Review article

The feature of the architectural landscape in the center of Saint-Petersburg is a uniform continuous open air space formed by water areas, squares, and streets. As it is stated in the “St. Petersburg Strategy of Cultural Heritage Preservation”, at present, there is danger of the city panoramas’ distortion. The article indicates that during the XIX-XX centuries several important view canals and city squares turned out to be lost in the center of Saint-Petersburg. This loss occurred not only because of the building construction, but also due to the fact of planting tall trees. It is postulated, that today there have emerged new forms of influence on the urban transparency, such as advertising constructions and road signs, which require effective control.