The Heart of the City is a long-term project aiming at the redevelopment of the historic centre of Kaliningrad, Russia the area surrounding the former Königsberg Castle and the House of Soviets.
In 2013, the Non-governmental organization Urban Planning Bureau "Heart of the City" (Russian name: Градостроительное бюро «Сердце города») was founded by the Kaliningrad Regional Government to serve as a project implementation unit.
[3] Because of severe damage during the Second World War and uncompleted Soviet town planning projects, the city centre of Kaliningrad remains virtually empty and undeveloped in terms of urban infrastructure and design.
[4] In 2012, after several years of public and consultations held with Russian and foreign experts, the Kaliningrad Oblast Government launched a long-term program for the systematic regeneration of the historical part of the city, known for seven centuries of history as Königsberg and which still preserves some features of its original urban fabric.
To implement the project named "Heart of the City", a "road map" was developed to cover the areas of the King's Mountain (Korolevskaya gora), the adjacent embankment of the Pregolya River and the Lower Lake.
The professional jury panel was represented by Bart Goldhoorn, Hans Stimmann, Barbara Engel, Rasmus Waern, Stephen Willacy, Olov Schultz, Alexander Lozhkin and Anna Brunow.
The reconstructed historic urban fabric and the strict regulations governing the height and the shape of the buildings, roof-slope angles and the use of finishing materials will generate echoes of something recognizably old-European.