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waterfront revitalization in Riga
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THE UNIVERSITY OF TURKU
Faculty of Humanities
Baltic Sea Region Studies
MASTER`S THESIS
Waterfront Revitalization in Riga
The case of !"psala
Stefanie Bischof
Neckarstr. 13
45663 Recklinghausen
Germany
Student No. 72620
September 2007
THE UNIVERSITY OF TURKU
Baltic Sea Region Studies
Faculty of Humanities
BISCHOF, STEFANIE: Waterfront Revitalization in Riga – the case of !"psala
Master`s thesis. 89 p., 9 appendix pages
Baltic Sea Region Studies
September 2007
While in Western countries waterfront redevelopment has been an established
practice for decades, cities in the Baltic States have only recently rediscovered the
potential of their waterfronts. In Riga, even though the need for revitalization along
the waterfronts is formulated in the major city development plans, the
implementation of waterfront projects is mostly left for the private market. Currently
there are several large-scale waterfront projects planned, but only one has exceeded
the planning stage so far: the projects of the private developer M#ris Gailis on the
island of !"psala. His aim was to restore the industrial and wooden heritage in the
protected historical centre of the island, which once was a fishermen`s village, for
residential uses. The target group consists of wealthy Latvians and foreigners. The
restoration projects have caused drastic social changes on !"psala, developing the
island from one of the poorest neighbourhoods to one of the most exclusive places in
the city.
This thesis aims to analyse the waterfront projects on !"psala against the theoretical
background of post-socialist urban development. A case study was carried out, which
shows that the projects achieved to re-establish a stronger connection between the
island and the water by water-related activities and maritime symbols, but that the
way the historical buildings were restored must be criticized. Also, the city lacks the
measures to control the social consequences caused by the restoration projects,
namely gentrification and segregation. Inhabitant participation does not play any role
in the planning process on !"psala.
The issues raised by the case study open up more general issues about the way of
urban planning in Riga: The way the city deals with its historical architecture gives
the impression that facades are more important than authentic restoration. This bears
the risk of creating nice areas that lack authenticity. Most of the urban land in Riga
has been privatized – and the city does not have any measures to regulate the
developments on private land. Thus, it loses the possibility to steer the direction to
which the city is developing. Also concerning the social processes caused by
development projects, the city does not have any measures or interest to control.
Genuine public participation is not very high on the agenda of the city, combined
with the fact that the inhabitants show a very low interest in participation. Major
developments are driven by the neo-liberal market and completely out of control.
Keywords
waterfront revitalization, urban regeneration, post-socialist urban development,
gentrification, segregation
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 1
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 CHANGES IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT FROM “SOCIALIST” TO “POST-SOCIALIST” ........................................... 5
2.1.1 Common features of socialist cities........................................................................................................ 6
2.1.2 Common features of post-socialist urban transformation .................................................................... 9
2.1.3 Perspectives for post-socialist cities .................................................................................................... 13
2.2 PORT AND WATERFRONT REVITALIZATION.................................................................................................. 17
2.2.1 Redevelopments along the water`s edge – reasons and opportunities .............................................. 19
2.2.2 Factors of successful waterfront revitalization ................................................................................... 20
3 WATERFRONT REDEVELOPMENT IN RIGA ......................................................................................... 25
3.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE STUDY AREA ................................................................................................... 27
3.2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR WATERFRONT REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN RIGA ........................................... 29
3.2.1 Long-term development strategy until 2025 ........................................................................................ 31
3.2.2 Development Programme 2006-2012 .................................................................................................. 32
3.2.3 Riga Spatial Plan 2006-2018................................................................................................................ 33
3.2.4 Planning of the Riga Historical Centre and its Protection Zone Territory....................................... 33
3.2.5 Building regulations in the historical centre and the buffer zone...................................................... 34
3.2.6 Detailed Plan !"psala ........................................................................................................................... 35
3.2.7 Evaluation of the development plans ................................................................................................... 38
4 CASE STUDY !"PSALA................................................................................................................................... 40
4.1 !$PSALA IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT WATERFRONT PROJECTS IN RIGA.................................................. 43
4.1.1 !"psala ................................................................................................................................................... 44
4.1.2 Riga Port City ........................................................................................................................................ 45
4.1.3 Cultural projects by J3B ....................................................................................................................... 47
4.1.4 New commercial centre on Kl"versala and !"psala............................................................................ 49
4.1.5 Waterfront along the old town.............................................................................................................. 50
4.2 THE MAIN REGENERATION PROJECTS ON !$PSALA ....................................................................................... 51
4.3 RESULTS OF THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN THE CASE STUDY AREA ............................................................. 62
4.4 EVALUATION OF THE RESTORATION PROJECTS ............................................................................................. 66
4.5 PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES OF URBAN PLANNING IN RIGA..................................................................... 73
5 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................................... 78
LIST OF REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 83
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................................. 90
iv
LIST OF FIGURES
FIG. 1: LOCATION OF THE ISLAND OF !$PSALA ALMOST OPPOSITE RIGA`S OLD TOWN................................................ 3
FIG. 2: SPATIAL STRUCTURE IN A SOCIALIST LARGE CITY ............................................................................................. 8
FIG. 3: MODEL OF URBAN TRANSITION FROM SOCIALISM TO POST-SOCIALISM............................................................ 9
FIG. 4: SPATIAL STRUCTURE IN A POST-SOCIALIST LARGE CITY..................................................................................12
FIG. 5: LOCATION OF THE MAIN WATERFRONT PROJECTS IN CENTRAL RIGA .............................................................44
FIG. 6: LOCATION OF THE PROTECTED HISTORICAL AREA AND THE GYPSUM FACTORY PROJECT ON !$PSALA ........52
FIG. 7: MAP AND MODEL SHOWING THE DIFFERENT BUILDINGS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE GYPSUM FACTORY
PROJECT .........................................................................................................................................................................54
FIG. 8: RESTAURANT CORNER OF THE GYPSUM FACTORY BEFORE (2000) AND AFTER THE RESTORATION (2004) ..56
FIG. 9: AMBASSADOR`S RESIDENCE “RED HOUSE” BEFORE (2001) AND AFTER THE RESTORATION (2005) ............60
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: ZONING MAP OF KIPSALA (EXTRACT) ....................................................................................................90
APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN (ORIGINAL RESIDENTS) ..................................................................................91
APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN (NEW RESIDENTS) ...........................................................................................95
v
Preface
The idea for this thesis originated from an international summer school for architects and
urban planners in Riga, in which I participated in August 2006. It was organised by the Riga
Technical University (RTU) and had the title “Industrial Heritage in Riga: Contemporary
Developments and Future Visions”. The school included seminars about current waterfront
redevelopment projects and also an excursion to the island of !"psala – an area, which
impressed me from the very first moment with its elegant housing and the eye-catching
contrast between rich and poor. The summer school provided me with useful contacts for my
later research and gave me a first impression about the culture of urban planning in Riga.
At this place I would like to thank my interview partners for their friendly support and
the inhabitants of !"psala for sharing their opinions and ideas with me. I would also like to
express my gratefulness to the teachers and staff from the Baltic Sea Region Studies
programme at the University of Turku for their guidance and helpful comments on the
manuscript. Jonathan is thanked for his suggestions and language polishing. And last but not
least I would like to thank Anita, who was not only a great translator for Latvian and Russian,
but who also became a very good friend during my exchange semester in Riga.
1
1 Introduction
Within the last century, cities with ports or waterfronts worldwide have experienced a process
of disintegration between city and water, followed by a rediscovery of the run-down
waterfront areas for redevelopment.1 Waterfront revitalization has been carried out all over
the world, ranging from large-scale projects like Baltimore, London or Hamburg to many
smaller port cities.2 Not all of these projects were successful.
3 But still, the process of
waterfront revitalization is regarded as essential in urban regeneration, since waterfronts
belong to the most visible sites of the city. Thus, these are the places, which have the power to
give the city a new image and if carried out in a balanced and high-quality way, these areas
can turn from no-go places to the catalysts of urban development.4 Generally cities in
transformation societies, such as Riga, have discovered the value of their waterfronts later
than in Western Europe or North America. Now it is interesting to observe, how these cities
deal with their waterfronts. While there is an immense body of academic literature about
waterfront regeneration in Western countries, there is hardly any literature about Eastern
Europe and the Baltic States. The only analysis about a Baltic case is the interesting article on
urban waterfront regeneration in Tallinn published by Merje Feldman in Europe-Asia Studies
in 2000.5 Thus, the case study presented in this thesis shall be an attempt to fill the gap.
Since waterfront redevelopment is a very recent phenomenon in Riga, there is almost
no literature about the projects available, not even in Latvian. Thus, most of my findings are
based on empirical research, which was carried out in Riga between October 2006 and
January 2007. It is based on interviews with relevant key persons either directly involved in
1 Strauß, C. (2001), p. 13-16
2 Schubert, D. (2001c), p. 11-14
3 One prominent example is the first phase of the redevelopment of the London Docklands. For more
information please see Page, S. J. (1995), p. 57-70 4 Marshall, R. (2001), p. 7-10
5 Feldman, M. (2000), p. 829-850
2
waterfront projects or experts coming from a background in urban planning, port
development, conservation and architecture as well as on questionnaires with inhabitants of
my research area.
Unique to the region, Riga is the only capital city in the Baltic Sea Region located at
the junction of a major river and the Baltic Sea. This special location has dominated the city`s
development since it was founded in 1201. Historically, the city has always had a very strong
connection to the water, reaching the peak in the end of the 19th
century, when Riga was the
biggest export harbour of the Russian Empire and the biggest export harbour for timber in the
whole world. In those days, the waterfronts of the city were extensively used.6 Within the last
century, however, the close connection between city and water got lost for several reasons,
among them the construction of bridges, streets and the relocation of port activities away from
the city centre.7 This development has affected all waterfront areas, not exclusively port areas.
The island of !"psala, opposite Riga`s centre, exemplifies this phenomenon. Traditionally a
fishermen`s village with wharfs and warehouses, such water-related activities began to
decline after World War II.8 The waterfront areas that had former been the liveliest parts of
the city, developed into underused or even abandoned no-go places. Only recently the city
council and especially private actors have rediscovered the enormous potential of the 400
kilometers of waterfront in Riga.9 Many waterfront projects are currently under development,
but only one has partly been finished already – this is one reason why I chose this area for my
research: A restoration project by the private developer M#ris Gailis in the protected historical
area of !"psala, consisting of an ensemble of wooden fishermen`s houses and the buildings of
the former gypsum factory B%ma. Another fact that attracted my attention was that these
projects focus primarily on the restoration and reconstruction of wooden and industrial
6 Pope, A. (2000), p. 267-268
7 Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
8 Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
9 Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006
3
heritage – types of architecture that had previously been neglected by developers.10
As the
first regenerated waterfront area in Riga, !"psala is a precursor of current waterfront projects.
Together with its prime location, these issues make !"psala a unique and interesting case in
Riga.
FIG. 1: LOCATION OF THE ISLAND OF !$PSALA ALMOST OPPOSITE RIGA`S OLD TOWN11
With this thesis I aim to present waterfront redevelopment in Riga as an example of
current processes in urban development in a post-socialist Baltic city. Some typical features of
post-socialist urban development can be derived from the !"psala case. My main interest is to
find out how the heritage of the historical project area is taken into account in the planning,
what is done to re-establish a stronger connection between city and water, which social
processes on the island are caused by the restoration projects, how these projects are
controlled and which role the needs of the local inhabitants plays. These issues raised by the
case study open up more general questions on the way of urban planning in Riga: how the city
deals with its historical architecture, how it deals with the urban land, if and how it regulates
urban development and which role public participation plays in the planning process. Thus,
10
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 11
Based on Google Maps, http://maps.google.de/ (18.06.2007)
4
my research focuses primarily on spatial, social and political processes in urban waterside
regeneration. Other aspects like political economy – urban revitalization as a form of capital
circulation – would go beyond the scope of this thesis and are therefore largely left out. They
would, however, be a very interesting issue for further research.
