/km2
Sex Profile: 44.9% Male / 55.1% Female
Governance Structure: Like Moscow, and unlike all other
Russian cities, St. Petersburg’s municipal government
is subject only to the power of the federal government
and not a provincial authority. From 1990 to 2006 the
mayor of St. Petersburg was elected by popular vote,
but changes in the law since 2006 have resulted in the
mayor being appointed by the President of Russia, and
then confirmed by a vote of the city legislature.
Age Profile:
City specific data not available, the
following is national data for 2010.
Years
Share
0–14
15%
15–64
72%
65+
13%
ECONOMY AND LABOUR FORCE
Occupational Typology (C/S/W): St. Petersburg data unavailable,
however national breakdown is 34.0% / 15.0% / 34.0%
Top Employers:
Company
Admiralty Shipyard
Leningrad Optical Mechanical Amalgamation (LOMO)
Kirov Plant
Sovcomflot
Petersburg Fuel Company
Creative Cities Strategies
St. Petersburg has been hosting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum since 1997 and has successfully
brought the world’s most important business leaders to the
city since then. This federal initiative, which is under the
leadership of the Russian President, attracts major leaders
from companies such as Goldman Sachs and McKinsey and
“everyone who is anyone in the energy business,” according
to The Economist. Over $11 billion worth of business deals
was negotiated during the latest meeting in June 2012. As a
result, this event is an excellent opportunity for St. Petersburg to showcase itself to the rest of the world as a dynamic
and business friendly global city.
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St. Petersburg
Labour Force Distribution by Sector:
City specific data unavailable, below is national data
Industry
2010
Total in the economy
100
Agriculture, hunting and forestry
9.6
Fishing, fish farms
0.2
Mining and quarrying
1.5
Manufacturing
15.4
Production and supply of electricity, gas and water
2.8
Construction
7.8
Wholesale trade and commission trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles;
personal and household goods
18.1
Hotels and restaurants
1.9
Transport and communication
7.9
… Of which communication
1.4
Financial activity
1.7
Real estate, renting and business activities
7.8
Public administration and defense; social security
5.6
Education
8.8
Health and social work
Other community, social and personal service activities
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3.9
Membership Organizations
18,066
Total
342,752
GDP: $58,459.6 USD (Gross Regional Product 2011) according
to Government of Saint Petersburg.
Economic Growth Rate: : The Gross Regional Product (GRP) of Saint
Petersburg increased by 4.3% in 2011. In comparison, average national
real GDP growth since 2000 has been 5.88%.
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St. Petersburg
TALENT SCORECARD
Talent
Score
Justification
Educated Population:
K–8 (Primary)
A+
Educated Population:
9–12 (Secondary)
A
Educated Population:
Post-secondary
A+
42% of Saint Petersburg’s population have a higher
education.
B-
In the Russian educational system, colleges are uncommon,
as tertiary education is divided mainly between public universities and specialized institutes, such as the Academy
of Arts, the Institute of Mines, and the Military Medical
Academy. Vocational training is done on the secondary level
for students that choose to pursue this path. In recent years,
Russia has moved to modernize its educational system
along western lines.
Educational Institutions:
University
B+
Along with Moscow, St. Petersburg is one of Russia’s most
important centres for education, with a large number of the
city’s residents employed in the education sector in one
form or another. There are several dozen universities in St.
Petersburg; however, the most important is the St. Petersburg State University, founded in 1724. Other important
universities include the Academy of Arts (1757), the Institute
of Mines (1773), and the Military Medical Academy (1798).
The Times World University Rankings put St. Petersburg
State University in the bottom 50 out of 400 universities
worldwide.
Education Spending
B-
Nationally, Russia spent 4.1% of GDP on all levels of education in 2008, which is below the OECD average of 5.6%.
Creative Class Share
B
City specific data is unavailable. However, 34% of Russia’s
working population belongs to the Creative Class.
B
While Saint Petersburg has highly specialized institutions
that excel in their fields and an educated workforce with
technical training, overall the rankings of Saint Petersburg’s
public universities when compared to major universities
worldwide are poor and their integration into the global
educational environment is limited due to a particular
and antiquated system leftover from the Soviet Union.
