This paper aims to clarify the transition of the buildings along Svetlanskaya street, the main street of the central district of Vladivostok, Russia. In the early days of the city (1860-80's), only wooden houses existed and none of them exists now. The existing buildings of the towntscape were mostly built between the 1890's and the early 1910's. In the Soviet Era (1922-91), due to the abolishment of the ownership of land lots and buildings, construction by private merchants stopped. Besides remodeling and extension works, only a handful of new buildings were constructed, and the townscape has changed only partially.