The thesis consists of the following parts: In order to understand the processes of
waterfront redevelopment in Eastern Europe, it is necessary to incorporate the specific post-
socialist context of urban development. Therefore I will give an overview on urban
development in socialist and post-socialist cities as a theoretical framework for this thesis.
Before I come to the specific case of Riga, I will introduce a general theoretical background
for waterfront revitalization, defining the basic concepts used in this paper and presenting
factors of successful revitalization relying on the theories by Bruttomesso and Schubert.
Concerning the Riga case, first the project area will be introduced and the legal administrative
framework for waterfront redevelopment will be given, as it is formulated in the major urban
planning documents of the city of Riga. The actual case study on the restoration projects on
!"psala starts with a short introduction to the methodology that was used to conduct the
fieldwork, presents the major waterfront projects that are under development at the moment
and continues with an analysis of the two main projects by developer M#ris Gailis. From the
evaluation of the waterfront projects on !"psala, general statements about the mode of urban
planning in Riga can be drawn. Based on these evaluations the conclusion returns to the
question, which elements of the transformation process can still be identified in Riga and
what kind of post-socialist city Riga will presumably be in the future.
5
2 Theoretical Framework
In my opinion, the presentation of two theoretical issues is necessary to understand the
processes of waterfront revitalization in Riga: urban development in post-socialist cities and
general theories of waterfront redevelopment. Thus, the first part of this chapter will present
the common features of socialist cities, explore which factors contributed to the urban change
in Central and Eastern European cities (hereafter Eastern European cities) in recent years,
namely the aspects of transformation from socialist to post-socialist cities, and it will outline
the scholarly debate about their possible future. The second part of the chapter will define
waterfront revitalization and gentrification as two of the main concepts within this thesis and
present the factors of successful waterfront revitalization based on the theories by
Bruttomesso and Schubert.
2.1 Changes in urban development from “socialist” to “post-socialist”
The mode of planning in the city of Riga has changed drastically during the past two
decades, due to its transformation from state socialism and central planning towards
democracy and neo-liberal market economy.12
It means basically that urban planning by
public authorities becomes weaker, while private developers play an increasing role in
shaping the city. The transformation of the city from a rather homogenous entity to a rather
heterogeneous playground of sometimes contradicting private interests and power is the
result.13
12
Nedovi(-Budi(, Z./Tsenkova, S./Marcuse, P. (2006), p. 3-10 13
Harloe, M. (1996), p. 15-16
6
In my understanding, all cities that have been under socialist rule until the fall of the
iron curtain should now be called post-socialist in that sense, that these cities had certain
common characteristics in socialist times and faced similarities in the transformation process
starting in the beginning of the 1990s, as it will be outlined below. This, however, does not
mean that these cities will present a distinct type of city also in the future – in fact their
developments are quite different.14
It is much debated to which direction the cities are heading
and what might be the outcome in the future. Of course, the models and features below
present a highly theoretical and idealized way to look at the change of Eastern European
cities, which in reality does not exist in this form. Another aspect that limits the value of these
static models is that cities are constantly under development – thus, a “status quo” as it is
presented in the models does not really exist. Nevertheless this theoretical presentation is
useful and necessary in my opinion, since it gives a general idea about the different processes
that can be observed in Eastern European cities during the socialist era, in the beginning of
the transformation period and today.
2.1.1 Common features of socialist cities
It is much debated whether such a thing as the socialist city with a distinctive urban form
really existed, since geographical and political variations caused differences in the
urbanization processes even under very similar ideologies.15
Early theories like “The Socialist
City”16
by French and Hamilton in 1979 argued in favour of a distinct model of a socialist
city, in which central planning had succeeded in preventing spatial and social segregation.
Later studies challenged this attitude, showing that urban inequalities also existed in socialist
14
Tosics, I. (2005), p. 71-74 15
Wyly, E., www.geog.ubc.ca/~ewyly/g350/socialist.pdf (13.03.2007) 16
French, R. A./Hamilton F. E. I. (1979)
7
cities.17
It must also be considered, that the socialist system itself was not static, but
constantly developing.18
Thus, it is difficult to give general statements about the entire period.
However, some typical characteristics of urban development in Eastern European
cities under the socialist rule can be identified. These comparable processes are caused by
similarities in the socialist ideology, the framework set by state policy, concrete measures of
implementation and the issue of pre-communist urban structures that had to be dealt with.19
On the ideological level, cities were considered to be the catalysts of modernization and
progress. A central planning system was implemented, in which industrialization and
urbanization were based on “state ownership of the means of production and the centrally
planned determination of the use and allocation of resources”20
. A key issue for central
planning was the nationalization of land. Heavy industry was favoured, while light industry,
consumer good production and the service sector were neglected. The state provided
subsidized and therefore cheap public welfare goods and services. It also held a monopoly
control over foreign trade.21
The one-party system and the centrally planned economy along
with the state ownership of land put urban development under a very tight public control.
Urban planning had a very high status, since it was viewed as an important tool to achieve
political aims.22
Since the goal was an egalitarian society, the state had to ensure equal living
conditions for everyone, eradicating any individual character of a dwelling. Pre-socialist
urban structures, which symbolized the capitalist past, were demolished or at least neglected.
A specific and central socialist housing policy was crucial for the construction of residential
and urban social areas. Subsidized housing was the rule. However, all socialist states had to
face problems of inefficiency and shortage of urban housing. In practice this led to the
17
Ruoppila, S. (2006), p. 19-21 18
Hamilton, F. E. I./Pichler-Milanovic, N. /Dimitrovska Andrews, K. (2005), p. 11 19
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 8 20
Andrusz, G. (1996), p. 37 21
Andrusz, G. (1996), p. 37-38 22
Smith, D. M. (1996), p. 72
8
preference of certain social and political groups, thus strengthening spatial inequalities,
selective migration and segregation.23
FIG. 2: SPATIAL STRUCTURE IN A SOCIALIST LARGE CITY24
The spatial structure (Fig. 2) was usually that of a compact city, which developed along its
main arterial roads and railway lines. Concerning land use, the city could be divided into
functionally rather homogenous areas. Another feature was the creation of over-dimensioned
industrial areas, which covered a relatively high proportion of urban land. Areas from pre-
socialist times next to the city centre were primarily used for residential purposes, but left in
decay. Socialist housing projects could mostly be found adjacent to the pre-socialist housing
stock or on the urban fringe and close to the new industrial areas. In social terms, middle- and
higher-status groups were over-represented in socialist housing estates, while the decaying
23
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 8-11 24
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 10
9
pre-socialist areas close to the city centre were to a big extent populated by low social status
groups.25
2.1.2 Common features of post-socialist urban transformation
Since the collapse of communism and the gaining of independence, the states in Central and
Eastern Europe have undergone a period of political and economical transformation.26
In
some countries, the transformation process is still underway. Even though there exist
variations from state to state, several common features of planning during the transformation
period can be identified.27
FIG. 3: MODEL OF URBAN TRANSITION FROM SOCIALISM TO POST-SOCIALISM28
25
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 12-14 26
Tsenkova, S./Nedovi(-Budi(, Z. (2006), p. 349 27
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 8 28
Based on Kovács, Z. (1999), p. 2
SOCIALIST CITY
Political
Transformation
Economic
Transformation
End of central planning
Shift to market regulation
Transformation of labour market
Transformation of housing market
New Urban Order Globalisation
Commercialisation Polarisation
Segregation/Gentrification Suburbanisation etc.
POST-SOCIALIST CITY
10
As Fig. 3 shows, the transformation of Eastern European cities can be divided into
political and economic aspects. The major political factors were the dissolution of the Warsaw
Pact, the change from one dominating party to a multi-party system, the realisation of free
elections and the return to self-governance. The economic transformation comprised the
collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), the emergence of free
flows of capital, the reintegration in the world economy and an enormous privatization wave.
Both, political and economic aspects, led to the end of central planning in urban planning. The
transformation towards market regulation caused major changes on the labour and housing
market, as it will be seen below. All those changes contributed to the creation of a new urban
order, determined by a globalized and commercialized society. This had also many social
consequences, such as an increasing income gap between rich and poor, social and spatial
segregation and gentrification.29
The immense changes within the first decade after the
collapse of communism resulted from inherited urban structures, market economy ideologies,
a new governmental framework and the general processes of societal transformation.30
On the ideological level, the restructuring of the economy according to neo-liberal
ideas was crucial. An important fact for urban development is that there are not many
restrictions on private ownership of enterprises and land. Housing and properties have been
realized as economic commodities again.31
On the level of economic transformation, the
reintegration into the European and the international economy was an influential factor.
Foreign investors played an increasing role in the economic restructuring process.
Furthermore, the process of drastic deindustrialization led to a fast development of the
previously neglected service sector. So far, however, only a minority of the population has
29
Kovács, Z. (1999), p. 1-5 30
Tsenkova, S./Nedovi(-Budi(, Z. (2006), p. 349-353 31
Tosics, I. (2005), p. 54-56
11
benefited from the developments. Especially elderly people, unskilled workers and state
employees belong to the losers of the transformation.32
In urban planning, a shift from state to local self-government can be recognized, but
tight local budgets and mistrust against urban planning among the citizens keep the influence
of public urban planning relatively low. The state has also largely withdrawn from the
housing sector, giving way for a massive privatization process and leaving the construction of
new housing for private investors. Thus, social housing is not very high on the agenda any
longer and only the poorest households receive housing allocations, which leads to increasing
social problems.33
Regulatory land-use controls and planning procedures have been
problematic in many transformation societies so far, since in line with the privatization of
land the public sector has not been able or willing to put effective new forms of control in
place. This results in the fact that the private market determines land uses and thus the shape
of the city gets completely out of public control.34
32
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 11 33
Kovács, Z. (1999), p. 2-4 34
Marcuse, P. (1996), p. 180-181
12
FIG. 4: SPATIAL STRUCTURE IN A POST-SOCIALIST LARGE CITY35
These changes influence the spatial structure of post-socialist cities (Fig. 4). In my
understanding, the most important spatial changes, which took place in most Eastern
European cities after the collapse of communism, are that the city loses its compact form
through suburbanization, that huge industrial areas, also close to the city centre, are not in use
any longer and that some former neglected neighbourhoods with historical housing stock are
gentrified.
Another interesting feature of Eastern European cities in transformation, which is
relevant for this thesis, is the way they use their history for city marketing and urban
development. The rejection of the built symbols of the recent past goes in line with a
restitution of earlier, previously suppressed pasts. These are actively used for political and
35
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 13
13
economic purposes. Political uses include not only the abolishment of the recent, negatively
perceived past, but also new interpretations of the pre-socialist past to support the new state-
(or in our case city-) structures and to foster a new sense of identity. In economic terms, the
potential of built heritage for economic development has been realized and plays now an
essential role in development strategies. Most important in this respect are the discovery of
heritage tourism and the restoration and marketing of heritage for new uses, such as
commercial, entertainment or residential.36
In my opinion this commercialization of the
specific history of post-socialist cities might be a feature, which will be able to survive the
transition and which will be present also in the future, no matter in which direction these
cities will develop.