Educational Institutions:
College
Overall score for talent
City specific data unavailable. However, nationally, in 2009,
98% of Russians had completed a primary education.
City specific data unavailable. However, 40.4% of the
Russian labour force had a secondary education in 2008.
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St. Petersburg
TECHNOLOGY SCORECARD
Technology
Score
Justification
B-
City data is unavailable. However, In 2011, 41,414 patent
applications were presented to Russia’s domestic patent
filing organization, Rospatent. 29,999 patents were granted
that year.
C
Government interference in business, corruption, and
inefficiencies stifle innovation in St. Petersburg. In addition,
Russia’s business culture is less supportive of risk-taking
and entrepreneurialism than other jurisdictions are in Europe
and North America.
Job Growth
C
While at the beginning of the 21st century St. Petersburg was
developing faster than the Russian average, deindustrialization and an ageing population have meant that unemployment rates have risen since the fall of the Soviet Union. While
specific city data is unavailable, the national unemployment
rate was 7.5% in 2010 according to the World Bank.
Creative Class Share
B
City specific data is unavailable. However, 34% of Russia’s
working population belongs to the Creative Class.
C
The center of Russia’s hi-tech industry is in Moscow, where
the Skolkovo Innovation Center is being built, and is where
most hi-tech companies are located. High-tech is, in general, not very competitive in Russia due to Russia’s lack
of a business and entrepreneurial culture. Despite this, St.
Petersburg, and Russia in general, has a highly educated
work force due to its educational system’s emphasis on
technology. The problem is that while the technical skills
are there, many Russians are reluctant to use them to build
high-tech start-ups.
C-
St. Petersburg suffers from poor air quality and has few sustainability measures. The general trend of increased automobile use has not helped the situation. The OECD remarks
that Russia, in general, faces significant environmental
challenges and does not have coherent or evidence based
policies in place to address sustainability. In Russia’s major
cities, vehicles make up 90% of hazardous emissions.
C-
A complex and often corrupt bureaucracy is known to stifle
entrepreneurship in St. Petersburg, which burdens new businesses with regulations. In addition, a lack of risk-taking and
entrepreneurial culture, due partly to Russia’s Soviet past,
limits the number, variety, and success of entrepreneurial
ventures in St. Petersburg.
C
Russia’s bureaucratic and often corrupt political system has
yet to evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century’s
demands for technological innovation, business growth, and
sustainability measures.
Patents
Innovation
High-Tech Index
Sustainability/
Green Economy
Entrepreneurship
Overall score
for technology
St. Petersburg
TOLERANCE SCORECARD
Tolerance
Diversity
Immigration
Visible Minority
Integration
Multiculturalism
Score
Justification
D+
According to the 2010 Russian Census, just over 90% of
St. Petersburg residents are ethnic Russians. The most
common minorities, which are registered as official city
residents, are Belarusians and Ukrainians. St. Petersburg
has been predominantly ethnic Russian since the Russian
Revolution of 1917, when a large number of the city’s ethnic
minorities left, including Poles, Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians, Tatars, Jews, and Chinese. During Soviet times, the city
was a magnet for many domestic migrant workers, which
accounted for approximately half the city’s population. Since
the end of Communism, the city has become predominantly
ethnic Russian. Hate crimes against recent migrants from
Asia, Africa, and former Soviet Republics, has since become
common in the city.
D+
For many years Russia did not have a comprehensive immigration policy, despite declining population numbers due
to low birth rates. Migrant workers living in St. Petersburg
have been illegally filling many labour shortages in the city.
In 2007, Russia adopted a new immigration policy that would
give illegal migrants work permits. Most migrants come from
the former Republics of the Soviet Union. Xenophobia is a
problem for many non-ethnic Russians.
D+
Visible minorities are uncommon in St. Petersburg, with
most of them being migrant workers from Asia, Africa,
or other Soviet Republics. Conditions for them are not
pleasant, as xenophobia and hate crimes are common
in the city. U.S. diplomatic security reports cite the abuse
of minorities as common throughout Russia.
