This picture of Magnitogorsk has always stuck with me:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/comments/hs0phj/magnitogo...
This was built as a public trans city so the narrow streets are for buses and trams. The apartment complexes aren't big blocky buildings like in say Manhattan, but L shaped to allow a large shady green area and to maximize natural light for all residents. Its full of green between the buildings and quite charming looking and walkable, especially considering some of those buildings are mixed use and allow for business as well:
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/magnitogorsk-russia...
The Soviets got so much right, its such a shame the car-centric suburban sprawl model won out in the West and percolated its way to Russia and parts of the East after the fall of the SU.
You get a chance to open windows on multiple sides to get actual airflow.
And more sun.
I think you are right, and I think the city looks cool, but it also seems to have an environment that could be described as oppressive (and in this image... cold)
I see others talking about Barcelona and I agree -- Barcelona looks similar. I assume less cold on average though.
> Magnitogorsk was to become a one-industry town modeled after two of the most advanced steel-producing cities in the United States at that time: Gary, Indiana, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
100 year old industry processes usually can't be easily updated to cleaner ones. Especially if no one has actually bothered to fix anything.
> Magnitogorsk was mentioned in the Blacksmith Institute's 2007 survey of the world's worst polluted cities, placed in the report's unranked list of the 25 most-polluted places outside the top ten.
It has only left the list of 20 most polluted Russian cities 5 years ago, when official pressure to do better started (and “better than before” is not “great”). Reportedly, one third of emissions was cut, which leaves the other two thirds.
Buildings from '30s and '50s are great if they have been well kept, which is rare because of lackluster approach in the late decades of Soviet era, and economic turmoil afterwards. Otherwise they can get quite nasty. Other option is major renovation, but developers are not interested in keeping low rise blocks (if they can't erect a 20 storey building at the same place). Local videos like this are easy to find: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d39wq7x9uk
What's more important, Russia is extremely centralized. There is not a lot one can do Most people with money, ambitions, or desires move to Moscow. Second option is St. Petersburg, third one is a small number of other big cities. Exactly that seemed to happen here.
Pics for reference:
Barcelona: https://toposmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/logan-a...
Magnitogorsk: https://www.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/751528006/d...