It must be noted that Eastern European cities also have to face two other kinds of
transformation: the change from industrial to post-industrial societies and the integration into
the globalization process. In order to be able to manage these challenges, it is necessary to
successfully complete the transformation after socialism, establishing a new institutional
framework and a new system of public control, which are prerequisites for a long-term
strategy of urban development and key factors in the globalizing, competitive world.37
2.1.3 Perspectives for post-socialist cities
As in my opinion all previously socialist cities should now be called post-socialist, the term
post-socialist does not necessarily mean that a distinctive post-socialist type of city, which is
different from types of cities in modern capitalist societies, is likely to emerge. For me, the
question is rather: post-socialist and what else? In fact this is an issue, which currently is
36
Ashworth, G. J./Tunbridge, J. E. (1999), p. 105-111 37
Tosics, I. (2005), p. 74-75
14
highly debated among scholars.38
Some scholars argue that post-socialist cities are generally
heading towards a global capitalist type of city, but without defining what capitalist city
actually means to them.39
But today in the scholarly debate it is increasingly accepted, that
one social order – socialism – cannot merely be replaced by another – capitalism – and thus
also urban transformation cannot merely be regarded as a development from a socialist
towards a capitalist city.40
Therefore an increasing number of scholars differentiate between
several potential outcomes of future cities depending on the level of public control, the
functioning of the land market, the level of investments and the participation of the citizens.41
According to this differentiation three types of cities are likely to emerge: an unregulated
capitalist city model, a regulated capitalist city model and an unregulated third world city
model. While Albania and some other Balkan states are regarded as future third world types
of cities with quick development without any public control, Eastern European cities
including the Baltic capitals are predicted to develop into different kinds of market-oriented
capitalist cities. The less public control is established, the more will these cities develop
towards an American “sprawl”-type of city. The stronger the public intervention, the more
will the cities develop towards the European “compact”-type of city.42
In my opinion it is not possible to talk about “the global capitalist city”. Indeed cities
are part of the global capitalist economy43
, but this does not mean that there is only one
distinct type of a capitalist city. Thus, I support Tosics` idea that post-socialist cities might
head towards different types of cities. Concerning the general orientation of post-socialist
cities towards Western Europe and the US, I would agree with Tosics that they are likely to
develop into either a Western European type of city or into a North American type of city or
38
Smith, D. M. (1996), p. 71 39
For example Z. Kovács 40
Feldman, M. (2000), p. 832 41
Tosics, I. (2005), p. 71-72 42
Tosics, I. (2005), p. 74 43
Smith, M. P./Feagin, J. R. (1987), p. 3
15
something in between. The North American type of city is based on the dominance of private
actors and a low level of public control. It has to deal with processes like suburbanization and
urban sprawl, decay and ghettoization in the inner city, revitalization efforts in the city
centres, the creation of edge cities and gated communities.44
In contrast, the urban
development in European cities is usually influenced by historical structures. Since cities date
from different historical periods, also their structure can be very different which makes it hard
to speak about “the European city”. Even though global trends make European cities more
and more similar to North American ones, until now they could usually keep their distinct
character due to their historical structures.45
Public actors usually play a regulating role in the
planning process. Currently, key terms in European urban planning are “density”, “mixed-
use”, the “compact city”, “decentralization” and “community participation”, which shall
ensure the sustainable development of European cities.46
Since the major Eastern European
cities usually have a rich history, which is still visible in the urban structure, I cannot imagine
that they will completely develop into a North American type of city. On the other hand, if the
level of public control remains as low in Eastern European cities as it is now, I can neither
imagine, that they will develop completely into a European type of city. In my opinion, it is
therefore most likely that Eastern European cities will develop towards different levels of “in
between”, maybe even keeping certain post-socialist features such as the commercialization
of their specific history.
Concerning the future perspectives for the Baltic countries Tosics gives the following
interpretation: “Relatively quick transition from the socialist (and ex-Soviet) into a ‘mixed’
(‘Scandinavian’) model with some elements of state control. Growing capital investments into
44
Klett Verlag,
http://www.klett.de/sixcms/list.php?page=geo_infothek&node=Nordamerika&article=Infoblatt+Die+Nordameri
kanische+Stadt (13.06.2007) 45
Klett Verlag,
http://www.klett.de/sixcms/list.php?page=geo_infothek&node=Stadttypen&article=Infoblatt+Die+europ%E4isc
he+Stadt (13.06.2007) 46
Heineberg, H. (2001), p. 129-131
16
the property market, slow differentiation of rather low population incomes. First slow, but
from 1996 accelerated privatization housing to sitting tenants, and establishment of new type
of public control over the land market, planning, and building process. The outcome might be
somewhere between the unregulated and regulated capitalist city-model, depending on the
strength and direction of public control.”47
From my experiences in Riga, however, I would
agree with Tsenkova, who claims that instead of promoting public control, the new market-
oriented governments have adopted a laissez-faire approach to planning which gives rise to
uneven urban development.48
Currently, no regional planning or land use controls exist in
Latvia that would be able to effectively regulate the urban development.49
All these issues are relevant for my project area on the island of !"psala in Riga, which
has to deal with an extreme gap between rich and poor. Riga has faced a creeping
privatization process during the past five years, in which another 50% of Riga`s stock was
transferred into private hands.50
On !"psala, private investors construct an exclusive area for
high-income and high-status residents, while in the direct neighbourhood some of the poorest
and socially weakest people in the city live from support of friends and families, because with
the small pensions and housing allocations alone they would not be able to stay. Social
problems such as marginalisation, gentrification and segregation are taking place, and the
public sector is not willing or able to regulate the polarising developments. An in-depth
analysis of the situation on !"psala and the underlying factors follows in the case study later
in this paper.
47
Tosics, I. (2005), p. 73 48
Tsenkova, S. (2006), p. 42 49
Marcuse, P. (1996), p. 180-181 50
Tsenkova, S. (2006), p. 45
17
2.2 Port and Waterfront Revitalization
In order to be able to discuss waterfront revitalization it is necessary to explain what I mean
by ‘waterfront’ and by the term ‘revitalization’. Since ‘gentrification’ likewise forms one of
the basic concepts of this thesis, it will also be defined below.
Owen categorized “waterfronts” into four types: ‘water edge’, meaning constructions
rising straight from the water, ‘perforated water edge’, meaning buildings right at the edge of
the water, but perforated by passageways, ‘set back buildings’, meaning buildings that are
located close to the water, but with quays or embankments separating them from the edge of
the water and ‘banks/beaches’, meaning waterfronts that are maintained as an open space.51
Within this categorization, my research area !"psala represents the third type of waterfront:
set back buildings, which are separated by a road and the embankment from the water`s edge.
However, for my purposes a “waterfront project” may also include buildings, which are not
directly located on the water, but which are tied to it visually and historically.52
In everyday life the word vitality is a synonym to liveliness, fresh spirit or activity.53
The term ‘revitalization of ports and waterfronts’ is used to describe different processes and
planning strategies: From the point of view of the port developers it means the internal
development of the port, i.e. the reorganization and relocation of the activities within the port
area. From the perspective of urban planning, which is the focal point of this paper, it refers to
new uses of old port areas and waterfronts, i.e. the change from port economy related uses to
services, recreational uses and housing, in order to reintegrate abandoned sites into the urban
structure. The aim is to develop these places into lively and active parts of the city.54
51
Owen, J. (1993), p. 16-18 52
Breen, A./Rigby, D. (1994), p. 10 53
Gudemann (1995), p.128 54
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 16
18
Revitalization can either mean the cleaning of old sites and construction of new premises, or
the reuse and redevelopment of existing premises.55
As can be seen from above, the issue of port and waterfront revitalization deals with a
complex field of new uses in water-related sites on the interface of port and city. It also
reflects the different interests of various actors in the city, who want to play a role in the
development of the respective areas.56
In this paper revitalization, regeneration and
redevelopment will be used as synonyms.
Gentrification refers to the renewal and rehabilitation of depressed neighbourhoods,
often buildings with heritage value in central locations, by more affluent people moving to
this area.57
The original tenants have to move out, since “leases fall in, houses are sold, or
landlords harass their tenants into moving”58
. In many cases this development results in a
change of the real estate structure from renting to ownership.59
In the case of Riga,
gentrification is a rather new phenomenon. The island of !"psala is one of the first places in
the city where gentrification processes can be observed. This is due to the favourable location
of the site close to the city centre and next to the waterfront, and to the historic value of the
built heritage of the island.60
55
Kunzmann, K. R. (2004), p. 201-202 56
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 27 57
Heineberg, H. (2001), p. 18 58
Mayhew, S. (2004), p. 219 59
Mayhew, S. (2004), p. 219 60
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006
19
2.2.1 Redevelopments along the water`s edge – reasons and opportunities
Only a few decades ago, derelict port zones and waterfront areas dominated the appearance of
many harbour cities.61
Starting in the 1960s, however, the unique potential of these places was
recognized and a special interest in them emerged. Waterfront redevelopment became a
widespread phenomenon in North America in the 1970s, one of the most prominent projects
being the Baltimore Inner Harbour, and spread to European cities in the 1980s.62
Today, there
are numerous examples of revitalization projects all over the world, ranging from prestigious
large-scale projects in world cities to redevelopment efforts in medium-sized and smaller
harbour cities – such as several cities in the Baltic Sea Region.63
The city of Riga has reacted
rather late to the challenge of under- or unused port and waterfront areas. But recently,
Latvian investors have realized that these areas, mostly located close to the city centre, offer
immense opportunities for new uses like housing, offices, tourism or recreation. The new uses
could help to reintegrate the old ports and waterfronts into the city.
The reasons and problems of revitalizing port and waterfront areas are similar in many
harbour cities, but the aims, planning systems, financing and scale of the projects are very
different.64
Seaports have always had a key role in the economic and cultural life of a harbour
city. This was also the case in Riga, which for a long time was one of the biggest ports in the
Russian Empire and an important centre for river trade on the river Daugava.65
In my opinion
the redevelopment of waterfronts and old port areas offers the opportunity to reintegrate port
and city, water and land, as well as historical heritage and present-day life. And it can help to
bring back to the city some of the maritime flair it once had.
61
Schubert, D. (2001b), p. 7 62
Hoyle, B./Pinder, D. (1992), p. 11 63
Schubert, D. (2001c), p. 11-14 64
Schubert, D. (2001b), p. 7-8 65
Meyer, K. (2004), p. 3
20
The reason for the need of transformations of ports and waterfronts is the worldwide
structural change of sea trade and the related port economy, and a subsequent change in the
relationship between city and port. Containerization and computerization in sea trade had the
effect that often the port had to move seawards, away from the city, because it needed more
space and deeper waters. The traditional ports close to the city centres, with multi-purpose
terminals and quayside warehouses were not needed any longer. Often these areas became
abandoned and neglected no-go places, until their potential was rediscovered and
revitalization projects were started.66
2.2.2 Factors of successful waterfront revitalization
The redevelopment of derelict port and waterfront areas is a global phenomenon. Scholars
have thus tried to develop theoretical models, identifying the factors and aims of successful
waterfront redevelopment. These factors will be presented below. It must be noted, however,
that theoretical concepts for waterfront redevelopment rely heavily on the experiences made
in Western European and North American cities. It is questionable, whether they can
completely be transferred to Eastern European or Baltic cases. Theoretical models for
waterfront redevelopment in Eastern Europe do not exist.67
All the same, in my opinion the
following factors give some very general tendencies for successful waterfront redevelopment,
which makes them to a certain extent also relevant for the Eastern European context.
