On 21 July the Worldwide Club of Petersburgers met in the palace on Yelagin Island and held a Round Table entitled Petersburg: Is it a European City?!.. This gathering was a continuation of The Fate of St Petersburg’s Palaces and Preserving the Cultural Heritage of St Petersburg, Round Tables which were organized by the Club in the past. These demonstrated that there was a need to be satisfied and that the approach would be highly professional.

This new Round Table has opened what will be a series of gatherings devoted to issues facing Petersburg and to developing systems for public involvement in dealing with the general state, preservation and development of Petersburg’s unique urban milieu.

The session was led by President of the Worldwide Club of Petersburgers Mikhail Piotrovsky, who is the Director of the State Hermitage. Among the participants were State Duma deputy V.E. Churov; chairman of KGIOP V.A. Dementieva; chairman of the Committee for Urban Construction and Architecture A.P. Viktorov, who is the city’s Chief Architect; US General Consul M. Kruger; Honorary Consul of Korea A.V. Kim; director of St Petersburg State University’s Institute of the Arts I.G. Uralov; head of the Administration for the Primorsky Rayon Yu.L. Osipov; director of the Central Park of Culture and Rest P.A. Seleznev; and director of the Department of Urban Water Works “Vodokanal St Petersburg” O.I. Manshin.

Main tasks and objectives of the new series of RoundTables:

A real participation by urban society in solving problems relating to the general state, preservation and development of St Petersburg’s unique architectural milieu

Assistance to the initiatives put forward by organizations and private persons aimed at averting radical, irreversible, unfounded decisions which can inflict harm on the architectural appearance of the urban milieu

Creation of an independent body of public experts in the area of urban art and architecture, as well as urban amenities to look after the urban milieu of St Petersburg

Assistance to the city authorities in shaping and implementing legal principles and a strategy for preserving and developing the unique urban milieu of St Petersburg; participation in developing corresponding rules, laws, regulations

As required, help the city administration to explain to the public the government’s policies, help shape public opinion by means of statements by highly professional and independent experts, seminars, exhibitions, widespread public debate and surveys

Activity in the area of education, assistance in educating public taste and public responsibility in the area of aesthetics for an urban milieu.