D
Integration of foreigners into Russian society has been a
problem in St. Petersburg and Russia in general, with hate
crimes and employment discrimination against ethnic and
religious minorities being common. In addition, women face
more barriers in the labour market than men, and the LGBT
community finds it difficult to integrate into mainstream
society due to prevalent homophobia throughout Russia.
D+
Russia has no official multiculturalism policy and is overwhelming Russian — the population of major cities such
as St. Petersburg and Moscow is over 90% ethnic Russian.
Xenophobia, suspicion of foreigners, and hate crimes are
common in St. Petersburg.
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St. Petersburg
Tolerance
Gay and Lesbian
Population
Religious Diversity
Openness
Civil Rights
Bohemians
Overall score
for tolerance
Score
Justification
D
While there are several venues catering to the LGBT community, overall St. Petersburg, and Russia as a whole, is
unaccepting of homosexuals. Discrimination, hate crimes,
and a lack of legal protection for gays and lesbians are the
norm in Russia’s major cities, including St. Petersburg. A
gay pride parade was planned for July 2012 but was cancelled after authorities received many complaints.
B-
The dominant religion in St. Petersburg is Russian Orthodox.
Precise numbers of municipal religious demographics are
hard to come by. However, nationally, 63% of Russians identify as Orthodox and 6% identify as Muslim. Other religions
collectively make up less than 1% of the total, while the rest
identify as either atheist or as believers in God without a
particular religion.
D+
St. Petersburg is Russia’s most westernized city; however,
Russia in general is less open to Western customs, religious
and sexual minorities, and businesses than many global
cities, such as New York or London. Many organizations
cite Russian society as having low levels of openness to
outsiders. For example, Russia placed 34th in an OECD published study of tolerance levels of ethnic, religious, and other
minority groups, behind countries such as Japan and Korea.
The U.S. State Department cites numerous cases of xenophobic hate crimes and discriminations that occur in Russia
on a regular basis.
D+
Freedom House, in their most recent 2012 report on Russia,
cited serious violations of civil rights and has labeled Russian press as “not free” and internet activity as only “partly
free.” The Economist Intelligence Unit in their 2011 Democracy Index report categorized Russia as an authoritarian
state due to the lack of political opposition and the country’s
flawed elections.
C+
St. Petersburg is considered to be the cultural capital of
Russia and attracts large numbers of Russians with interests
in all forms of arts and culture. However, inadequate civil
rights mean that bohemian culture remains repressed.
D+
Russia has never fully opened itself up to the world and maintains its Soviet era suspicion of outsiders. Despite St. Petersburg being a generally more open and tolerant place than
more provincial parts of Russia, it falls far behind global cities
in Western Europe and North America in terms of tolerance.
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St. Petersburg
AMENITIES AND QUALITY OF PLACE SCORECARD
Amenities and
Quality of Place
The SOBs
(Symphony,
Opera, Ballet)
Museums
Entertainment
and Nightlife
Crime Rate
Recreation Facilities
Score
Justification
A+
The Mariinsky Theatre, which houses the city’s opera and
ballet companies, is world-renowned and its members
are often on tour abroad. The St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Orchestra is Russia’s oldest and most renowned symphony
orchestra. Its musical directors have included Serge Koussevitzky, a world-respected conductor and the Orchestra
has premiered the famous works of Dmitry Shostakovich.
A+
The Hermitage and the State Russian Museum are among
Europe’s most important museums and house large numbers of Russian works from as early as the 10th century. The
Hermitage museum holds historical importance as it was
commissioned by Catherine the Great as a court museum
and holds an impressive variety of masterpieces from the
Renaissance, in addition to a large collection of Asian art.
B+
Due to its northern location, St. Petersburg is known for its
“White Nights,” which are nights when the sun barely sets
throughout a couple weeks in June. These weeks are when
St. Petersburg nightlife is at it's best, filled with energetic, all
night parties. Though not as spectacular, during the rest of
the year St. Petersburg’s entertainment scene is alive with a
variety of bars, clubs, and restaurants. However, when compared to global cities such as New York, London, and even
Moscow, St. Petersburg falls short. As well, many nightclubs
are associated with prostitution and strip clubs.