Neglected port areas and waterfronts offer huge possibilities to reorganize the relation
between the city centre, the waterfront area and the water itself. The waterfront zones, which
previously presented barriers for urban development, can now be used to reconnect the city to
66
Marshall, R. (2001), p. 5 67
Feldman, M. (2000), p. 829
21
the water.68
To make the area interesting it is essential to highlight its unique character. This
can be done by establishing appropriate activities on the piers and the routes along the
waterside, by creating viewpoints to enjoy the urban landscape and by preserving certain
elements in the area, which refer to its past.69
Abandoned port and waterfront areas usually
have many relicts from their maritime and industrial past. Their unique location offers the
opportunity to connect the (sometimes even protected) architectural heritage of the area with
new uses. Since in the perception of many people the image of port zones changed during the
last decades from no-go places towards a rather romantic picture, the highlighting of the
maritime heritage of port and waterfront areas adds to their attractiveness.70
Since the water is
one of the main factors in these areas, it should be highlighted as a special value.
Port and waterfront areas open up possibilities for new uses. Several different
functions and activities should be assigned to the area. The mix of functions refers to the
different uses of urban space (like residential, mobility, commercial, services, culture and
recreation). One dominating function or the dual term ‘commerce and entertainment’ might
cause the danger of lowering the quality of the area, e.g. by falling abandoned at certain times
of the day or by presenting an artificial atmosphere. Thus, a mixture of different functions, a
mixture of restoration and new construction, and a mixture of residents with different incomes
are regarded as factors for sustainable redevelopment. The reason is that the area is not
dependent on events, seasons or times of the day, since there are permanent residents living in
there, making it more stable. In many cases redeveloped waterfront zones also include
cultural and leisure activities, which makes them attractive for tourists and visitors.71
The
functions and activities play a big role not only in the regeneration itself, but also in the
relationship between the area and the rest of the city. In order to prevent the dangers
68
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 24-25 69
Bruttomesso, R. (2001), p. 46 70
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 29-30 71
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 28-29
22
mentioned above, a certain number of activities should be connected to the original uses of
the area, keeping alive the memory of the past and contributing to the identity of the place.
Also, the functions should be carefully balanced, ideally resulting in a sound mixture of
appropriate productive activities and a certain amount of residence and associated activities,
so that the area does not become a zone exclusively for visitors, which is picturesque but
artificial. The routes in the area should encourage interaction between the different functions
and activities rather than separating them. Taking these measures into account, it is possible
that the area obtains the character of being a lively connection zone between city and water
and at the same time being a central area, which is closely linked to the heart of the city.72
The co-presence of public and private usually makes waterfront zones more
interesting. This refers to functions, spaces and actors. Functions and activities from the
public domain, such as government offices and museums, should be mixed with privately
managed activities, such as hotels and entertainment venues. Traditional public spaces like
squares, roads and parks should be joined by private spaces like gardens and clubs. The
different actors at a functionally and spatially mixed waterfront usually have different systems
to manage these zones, which help to create a typical urban mix of public and private.73
The structural change in ports and waterfront areas resulted in many cities in high
unemployment. Thus, the regeneration process in these areas should aim to create new jobs
and to reintegrate the local inhabitants into the labour market. It must be noted, however, that
usually it is not possible to completely compensate the loss of jobs in the port-related
industries by jobs in the service sector, which are typical for waterfront areas.74
Regeneration of waterfronts usually takes place within a complicated net of different
actors, different interests and different property ownership.75
Port authorities often have a
72
Bruttomesso, R. (2001), p. 43 73
Bruttomesso, R. (2001), p. 44 74
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 23-24 75
Hoyle, B. (2000), p. 414
23
special status in the city, which might make cooperation with them difficult. Another possible
conflict is the gap between the interests of the investors, the overall development needs of the
city and the needs of the local residents. Sustainable and socially sound urban development
policy is often in contradiction to the political reality in the city, which is dictated by the city
budget, the measures of the city to regulate development and necessity of short-term success
within an election period. These factors make integrated strategies for waterfront
redevelopment almost impossible and encourage the emergence of uncoordinated independent
projects. In many countries, the regeneration is almost completely left to the investors and
market forces. However, the restructuring of the waterfront also offers the opportunity to use
a new, integrated and participatory mode of planning.76
One condition for successful waterfront regeneration is to open up previously
inaccessible areas for the public, so that the waterfront becomes an active part of the city,
which can be used by inhabitants and visitors.77
It is a worldwide phenomenon that
waterfronts often are cut off from the rest of the city by barriers and transport corridors. Also,
in many cases private properties and industries are located directly on the water. All this
makes these areas very difficult to access. Public access possibilities, esplanades along the
water and the establishment of ferry connections can help to revitalize the waterfronts.78
In
order to ensure the quality of the area, it must be guaranteed that it is easily accessible. A
crucial issue is easy, pleasant and safe access for pedestrians. In many regeneration projects
one focus was to make the waterfront a pedestrian zone by restricting vehicle traffic. Access
of private vehicles was limited, the quantity of vehicles was regulated and routes within the
area were accurately defined. This resulted in the fact that many waterfronts have become one
of the main pedestrian areas in the city. Such a strategy may not, however limit the mobility
76
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 27 77
Bruttomesso, R. (2001), p. 45 78
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 26
24
of residents and visitors. Thus, the development of effective public transport connections is
extremely important.79
The unique location of waterfronts offers the possibility to connect them to other parts
of the city by waterborne transport. This has many advantages, as it takes away some pressure
from the streets in the city and it presents a pleasant kind of transport. Therefore the
possibilities to establish waterborne transport should be fully exploited and the public should
be encouraged to rediscover the water as a means of transport. Successful waterfront
regeneration is also dependent on the quality of the water. Clean water means an extension of
the open area, which is usable by residents and visitors. The possibilities that it offers for
various uses – today mostly linked to leisure activities – add a certain value to the area. In
contrast, unsatisfactory water quality lowers the quality of the entire waterfront zone,
including the land areas.80
An issue that is extremely important in the post-socialist context is the accumulation and
circulation of capital. As urban development in Eastern European cities is usually dominated
by private actors and driven by the market, profit is usually the major concern in development
projects. Since land has been understood as a value again, waterfronts have developed into an
important target for private developers, who realised the potential of these areas to generate
profit.81
79
Bruttomesso, R. (2001), p. 45-46 80
Bruttomesso, R. (2001), p. 46 81
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
25
3 Waterfront redevelopment in Riga
In comparison to the other capitals in the Baltic Sea Region context, Riga has a unique
location on the bank of an important river and at the seaside. The place has always been an
important gateway between East and West.82
Where the Riga River meets the river Daugava,
a port existed even before the city of Riga was founded in 1201. It was the main reason for the
founding of the city at this location, and throughout the city history the port has played a
crucial role for urban development.83
In the 19th
century it developed into the biggest export
port of the Russian Empire, some historians even claim that Riga had the biggest port
worldwide for the export of timber.84
A pontoon bridge on the river Daugava became an
important nodal point between sea trade and river trade. City and river were closely
connected, since an important part of the city life took place along the quays.85
Since the end of the 19th
century, however, this connection was gradually lost. One
reason was that the port lost much of its importance due to strategic and political mistakes and
its unfavourable location in the bay of Riga. The remaining port activities were located closer
to the river mouth, away from the city centre and a railway connection was established.86
In
1872, the first stationary bridge was built.87
More bridges followed, blocking much of the
seaborne traffic from the central parts of the city. The biggest impact in this context had the
construction of the cable-bridge Van)u tilts between central Riga and !"psala in 1981, which
is too low to let sailing yachts or bigger motor ships pass.88
Buildings for port related
activities were abandoned. On !"psala, warehouses and wharfs lost their function and
disappeared, and also the fishing business that had dominated the island for centuries lost its
82
Kocers, Egils (1998), p. 9 83
Harder-Gersdorff, E. (2005), p. 261 84
Pope, A. (2000), p. 267-268 85
Pope, A. (2000), p. 265 86
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 87
Pope, A. (2000), p. 269 88
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
26
importance. The port areas – used or unused – were no longer publicly accessible.89
In Soviet
times, major streets were built along the banks of the river Daugava, the most important one
being 11. Novembra Krastmala between the old town and the river. All this had the effect of
disintegrating city and water. The maritime atmosphere that had once dominated Riga was
completely lost.90
Today, there are more than 400 kilometers of coastline within the city borders91
, among
them un- or underused areas with a unique potential for redevelopment, such as one of the last
remaining dockland areas in Europe.92
Only recently the city council and private investors
have rediscovered the value of the waterfront and developed plans of how to use its enormous
potential. In 2005, the borders of the port were officially changed, thus opening up new
possibilities for revitalisation projects. Comparing to Western European cities, this re-
evaluation of waterfront areas has occurred rather late, because in Soviet times planners had
different priorities than waterfronts and in the underused port areas some activities were (and
are) still going on.93
Thus, only in the mid-1990s an initial interest in one of these areas
emerged by the private developer M#ris Gailis, who started to redevelop a historical area on
!"psala.94
His projects form the focus of my case study. Today, there are dozens of different
initiatives concerning waterfront redevelopment in the city. The most discussed ones in the
central parts of the city will be presented below.
89
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 90
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 91
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 92
Koolhaas, R. et al. (2006), p. 7 93
Interview with Edgars S&na, 14.12.2006 94
SIA MG, http://www.mg.lv (17.05.2007)
27
3.1 Introduction to the case study area
!"psala is a very young island. It was created only in the 18th
century, when *agaru island,
Burk#nu island and some smaller islands grew together. In the east of the island there was
built a dam and sand was accumulated, which made the island grow gradually. It is unsure,
where the name !"psala exactly derives from. However, there are stories told that !"psala was
named after a fisherman called !"pa, who lived on the island. Only in the beginning of the
20th
century this name was first mentioned in official documents.95
Until the 1960s the island
remained a rather rural place with a fishermen`s village and many greeneries. The dominant
businesses were fishing and rafting, but also some small wharfs operated on the island.96
The
wooden fishermen`s houses still exist today. Now the entire ensemble is protected as a
historical monument of national significance. The buildings of the gypsum factory are from
the end of the 19th
century.97
In the 1970s, the character of the island started to change
drastically. There were built many new structures in Soviet style, such as housing blocks, the
campus of the Riga Technical University and an exhibition hall.98
Already in those days a few
officials of the Soviet regime discovered the island and built their villas there.99
At the same
time the fishing business lost its importance, many fishermen moved away and the wharves
and storage houses on the island lost their function. Rather weak social groups with a very
low income and a low standard of education moved into the old houses on the island, which
usually were not connected to the electricity, heating or canalisation system of the rest of the
city. Criminality was on the rise. Since then, the original social structure of the island was
95
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 3 96
+rgalis, A. (2001), p. 94 97
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2001 n.p.), p. 1 98
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 5 99
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
28
already in decay. Some descendants of the fishermen, however, remained on !"psala, and still
there are some families who have been living on the island for several generations.100
In the mid-1990s, the private developer M#ris Gailis and his company MG started
large-scale real estate projects in the historical part of !"psala and the adjacent areas,
restoring the old fishermen`s houses and the gypsum factory and attracting the financial elite
of the country to the island. Since then, processes like gentrification and segregation are
taking place to a large extent. The original residents are forced to leave the area because of
rising rents and !"psala is again undergoing a dramatic change regarding its population and
social structure. It is in the development from one of the poorest to one of the most exclusive
and most expensive areas in the city. However, currently there are still some unrenovated
places housing original residents with a very low income and social status. The direct
neighbourhood of rich and poor, restored buildings and buildings in decay, gives the area a
very special atmosphere. If the developments continue as they do now, it will be only a matter
of time until the last original residents have left and the island will be a completely exclusive
place. Reasons for the extremely rising popularity of this place are the close location to the
city centre, the excellent view from many locations and the historical setting.101
Today, 2.200 inhabitants live on the island, which has a territory of 110.1 ha,
including 1.300 students in the dormitories on the campus of the Riga Technical University.
