St. Petersburg is a gem of world culture and Russia's most European city.

Along with the booming economy and improving investment climate this allowed to significantly improve the standard of living in the city making income levels much closer to Moscow and high above most other Russian federal subjects. Infrastructure

Matviyenko developed a large number of megaprojects in housing and infrastructure such as building of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road including the Big Obukhovsky Bridge (the only non-draw bridge over the Neva River in the city) completion of the Saint Petersburg Dam aimed to put an end to ill-famous Saint Petersburg floods launching Line 5 of Saint Petersburg Metro and starting land reclamation in the Neva Bay for the new Marine Facade of the city (the largest European waterfront development project) containing the New Sea Passenger port. Some such projects eventually were cancelled or modified like the controversial design of a 400-metre tall Okhta Center skyscraper planned to be built adjacent to the historical center of the city but after a public campaign and the personal involvement of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev it was relocated from Okhta to the Lakhta suburb.

Several major auto-producing companies were drawn to Saint Petersburg or its vicinity including Toyota General Motors Nissan Hyundai Motor Suzuki Magna International Scania and MAN SE (all having plants in the Shushary industrial zone) thus turning the city into an important center of automotive industry in Russia specializing on foreign brands. The profile of Saint Petersburg in Russian politics has risen marked by the transfer of the Constitutional Court of Russia from Moscow in 2008. Matviyenko developed a large number of megaprojects in housing and infrastructure such as the construction of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road including the Big Obukhovsky Bridge (the only non-draw bridge over the Neva River in the city) completion of the Saint Petersburg Dam aimed to put an end to the infamous Saint Petersburg floods launching Line 5 of Saint Petersburg Metro and starting land reclamation in the Neva Bay for the new Marine Facade of the city (the largest European waterfront development project) containing the New Sea Passenger port.