B
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, crime has risen in the
city. Several politicians have been assassinated, including
a vice-governor and member of parliament. In addition,
several local TV shows with crime themes, which were set
in St. Petersburg, helped develop a perception of the city
as a crime capital. While some perceptions of crime rates
may be exaggerated, safety is still a bigger concern in St.
Petersburg than in most West European and North American global cities.
B-
St. Petersburg has few modern recreation facilities when
compared to global cities. Modern exercise facilities are
usually only found in hotels, though recently there has been
a growth of gyms and other private facilities across the city.
St. Petersburg is built along the Neva River, making boating
activities popular during the summer. Due to the cities cold
winters, ice-skating is a popular recreational activity, which
is done on almost any pond once it turns to ice. Crosscountry skiing is also popular in the forested areas very
close to the city. Professional recreation facilities do exist
for hockey, tennis, and soccer events, however park space
remains limited.
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St. Petersburg
Amenities and
Quality of Place
Score
Justification
B-
St. Petersburg is centered around its downtown, which
itself is divided into four sections by the Neva River and its
distributaries. The Admiralty Side, on the left bank of the
Neva River, houses the city’s most important historical and
cultural landmarks, including the famous Winter Palace. The
Admiralty Side, along with the center’s other sections, makes
up the most expensive housing options in St. Petersburg.
Since the end of the Soviet Union, St. Petersburg has struggled to maintain an adequate housing stock, and as a result
about one fifth of the city’s residents continue to live in Soviet
era communal apartments with shared kitchens and bathrooms. In more expensive neighborhoods adequate amenities exist, while the opposite is the case in poorer areas.
B
St. Petersburg has a reputation as Russia’s cultural and
intellectual capital and therefore has numerous artistic and
cultural scenes available to residents. The city is also the
birthplace of Russia’s post-Soviet rock and roll scene, as
well as a location for good jazz clubs, despite there being
few of them. Festivals are very popular and common during
“White Nights,” which include music and open-air festivities.
Overall, St. Petersburg is a relatively small city and therefore
lacks many of the scenes found in larger global cities.
Public Transit
B
A comprehensive metro with 58 stations services St. Petersburg. It carries 3 million passengers daily and is the 13th
busiest subway system in the world. The metro is best used
for long distances as its stops are fairly spread apart. In addition to the metro system, there are trams and trolleys, though
their coverage is limited.
Bike Paths
D-
St. Petersburg lacks a bike path network and its streets are
dangerous due to many potholes and aggressive drivers.
C+
Civil society in Russia is tightly controlled and monitored
by the Russian government, and therefore the operations
of NGOs and Non-Profits, especially those with political
agendas, are limited. Despite the prosecution activists
face for petty charges and the intimidation they face from
Russian security, numerous protests have been organized
throughout the city in recent years, which demonstrates
that civil society still maintains an ability to organize.
A-
St. Petersburg is Russia’s most beautiful city due to its
concentration of classical architecture, which over the centuries has combined both Western and Russian influences.
St. Petersburg’s historical town centre was designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.
Neighbourhoods
Scenes
Civic Capital
(NGOs, Non-Profits)
Built Form Investment
8
St. Petersburg
Amenities and
Quality of Place
Infrastructure
(Utilities, Roads, etc.)
Overall score for
amenities and
quality of place
Score
Justification
B-
St. Petersburg, along with Moscow, is one of Russia’s most
important transportation hubs. The city’s port is the largest
and most important in Russia. The rail lines connect St.
Petersburg to Moscow, Helsinki, Warsaw, and many other
Russian cities. Unlike many other Russian cities, all homes
maintain access to proper electricity, sewage, and other
critical infrastructure. While this may be an achievement in
Russia, it is not impressive by global city standards.
C+
St. Petersburg’s strength in this category is its museums, ballets, operas, and architecture, which have been strong points
of interest for Russians throughout history. However, quality
of life when measured outside cultural amenities remains low
in St. Petersburg in comparison to other global cities. Much
of this can be traced to its Soviet past when infrastructure
and other development initiatives lagged significantly behind
Western cities. The lack of personal freedoms remains the
largest obstacle to high quality life in the city.
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St. Petersburg
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