Unfortunately there are no separate population statistics for !"psala, which makes statements
about the residents there rather difficult.102
The main territorial complexes on the island are
the RTU campus with its dormitories, public swimming pool and the largest exhibition hall of
the Baltic States, the press building Preses Nams, the high-rise building of the Hanza bank,
the shopping mall Olympia and a huge shop of construction materials in the north of
100
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 101
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 102
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 3
29
!"psala.103
The protected historical part covers an area of 23.66 ha and comprises more than
30 wooden buildings. The majority of these buildings are located between !"psalas iela,
Balasta Dambis, Enkura iela, Oglu iela, Lo'u iela and the inner border of Zunda (the channel
between !"psala and Pardaugava).104
In terms of size and population this area is not the
dominant structure on !"psala, but it has an important meaning as the historical heart of the
island.105
Since 1997 the entire island is part of the UNESCO buffer zone around the world
heritage Jugendstil centre of Riga.106
The buffer zone functions as a protection belt around the
historical UNESCO area. Therefore, special rules and regulations apply to it, e.g. concerning
the maximum height of buildings. Since the city council nevertheless promotes high-rise
constructions in this area, it has repeatedly got into conflict with the UNESCO board, which
even threatened the city council with removing Riga from the list of world heritage sites.107
Currently there is again a conflict between the architects of the city council and the UNESCO
officials concerning the plans for a new commercial centre in the south of !"psala and on
Kl"versala.108
3.2 Legal framework for waterfront redevelopment projects in Riga
The Riga development plan forms the administrative context for waterfront redevelopment in
the city. It consists of three main documents:
• Riga long-term development strategy until 2025
103
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 4. Recently built complexes like Hanza bank and Olympia added on the basis of own
observations. 104
R"gas Dome (2005b), p. 1 105
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 7 106
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 3 107
Wikipedia, Riga, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga (03.06.2007) 108
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
30
• Riga development programme 2006-2012
• Riga spatial plan 2006-2018
The long-term development strategy presents the overall visions for future development of the
city. Thus, it serves as an umbrella document for both the development programme and the
spatial plan. Furthermore it describes the interests of the city, the main development targets
and planning guidelines as well as a model to supervise the implementation of the plans.109
The development programme 2006-2012 concretizes the development priorities, which are
defined in the long-term strategy. It formulates tasks, projects and programmes in order to
promote the social and economical development of the city of Riga.110
The Riga spatial plan
2006-2018 presents the land use policy of the city. In this document it is defined, which zones
in the city may be used for which functions. It is the only of the main documents, which is
legally binding and according to experts it is also the one, which is most important for urban
planning in Riga.111
In addition to that there are several other official documents, which are essential in the
context of waterfront redevelopment: For the different areas in the city there exist detailed
plans, which further concretize the zoning for this neighbourhood, the infrastructure and
planned developments. Such a plan also exists for !"psala.112
It shall be analysed later in this
chapter. Since all the waterfront projects mentioned in this paper are located within the buffer
zone of the UNESCO world heritage area, the specially designed planning document for the
historical centre of Riga (“Planning of the Riga Historical Centre and its Protection Zone
Territory”113
) applies to them, and they have to follow certain regulations which are defined
109
CDD, Riga City Council (2005b) 110
CDD, Riga City Council (2005a) 111
CDD, Riga City Council (2005c) 112
R"gas Dome (2005a) 113
CDD, Riga City Council (2006b)
31
in the document “Building Regulations for Riga Historical Centre and its Protection
Zones”114
.
Even though later in this paper we will see that in reality these plans and regulations
are only of a very limited value, since their implementation is problematic and the few
existing binding rules are possible to by-pass, nevertheless they form the administrative and
legal context for waterfront redevelopments in Riga. Therefore the status of waterfront
projects in the respective plans, as well as the theoretical restrictions that the building
regulations pose on the projects, shall be analysed below.
3.2.1 Long-term development strategy until 2025
The long-term development strategy is themed: “Riga – opportunity for everyone”. It defines
main goals concerning the ‘social and economic sphere’, ‘urban environment’ and ‘city
administration’, corresponding to the three development pillars that the city defined:
‘economy’, ‘society’ and ‘urban environment’. The urban economy in Riga shall ideally be
versatile and growing, partner-like and with a high added value, so that Riga becomes
internationally competitive and might take a connecting function between East and West in
economic terms. The vision for the society is that it is ‘well-provided’, ‘socially supported
and well-cared’, ‘healthy and active’, ‘family-oriented’, ‘informed’ and ‘mentally rich’.
Concerning the urban environment, the city shall be ‘comfortably and easily accessible’,
‘safe’, ‘clean’ and ‘green’ and provide the inhabitants with ‘quality housing’. All this shall
contribute to an efficiently managed city, in which the inhabitants like to live.115
114
CDD, Riga City Council (2006a) 115
CDD, Riga City Council (2005b), p. 23
32
Waterfront issues are explicitly mentioned in the long-term development strategy.
Inefficiently used waterfronts are identified as one of the weaknesses in the urban
environment of the city.116
Therefore special attention should be paid to these areas, which
currently often are run-down territories. Their big development potential should be used to
promote “Riga`s economical development as well as improvement of the urban environment
and increasing peoples` satisfaction with it”.117
Ensuring the development and accessibility of
waterfronts in order to establish a high-quality living and business environment, but also
focusing on public space, even forms one of the 14 basic concepts of spatial planning in Riga.
Another one is the promotion of water territories for various kinds of recreation, while a third
one stresses the importance of preserving, renovating and using the cultural heritage of the
city.118
3.2.2 Development Programme 2006-2012
The development programme gives an overview on the current situation in terms of
population, economy, infrastructure, environment, housing, tourism, healthcare, social
services, education, culture, entertainment and sport in Riga. Furthermore it presents the
resources of the municipality and the city council, before it comes to the development
perspective of the city with its opportunities and problems. It also deals with the
implementation and the monitoring of the development programme.
Waterfront redevelopment is not explicitly mentioned in this document. It is, however,
stated that water areas make a considerable share of the city´s territory, altogether 17.6%. But
116
CDD, Riga City Council (2005b), p. 22 117
CDD, Riga City Council (2005b), p. 28 118
CDD, Riga City Council (2005b), p. 52-53
33
unlike in other cities in the Baltic Sea Region, such as Stockholm and Helsinki, they are not
efficiently used in Riga.119
Thus, development of by-water territories should be enforced.120
3.2.3 Riga Spatial Plan 2006-2018
After outlining the development preconditions, goals and visions for the city of Riga, the
spatial plan presents the developments in Riga in the international, national and regional
context and deals then with the policies of the city council concerning the current fields of
development. Issues that seem to be of special importance, since they have been dealt with
most extensively are environment and transport, but also all the other topics identified in the
long-term strategy appear in this document.121
The development of waterfronts only appears in the recapitulation of the basic
concepts of spatial planning in Riga, which originate from the document on the long-term
development strategy.122
Apart from this repetition there are no references to waterfronts at all
in the entire document.
3.2.4 Planning of the Riga Historical Centre and its Protection Zone Territory
This document is a special plan for the preservation and development of the historical
environment in the centre of Riga. It is a binding political document, which supplements the
spatial plan for 2006-2018. Preservation and development of historical spatial structures and
119
CDD, Riga City Council (2005a), p. 5 120
CDD, Riga City Council (2005a), p. 156 121
CDD, Riga City Council (2005c), p. 2-3 122
CDD, Riga City Council (2005c), p. 24
34
public spaces in the city – including streets, boulevards, squares, parks and waterfronts – is
one of the main development objectives in the document.123
Concerning the development of
public open space there is a complete subchapter about historical watercourses, water bodies
and embankments. However, it focuses mainly on development possibilities for the
embankment of the river Daugava along the old town, suggesting making it a pedestrian area
with (maritime) recreation facilities. Another focal point mentioned in this subchapter is the
embankments of certain city canals, which should be developed into an embankment park.
The areas of the projects, which are mainly dealt with in this paper, are only
marginally tackled in the document, saying that the waterfronts in the historical protection
zone including !"psala, Andrejosta, Andrejsala and Exportosta should be arranged as
plantation territories.124
The preservation, renovation and use of cultural heritage, including
the industrial heritage of the city, are mentioned in various chapters in this document.
3.2.5 Building regulations in the historical centre and the buffer zone
These binding regulations shall regulate the preservation, renovation and construction within
the historical centre of Riga and the adjacent protected territories. It was especially designed
for the UNESCO world heritage area and its buffer zone in order to fulfil the criteria set by
the UNESCO.125
Different regulations exist for different areas. Since the island of !"psala is
located in the UNESCO buffer zone, the regulations for the historical part of the island are as
followed (extract):
• The spatial character of the cultural heritage environment comprising residential,
commercial and industrial buildings of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century
123
CDD, Riga City Council (2006b), p. 26 124
CDD, Riga City Council (2006b), p. 81-84 125
CDD, Riga City Council (2006a), p. 7
35
as well as the character of streets and squares of shall be preserved
• Principles of house displacement and of spatial planning shall be preserved
• Views from the streets into inner yard areas shall be preserved
• Stone bank protection of the river Daugava shall be preserved
• Street surfacing of block-stone and cobble-stone pavement shall be preserved
• The banked side of CD dam shall be developed as public outdoors space
• Only certain fence types and fence heights are allowed126
The building heights for the !"psala area are defined on the map “Basic Provisions for
Building in the RHC and its Protection Zone”. If the maximum number of storeys for a plot is
not indicated on this map, the height should not exceed 24 meters.127
3.2.6 Detailed Plan !#psala
The detailed plan contains a description of !"psala in relation to the development programme
of Riga, an analysis of the spatial structure of the island, the current situation and planned
developments in the field of transport and a short presentation of the real estate situation on
the island. Special reference is made to the historical part of !"psala including the wooden
houses and the factory buildings, which are the main focus of this thesis. According to law
No. 1284 by the Cultural Ministry of Latvia from 1998, this area is listed as a protected
historical ensemble of national significance. Thus, special regulations apply to it and to a
protection zone of 100 meters around it.128
The detailed plan acknowledges the importance of !"psala for the rest of Riga, stating
that the island is an important historical landscape and one of the most visible areas in the
126
CDD, Riga City Council (2006a), p. 56 127
CDD, Riga City Council (2006a), p. 10 128
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 3-4
36
entire city. This is due to its location on the river Daugava almost opposite the old town of
Riga. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the development of the silhouette of
!"psala. The plan suggests a silhouette reminding of a fan, with high-rise commercial and
residential centres with high density on each end of the island and the low historical area with
a lower density in its middle-part.129
Functionally, !"psala can be divided into several parts: commercial territories and
high-rise buildings, public buildings, low residential buildings, mixed-use areas with
residential, commercial and public functions as well as a small area with greeneries and space,
which is not allowed to be used (e.g. a belt of ten meters width along the shoreline).130
The
zoning map shows, where on the island these functions are located and which building
regulations apply to them. While in some areas the commercial space may be built up with an
extremely high density and the maximum number of floors ranging from one to three in D3 to
up to 40 in D8, the historical residential area and the mixed-use area may not have more than
three or four floors, depending on the location.131
Spatially, !"psala can be divided into the protected historical part and an area of newer
constructions, which have been developed since the 1970s. The historical area mainly consists
of old fishermen houses, which to a great extent have been restored already, and the historical
gypsum factory where one part has been restored while the other part is currently under
restoration. The historical area is located in the middle part of the island. It is mainly for low-
rise residential use. The newer areas are mostly located in the northern and southern parts of
!"psala. They have various uses, including Soviet residential blocks, shopping and hotel
complexes and the RTU campus.132
129
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 5 130
R"gas Dome (2005b), p. 1-7 131
R"gas Dome (2005b), p. 3-6. For a visual impression of the zoning on the island, please see the extract of the
zoning map (Appendix 1). 132
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 3-4
37
There are three forms of traffic affecting the island: ‘traffic within the island’, ‘traffic
connecting !"psala with other parts of Riga’ and ‘transit traffic between the left and the right
bank of the river’, connecting central Riga with Pardaugava (as the parts of the city, which are
located on the left bank of the river Daugava, are generally called).133
Currently there are four
bridges on the island. However, three of them are minor bridges connecting !"psala and
Pardaugava, while only one bridge – Van)u tilts – forms the only connection between !"psala
and central Riga. Since this connection attracts also a lot of east-west transit traffic, it causes a
lot of transport problems on southern !"psala. The detailed plan states that there are several
more connections planned in the future: one bridge or tunnel – called Hanza crossing – across
the Daugava connecting central Riga with the northern part of !"psala and at least one more
bridge across the channel Zunda between !"psala and Pardaugava, also in the northern part of
the island. Along the shoreline of the channel Zunda the city council reserved a territory for
another street. These developments shall solve the traffic problems, which within ten years
are assumed to be 2.2 to 2.5 times higher than today.134
However, it would also mean
increased traffic on !"psala in the north-south direction, maybe resulting in the fact that the
whole island becomes a place for transit traffic.
