Location: Vladivostok, Russia

Size: Urban Historic City Core & 300-400 Historic façade restorations.

Scope: Master planning, Streets standards, Urban design for Squares, Parks and Historic Building Restoration

Facility: City Urban Planning & Design

In association with RMJM

Vladivostok is a major Pacific port city in Russia overlooking Golden Horn Bay, near the borders with China and North Korea. It's known as a terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which links the city to Moscow in a 7-day journey and is the government seat for the eastern half of Russia.

Vladivostok was the home of the Soviet Navel fleet and was shut off from the rest of the world till the end of communist rule. During this time the city had fallen into decay and is in need of a major renewal plan. The demand for revitalizing the city became accelerated in 2009 when it was the chosen location for the 2012 Asian Economic Summit.

The Russian government initiative for the city was to restore historical buildings, improve infrastructure, add much needed hotel accommodations for both business and pleasure plus revitalize all urban spaces at the historic core of the city. The master plan set new standards for street scapes, signage, designated areas for new infill buildings, and sites for business and leisure hotels. The master plan also set up new view corridors to the surroundings bays, improvements to train and bus facilities, improving parks and squares, plus the siting of a new City Cathedral. Design approach is to restore buildings of historic significance 300 — 400 hundred in total, and to produce a clean modern esthetics for Streets, squares and parks, with any new buildings designed in a forward-thinking approach, but to keep the new Cathedral design to blend with the historic building stock. The public spaces the master plan focused on included a new pedestrian promenade ending in a park at the sea's edge, redesign main square to accommodate parades and other events with the new Cathedral at one end and the seat of government at the opposing end with clear views of the port and bay beyond, plus a new bus terminal to adjoin the historic train station are the main focal points of the master plan.