As a general principle for the developments on !"psala it is formulated in the detailed
plan, that the existing buildings should be conserved wherever possible. Concerning the
protected historical ensemble it is regarded as important to conserve the historical building
substance as much as possible, to minimise the affects of traffic – if necessary by restrictions
in form of one way streets or denied access – and to ensure the accessibility of the waterfront
on the banks of the river Daugava and the channel Zunda for bikers and pedestrians.135
More
information from the detailed plan, which is relevant for my focal area, i.e. the historical part
of the island, will be given in the context of the presentation of this area within the case study.
133
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 8 134
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 8-11 135
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 14-15
38
3.2.7 Evaluation of the development plans
From the fact that in the three main development plans of the city of Riga waterfront
redevelopment is discussed most extensively in the long term development strategy and
almost not at all in the spatial plan one can in my opinion draw conclusions about the official
status of waterfront redevelopment in Riga: It becomes clear that the Urban Planning
Department has realised the challenge of derelict waterfront areas and it also has a very
general vision about how to develop and use these areas, as can be seen in the long term
development strategy. However, the more concrete the plan, the less the issue is tackled. In
the most relevant plan for urban planning in Riga, the spatial plan, waterfront redevelopment
is hardly mentioned. This shows that even though the city has identified those areas as
potential development zones, it has no concrete strategy of how to develop them.
This impression goes well in line with the evaluation of urban planning in Riga by
planning experts and even by representatives of the city council, who state that the
implementation of the visions of the city council is usually left for private investors and the
market136
. The city council hardly has any measures to regulate or supervise the
developments. The development documents rather formulate a “wish-list” of the city
concerning the direction of urban development, but the actual implementation is mostly left to
private actors and the market.137
There are few laws (such as the building regulations), which
provide a legal basis to regulate the developments, but investors usually find a way to avoid
those laws and carry out their projects anyway. As one urban planner puts it: “If an investor
really wants to build something, he will build it.”138
These limits of urban planning might be a
136
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006; Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 137
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006 138
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, 17.11.2006
39
typical feature of planning in the Baltic States, since Merje Feldman noticed a similar
situation in her study about Tallinn.139
I regard development plans as the main tool to regulate urban development. But a tool
only works if it is effectively implemented. Since the city lacks the instruments for its
implementation, and since the few binding regulations in practice are possible to by-pass, I
think that the development plans are only of extremely limited value. The missing regulation
instruments result in the fact, that in reality there is no overall concept for development, but
rather single independent and private projects, which the city is not able and in some cases
also not willing to control. This impression is even supported by Gvido Princis from the Riga
city council, who confirms that the city does not have an overall vision for its waterfronts and
that the urban development is almost exclusively driven by the market.140
The result of these
developments is that the city lacks a clear structure, which makes it also hard to predict its
future developments.
Another issue that I see critical is that the inhabitants of Riga have no real possibility to
influence the urban development as it is formulated in the plans. Indeed they can express their
demands and their opinions about the plans in official procedures, but the authorities do not
have to take these opinions into consideration. Or as a Polish architect living in Riga claims:
“RDP [Riga Development Plan] is not a tool of implementing grass-roots democracy into city
life – on the contrary – by promoting ‘public consultation’ instead of ‘public action’ RDP is
building only a democratic facade not a real civil society”141
. Therefore in my opinion it
would be necessary to create a formal procedure of public participation, not just consultation.
139
Feldman, M. (2000), p. 833 140
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 141
Nawratek, K., http://www.rigaplans.net/en/ (14.06.2007)
40
4 Case Study !"psala
The following pages present and analyse the case of the restoration projects in the protected
historical zone on the island of !"psala. Most of the findings presented in this chapter are
based on fieldwork carried out in Riga between October 2006 and January 2007.
The empirical research consisted of two different parts: narrative interviews with key
persons involved in current waterfront projects – namely the ones on !"psala, the Riga Port
City project on Andrejsala and the Jaunie „Tr"s br#,i” project in three central waterfront
locations – on the one hand, and questionnaires with residents from my focal area on the other
hand. The interviews were carried out in order to get an overview on urban planning in Riga
in general and the current waterfront projects, and to get a deeper insight into the
developments in the historical part of !"psala. The interview partners were carefully chosen
and consisted of actors actively involved in the developments, but also (more) independent
local experts and a representative of the Urban Planning Department of the Riga City Council.
This mixture of interview partners with different backgrounds should ensure that different
interests and perspectives are taken into account, so that the results of the research are as
objective as possible. Complete objectivity, however, is in my opinion not possible, as also
the local experts come from a certain background and give their very personal view on the
developments in Riga. In concrete terms, the interviewees and their background were the
following:
Concerning the !"psala case:
• M#ris Gailis, the developer of the gypsum factory and the wooden houses as well as some
other residential projects on !"psala. He is the former prime minister of Latvia, who after
41
withdrawal from politics started a real estate company called MG, which is now active in
the real estate development of the historical part of !"psala.142
• Zaiga Gaile, the architect. As M#ris Gailis´ wife and a well-known Latvian architect she is
responsible for the actual restoration process both at the gypsum factory and for the
wooden houses. Since she and her husband live themselves in one the restored wooden
houses right at the waterfront, they also have a personal interest in developing the area.143
• Edgar Schieder, representative of Project Management Team (PMT), the Austrian investor
who is the strategic partner of MG in the !"psala projects.144
(email interview)
Concerning other redevelopment projects:
• Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, representatives of the state agency Jaunie „Tr"s
br#,i” (New Three Brothers – J3B), which is responsible for the planning and
implementation of the three cultural projects on the waterfront: the Contemporary Art
Museum (CAM), the Concert Hall and the National Library.145
• Astr"da Rogule, also a representative of the state agency J3B, responsible for the CAM.146
• Aigars Ku)-is, representative of Jaunr"gas att"st"bas uz.%mums (New Development
Agency – JAU), the development company of the Riga Port City project on Andrejsala.147
(email interview)
Local experts:
• Jonas Büchel, at that time consultant at the German political foundation Friedrich-Ebert-
Stiftung, focuses on sustainable restoration of residential buildings, community
participation and socially sound urban planning.148
142
SIA MG, http://www.mg.lv (17.05.2007) 143
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 144
PMT, http://www.pmteuropa.com/ (01.06.2007) 145
J3B, http://www.j3b.gov.lv/index.php?sadala=5 (01.06.2007) 146
J3B, http://www.j3b.gov.lv/index.php?sadala=5 (01.06.2007) 147
JAU, http://www.jau.lv/ (01.06.2007) 148
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, http://www.fes-baltic.lv/ (01.06.2007)
42
• P%teris Bl&ms, self-dependent architect and conservation specialist, focuses on the
sustainable restoration of the wooden architecture in Riga.149
• Andis Kubla'ovs, lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Latvia,
especially focusing on urban planning. Formerly he worked at the Urban Planning
Department of the Riga City Council, where he was one of the people responsible for the
creation of the new development programme.150
City Council:
• Gvido Princis, architect and deputy director of the Urban Planning Department of the Riga
City Council.151
Port Authorities:
• Edgars S&na, head of the Strategic Planning Department at the Freeport of Riga
Authority.152
In order to get an impression of the opinions of the residents in the historical part of !"psala,
33 questionnaires with both open and closed questions were filled in. There were two
different questionnaires designed, one for the original residents of the island and one for the
new residents. I spoke with 25 original residents, with four residents of the gypsum factory
and with four residents of the new town houses built by M#ris Gailis, which are situated in the
direct neighbourhood of the gypsum factory and some wooden houses. Unfortunately it was
not possible to get any opinions of residents of the reconstructed wooden houses, because
they belong to the wealthiest people of the country and were not willing to receive any
visitors. The questionnaires were designed in Latvian, English and Russian. The closed
questions were analysed using SPSS, while the open questions were categorised and
summarised. Additionally, Anita Pluce, a Latvian translator with a good command of Russian,
149
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 150
University of Latvia, http://www.lu.lv/fakultates/gzzf/geografija/cilveks.html (01.06.2007) 151
R"gas Dome, http://www.rdpad.lv/working%5Ftime/ (01.06.2007) 152
Freeport of Riga Authority, http://www.rigasbrivosta.lv/eng/parvalde.asp#struktura (01.06.2007)
43
was present during the entire research on the island in order to ensure a successful
communication between the residents and me.
4.1 !"psala in the context of current waterfront projects in Riga
The need to redevelop waterfront areas in order to reintegrate them into the city is formulated
in the major planning documents, as can be seen above. However, an overall vision of the city
council for the waterfront is missing. Waterfront redevelopment in Riga must rather be
described as a number of small, independent projects by private developers.153
The only
exception is the state initiative J3B, which will be presented later in this chapter. Even though
it claims the need for redevelopment, the city council is neither directly involved in the
revitalisation projects nor does it have the measures, and – as some say – the interest to
control them. This makes the Riga waterfront a scattered mosaic of different projects, actors,
interests and visions, which are sometimes contradicting each other.154
There are projects on
both banks of the river Daugava. Some are very centrally located, while others are in rather
peripheral areas of the city. Most of them consist of completely new developments. The
regeneration of the architectural heritage of waterfront locations is carried out in some places
like on !"psala or the Riga Port City project, but is not yet a very common practice.155
This
chapter presents a selection of the main projects in the central part of Riga.
153
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 154
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 155
Riga City Development Department (2006), p. 1-19
44
FIG. 5: LOCATION OF THE MAIN WATERFRONT PROJECTS IN CENTRAL RIGA156
4.1.1 !#psala
The first waterfront related initiative in Riga was the projects carried out by the private
developer M#ris Gailis on !"psala. In the mid-1990s, he started the construction of 41 town-
houses in central !"psala. The next steps were the restoration of a part of the B%ma gypsum
factory, primarily for real estate development, and the restoration of a number of historical
wooden fishermen`s dwellings. Currently the second part of the gypsum factory is under
construction and the restoration of even more wooden houses is planned.157
Since it started
only a few years after the regaining of independence in 1991, it is the only waterfront
initiative in Riga, which today is at least partly finished, while all the other initiatives are still
in the planning stage. On !"psala, some results of the regeneration process can already be
seen, analysed and evaluated.
156
Own illustration based on Google Maps, http://maps.google.de/ (18.06.2007) 157
SIA MG, http://www.mg.lv (17.05.2007)
45
4.1.2 Riga Port City
Riga Port City is a development project comprising the former area of the port of Riga on the
right bank of the river Daugava – Andrejsala, Eksportosta and the adjacent territories. All in
all the area covers 123 ha. The developments are carried out by JAU, a private development
company founded by Riga Freeport Authority and the Norwegian enterprise Port Pro AS in
2001. They are mostly financed by private money, apart from the CAM, which receives some
state funding.158
The redevelopment of the former port territories aims to establish a
multifunctional and high-quality urban area as a vivid part of the city centre. The planned
focus is on mixed-use, the dominant functions being housing, offices, different kinds of
businesses, retail and services like kindergartens. The target groups for the housing shall be
well-situated professionals or pensioners interested in fashioned lifestyle and water-related
activities.159
However, the most important “anchoring” function of the area will be culture: the
most important object in the area will be the CAM and creative businesses and education
connected to it.160
The museum will be placed in an old electric power plant, which will be
reconstructed by the internationally renowned architect Rem Koolhaas, who plans to preserve
the industrial heritage within a modern glass cocoon.161
The building, which dates from 1905,
presents a fine example of industrial architecture, even though it is not a protected building.162
Other former industrial buildings shall be renovated and used for new functions as well,
including the historical Krasta railway station and the so-called grain elevator. By this, JAU
wants to show evidence of the history of the site in order to establish a place with a unique
character. Additionally, some other cultural highlights like a small energy museum are
158
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, 07.12.2006 159
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, 07.12.2006 160
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, 07.12.2006 161
Tirons, U. (2006), p. 40 162
Biedri.), A./Liepi.), E. (2002), p. 39
46
planned. Still, the majority of the planned developments within the Riga Port City project will
be new constructions.163
The transformation of the area will be carried out gradually: currently the developers
are still in the planning stage. A master plan for the development of the area has just been
worked out by Rem Koolhaas and his architectural office, OMA; the landscape architectural
office Inside Outside; Ove Arup & Partners, Ltd.; and the Latvian engineering company
Grupa 93. The concept is currently under assessment.164
Whether the planned heights of the
new constructions will cause conflicts with the UNESCO, since the project area is located in
the UNESCO buffer zone, remains to be seen. The next stage of the project will be the
development of the first area, Andrejsala, including the construction of the CAM. In the
bigger part of the project territory, Exportosta, port activities are still going on. They shall be
gradually withdrawn and then the redevelopment of the entire area shall be completed within
the next 25 years.165
JAU claims that they pay attention to a slow and sustainable transformation of the
area, which takes into account the needs and wishes of the future society. Information of the
inhabitants of Riga and feedback play a crucial role in the planning process, possibly due to
the big influence of Rem Koolhaas on the entire project.166
The planners want to develop a
lively area, which shall be accessible for all kinds of visitors and inhabitants around the clock
– and area, that people like to use during all times of the day. Therefore the concept includes,
that the main exhibition of the CAM will be for free and that there will be activities day and
night.167
A unique feature of this initiative is that JAU already now opened a part of Andrejsala
for the public, inviting different groups of artists to the area. They just have to pay for public
163
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, 07.12.2006 164
Koolhaas, R. et al. (2006), p. 57 165
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, 07.12.2006 166
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 167
Interview with Astr"da Rogule, 17.11.2006
47
facilities, otherwise they may use the old port buildings for free, under the condition, that they
regularly organise cultural events for the public in this area. This was a clever marketing
strategy to place this former closed area on the mental map of the Rigans: today, the frequent
concerts, exhibitions and festivals attract a lot of (mostly young) people to the area and
Andrejsala is very well known among the inhabitants of the city. It also results in a positive
public attitude towards the planned developments of the Riga Port City.168
The agreement
with the artists runs out in May 2008 but might be prolonged.169
Since the project is still in the
planning stage it is hard to have a qualified opinion about it. The planning concept however –
slow and balanced development involving the inhabitants and finding new uses for the
industrial heritage of the territory – seems promising to me.
4.1.3 Cultural projects by J3B
The state agency J3B was created in April 2005 as an umbrella organisation, which is
responsible for the development of three major cultural projects along the waterfront: the
National Library, the new Concert Hall and the CAM, the last one in cooperation with
JAU.170
While the museum will be housed in an already existing building, the National
Library and the Concert Hall are completely new constructions which will be placed on the
left bank of the river Daugava.171
The projects formally started with an international workshop of architects who decided
on the best locations for the three projects. Afterwards, there were design competitions
organised for the National Library and the Concert Hall, while Rem Koolhaas was invited to
168
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, 17.11.2006 169
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, 07.12.2006 170
IACP, http://www.aivp.org/article1593_english.html (03.06.2007) 171
Bryzgel, A. (2006), p. 21
48
make a proposal for the CAM.172
The results of the competition were eye-catching pieces of
architecture: the National Library resembles a mountain in the middle of the city and is also
called “Castle of Light”. The Concert Hall will be built on a dam, so that it seems to be
floating on the river Daugava. In addition to their primary functions, all buildings will also
include conference halls, meeting spaces, restaurants, cafés and shops.173
Thus, they shall be
used by all kinds of people, not only by museum-goers or the concert audience. The concepts
include, that parts of the buildings will be accessible for the public for almost 24 hours a day,
so that the places will not fall abandoned in the evenings. Even though all projects are located
within the UNESCO buffer zone, there are currently no conflicts between the plans and the
UNESCO regulations. The UNESCO even officially supports the National Library project.174
In the design competitions it was considered important, that the architects not only
design the buildings, but also develop the adjacent areas as attractive public spaces. Since two
of the projects are located on the left bank of the river Daugava, it is also hoped that they will
contribute to upgrade Pardaugava (as the parts of the city lying on the left side of the river are
called) in comparison to central Riga on the right bank.175
According to a survey by the
research centre Latvijas Fakti, 78% of the population support the building of the National
Library, 71% the Concert Hall and 62% the CAM. These numbers are widely regarded as
extremely positive, since traditionally the public interest towards cultural projects is rather
low.176
All projects are still in the planning stage and will not be completed before 2010,
which makes an evaluation today very difficult. The experts I talked to, however, agreed that
all buildings are of crucial significance for the Riga waterfront. If they can be realised the way
172
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, 17.11.2006 173
Bryzgel, A. (2006), p. 21 174
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, 17.11.2006 175
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, 17.11.2006 176
Bryzgel, A. (2006), p. 21
49
they are planned, they will provide the waterfront with interesting architectural highlights,
which make the riverfront as a whole more attractive.177
4.1.4 New commercial centre on Kl#versala and !#psala
Various private investors plan a new commercial centre with high-rise buildings on Kl"versala
and the southern part of !"psala.178
This is also mentioned in the detailed plan of !"psala,
which defines some areas for commercial developments with up to 40 floors.179
Since the
planning is not in the hand of one, but several investors, it is hard to predict how the area will
look like in the future. Currently there is only the press building “Preses Nams” and the
building of the Hanza bank, but soon there will be more developments.180
The opinions
towards this area are ambivalent: While some of my interview partners see the chance, that
the new commercial centre helps to give more value to the Pardaugava waterfront181
, the
actors involved in the restoration projects on !"psala – namely M#ris Gailis and Zaiga Gaile –
are against the plans, because they fear that the constructions lead to increased traffic
problems which might have negative impacts on their restoration area.182
They question also,
whether a city as Riga, which even suffers from a decreasing population, really needs high-
rise buildings on such a large scale.183
The planned developments cause a conflict with the
UNESCO, since the plans do not respect the height limits set by the UNESCO. How this
conflict will be solved, is still open.184
177
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 178
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 179
R"gas Dome (2005b), p. 4 180
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 181
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006 182
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006; Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 183
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 184
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
50
4.1.5 Waterfront along the old town
A widely discussed issue in Riga is the missing connection between the old town and the
riverfront. Directly along the water a promenade was built, but right next to it there is 11.
Novembra Krastmala – one of the major streets of the city with heavy traffic – which blocks
the old town from the river. The street is almost impossible to cross, since there are hardly
any traffic lights. This makes it a quite dangerous place, which neither inhabitants nor visitors
like to use.185
Currently several ideas of how to reconnect the old town to the water are discussed:
One group of people claims that the only way to solve the traffic problem in this area is the
construction of a tunnel or semi-tunnel along the river between the railway bridge and Van)u
tilts. They argue, that only if the street is put underground the potential of the waterfront could
be fully used.186
The area should be exclusively for bikers and pedestrians and provide the
visitors with a selection of restaurants, cafés and some entertainment like festivals or
waterfront concerts in order to make it a lively part of the city centre.187
Also, the quay could
be used as a marina for small boats and tourist cruises or water taxis.188
A second group is
against the tunnel. They claim, that the geological structures in Riga are not suitable for
building a tunnel on the bank of the river. Furthermore the project would be too expensive
and time-consuming.189
Instead, they favour a combined solution of building back the street,
so that it gets less attractive for cars, establishing a toll zone in the entire historical centre of
Riga and an improved public transport with a park-and-ride system and public transport
lanes.190
The discussion is still going on and it is not sure, whether anything will happen in
185
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 186
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006; Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006; Interview with Andis
Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 187
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 188
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 189
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 190
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006
51
this area in the near future, but the need to transform the waterfront along the old town is very
clear.
Comparing all these different projects, the !"psala case is unique for Riga is several
ways: Not only is it the only project that exceeded the planning stage, so that the results of the
developments can at least partly be seen already, but it is also the only project that primarily
focuses on the restoration of already existing buildings with a historical value. At least
theoretically conservation and preservation play an important role in the projects on !"psala.
How these principles have been put into practice can be seen later in this case study. The
restoration aspect and also the location of the !"psala projects in the protected historical zone
of the island contribute to the fact that the scale of these projects is very different to other
waterfront initiatives, which often rely on eye-catching architecture of huge dimensions. In
contrast to the big apartment blocks planned in other projects, the detached houses on !"psala
give the place a rather suburban character. !"psala is also the only project that concentrates
almost exclusively on housing (except for the restaurant), even though the developer currently
tries to add some service and entertainment functions.191
4.2 The main regeneration projects on !"psala
M#ris Gailis and his company MG are active in several projects on !"psala, starting from the
restoration of the gypsum factory and the wooden fishermen`s houses to the building of new
row-houses, the so called town-houses, schools and sports facilities. For this thesis, however,
only his activities in the protected historical part of !"psala are relevant: the gypsum factory
project and the restoration of the wooden houses. The factor that makes the gypsum factory
191
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006
52
and those wooden houses, that are located directly at the shoreline, unique, is their idyllic
setting and the prime view towards the old town of Riga.
FIG. 6: LOCATION OF THE PROTECTED HISTORICAL AREA AND THE GYPSUM FACTORY PROJECT ON !$PSALA192
In 1882 the building of the B%ma gypsum factory started between the fishermen`s
houses on !"psala. The buildings were built in different periods and designed in different
styles. The first building was a big wooden barn, which was torn down again some years later.
In 1897 there followed a living house for the workers (in the project called “Veca M#ja” –
Old House) and in 1899 the factory chimney of 32 meters height in the yard of the factory.
Both buildings were well preserved and in a relatively good condition when the restoration
process started. In 1908 the building that is now called “Liela M#ja” – Big House – was
constructed and in 1914 the last production building (in the project called “Holandie)u M#ja”
– Dutch House) was built. Some of the factory buildings were in quite a poor condition, when
the reconstruction process started.193
The factory worked as a production place for gypsum
until World War II. During the Soviet occupation the factory came into possession of the
192
Own illustration based on Google Maps, http://maps.google.de/ (18.06.2007) 193
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2001 n.p.), p. 2
53
Soviet army and worked as a laundry for the army.194
In 1991, the army left and the buildings
were abandoned. Later, approximately two thirds of the factory was privatised by a
businessman from Belarus, who started a production of hockey sticks there. The other part
remained empty.195
In the end of the 1990s, M#ris Gailis and his wife Zaiga developed the idea to restore
the empty factory buildings in order to give them a new function: as quality and luxury
apartments for people with a high income. M#ris Gailis as the real estate developer started to
privatise first the buildings and later the land, a complicated and time-consuming process
which was only finished in 2001.196
Only then the concrete planning for the restoration could
start. In her mission statement, the architect noted that the factory buildings are a valuable
monument in terms of cultural history, landscape and architecture, even though they are not
officially listed as protected buildings. They make a fine example of the regional brick
architecture and are an important landmark for the panorama of the left bank of the river
Daugava. Therefore their special character should be preserved as far as possible, even though
many buildings were in a bad condition.197
Initially, M#ris Gailis with his company MG was
the only responsible developer, while the architectural work was carried out by Zaiga Gailes
architectural office Zaigas Gailes Birojs, the restoration work was done by the company
Tradima and the actual construction work was in the hands of the construction company Re &
Re.198
Quite soon M#ris Gailis realised that he could not finance the entire project, so he
developed a project partnership with the Austrian real estate company PMT, which was
willing to invest into the project. Nevertheless the main management responsibilities were
194
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2001 n.p.), p. 1 195
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 196
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006. In Latvia, the privatisation procedure of army property works like
this: First, the person, who wants to privatise has to rent the respective buildings for at least one year. Then he or
she has to apply to the Ministry of Defence in order to get the right to privatise the buildings. After approval, the
value of the buildings is evaluated and the buildings can be bought for this prize. Only when the buildings are
privatised, also the land can be privatised after the same procedure. 197
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2001 n.p.), p. 3 198
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006
54
still with M#ris Gailis.199
Together, the partners could finance 60% of the costs; the rest was
taken as a loan in cooperation with the Hanza bank.200
Thus, the empty part of the factory was restored as an apartment complex – mainly for
living, but to a minor extent also for offices – consisting of five different buildings: “Liela
M#ja” (Big House), in which also a restaurant was planned, “Veca M#ja” (Old House),
“Ang,u M#ja” (English House), “Holandie)u M#ja” (Dutch House) and “Koted/as”
(Cottages).
FIG. 7: MAP AND MODEL SHOWING THE DIFFERENT BUILDINGS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE GYPSUM FACTORY
PROJECT201
The “Koted/as” – row-houses along the waterfront – are the only part of the project
that was completely new constructions. All the other buildings were restored or reconstructed,
depending on their shape and condition. Some buildings have been changed to make them
more comfortable for living, e.g. by adding bigger windows. The different houses have been
designed in different styles, “Holandie)u M#ja” reminding of a Dutch building style and
“Ang,u M#ja” reminding of an English building style. A fact that has been heavily criticised
199
Email interview with Edgar Schieder, 10.01.2007. The contract between the Latvian affiliate company of
PMT, SIA PMT Balticum and SIA MG says, that both parties contribute 50% of the finances for the gypsum
factory project: MG contributes the value of the property, while PMT Balticum contributes the same value in
form of money. Thus, both parties own 50% of the project, but MG is responsible for the management. 200
Email interview with Edgar Schieder, 10.01.2007 201
SIA MG, p. 3-5
55
by experts is, that parts of the buildings have been demolished, just to rebuild them again in
the same shape – not because they were in such a bad condition (as the architect claims), but
because some space was needed for underground parking and therefore it was cheaper to tear
them down and build them up again after the parking space had been constructed.202
This
happened for instance with the building A – “Liela M#ja” (Fig. 7), which now houses the
restaurant. Thus, only parts of the gypsum factory are original.203
However, the general outer
appearance of the buildings should keep the original look as much as possible. Also in the
interior, many original parts were preserved, such as the wooden ceilings or brick walls. The
concept of the restoration was to design complete apartments including all interior like
kitchens, bathrooms, saunas, fireplaces and even built-in wardrobes. Most apartments stretch
over two or three levels. The aim was to create high quality living and office space in loft-
style, which is unique in Latvia. All buildings have access to the inner yard, which is designed
as a historical factory yard with a well in the centre and the old chimney in one corner.
Special attention was paid to the preservation and renovation of the chimney, because it was
realised to be an important historical landmark for the area. The architect even found a useful
new function for it: today the chimney serves as ventilation for the underground parking.204
Due to the location of the factory in the UNESCO buffer zone the architect had to get official
permissions for every step of the restoration work.205
After three years of construction the
project was finished in late 2004. The result was a complex of 34 apartments of different
shapes and sizes, ranging from studios of 60 square meters to apartments of 200 square
meters, which were sold to clients from Latvia and abroad.206
202
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006; Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 203
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 204
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 205
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 206
SIA MG, p. 13
56
FIG. 8: RESTAURANT CORNER OF THE GYPSUM FACTORY BEFORE (2000)207 AND AFTER THE RESTORATION (2004)208
There turned out to be two types of clients: one group who bought the apartment as
their primary place of residence and others, who bought it as an investment. The original price
was approximately 2000 0 per square meter. Within three years it increased to more than the
double amount: recently a flat was sold for 4700 0 per square meter.209
In connection with the
gypsum factory project M#ris Gailis developed a small marina for private yachts in front of
the factory buildings, a shop for maritime items and a restaurant on the corner of the factory
with the best view towards the old town. The restaurant still belongs to M#ris Gailis, and he
tries to bring back some maritime character to the place by building a terrace floating on the
river Daugava, and by establishing a boat-service with the antique motorboat “Ingrida”,
dating from the 1930s, between the restaurant and the old town.210
The overall aim of the restoration project was to provide high-income clients with a
luxury and high quality place to live close to the water and close to the city centre.211
All
involved parties expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the project and argued that
207
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2005 n.p.): Power Point Presentation “Prezentacija Kipsala_2.ppt”, slide 50 208
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2005 n.p.): Power Point Presentation “Prezentacija Kipsala_2.ppt”, slide 49 209
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 210
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 211
Email interview with Edgar Schieder, 10.01.2007
57
the aim had been completely achieved.212
By independent experts the evaluation of the project
is rather ambivalent. On the one hand it is admitted, that the developer and the architect
managed to create a piece of interesting architecture respecting to a great extent the original
look of the historical buildings, in a location, which is perfectly suitable for high quality
apartments.213
On the other hand it is criticised, that the new construction of historical
architecture is bad architectural practice, that some details in the concept do not seem to be
correct, and that the project creates some kind of a gated community, which lives separately
from the rest of the neighbourhood.214
Recently, M#ris Gailis managed to convince the owner of the second part of the
factory to sell his property in order to realise a similar real estate project also in this part.
Since this part had already been privatised for the production of hockey sticks, there was no
long bureaucratic procedure this time, but MG and Zaigas Gailes Birojs could start with the
restoration process right away.215
The project is currently underway and will probably be
completed in 2008. This time it is planned to be even more luxury than the first project: Even
though the area is bigger than in the first project, there shall be less apartments, the biggest
covering up to 400 square meters and having private elevators. The main building in this part
is the old factory workshop. According to the architect it was in such a bad condition that it
had to be demolished, but in the course of the project it will be built anew in the original
style.216
This practice is again very much criticised by the conservation expert P%teris Bl&ms,
who argues that the structure of the building was still in a good condition, but it was decided
to tear it down in order to make the construction of the underground parking space cheaper,
212
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006; Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006; Email interview with
Edgar Schieder, 10.01.2007 213
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 214
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006; Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 215
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 216
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006
58
just as in the first gypsum factory project.217
The other buildings will be completely new, but
also in brick style. The row-houses along the waterfront shall accommodate the most spacious
apartments; while there will be smaller studio-style apartments in the second row. All in all
there are going to be 31 apartments and offices. In the right part of the complex there are
some service facilities like a gym, a spa and a hairdresser planned. The yard of this complex
is going to be designed in contrast to the first factory yard, as green space.218
What the
outcome of this project will look like still remains to be seen.
The wooden houses in the protected historical area of !"psala date from 120 to almost
200 years ago, the oldest one being from about 1820. They are the relicts of the old
fishermen`s village, which dominated the island until the late 1960s. Even though the area is
not very big, it presents the historical heart of the island and therefore the entire ensemble is
protected as a state monument of national significance. Thus, certain building regulations
have to be taken into account when dealing with those houses: the buildings are not allowed
to be demolished, but they may be reconstructed, providing that the historical facade is
preserved and traditional materials are used (e.g. wooden window frames instead of plastic
ones). In order to ensure a low density in the protected area, the historical borders of the land
plots may not be changed and not more than 30% of the land plot area may be used for
building.219
These regulations and the location of the area in the UNESCO buffer zone had to be
taken into account, when MG and Zaigas Gailes Birojs started to buy and restore some of the
wooden houses in 2004.220
Until today 13 houses have already been restored, while number
14 is currently under reconstruction and more wooden buildings are planned to be
217
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 218
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 219
R"gas Dome (2005b), p. 5 220
Gaile, Z./Cibule, I./Atavs, I. (2005), p. 1
59
reconstructed in the near future.221
According to some owners of old wooden houses, M#ris
Gailis regularly asks them to sell their property to him,222
which clearly shows his ambitions
to transform the entire historical ensemble into a renovated high quality area for tenants with
high incomes. In two of the already completed restoration projects PMT Balticum SIA, the
Latvian affiliate company of the Austrian PMT, is involved as a partner and investor via the
company SIA Ziemelzunds Ltd, of which 90% are owned by PMT and 10% are owned by
M#ris Gailis. Through this cooperation, PMT Balticum SIA holds 90% of the so called “Red
House”, which is rented out to the Austrian state and hosts the Austrian embassy in Latvia, as
well as 90% of the so called “Kangaroo House”, which is rented out to the Portuguese state
and hosts the Portuguese embassy in Latvia.223
The other projects were exclusively carried out
by MG and Zaigas Gailes Birojs and usually sold after completion. Today they are the homes
of some of the richest people in the country, among them some very high politicians.224
Not
only buildings from !"psala are restored, but the developer also removes wooden houses from
the UNESCO historical centre of Riga in order to build them up again on empty lots on
!"psala. According to him, this is a win-win situation: The previous owner of the wooden
house would not be allowed to demolish the house in the UNESCO area in order to use the
plot for new constructions. The state inspection of monuments agrees, however, to translocate
the building. Therefore M#ris Gailis is able to remove it from the city centre, receives a
compensation of the previous owner and builds the house up again on !"psala. Until now this
has happened with two houses, a third one is under construction.225
In the reconstruction process the first step was to connect the houses to gas and
electricity and to the canalisation system and the telephone net. The principle of the
reconstruction formulated by the architect was to preserve the facades, so that the historical
221
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 222
Based on my own research on !"psala, November/December 2006 223
Email interview with Edgar Schieder, 10.01.2007 224
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 225
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006
60
look of the buildings was not disturbed when looking at them from the street.226
This is also
due to the building regulations mentioned above. The side and the back of the buildings,
however, were in some cases quite radically changed.
FIG. 9: AMBASSADOR`S RESIDENCE “RED HOUSE” BEFORE (2001)227 AND AFTER THE RESTORATION (2005)228
The general concept aimed at providing the tenants with all possible amenities.
Therefore there was not only an underground parking space constructed for all buildings, but
there were also modern extensions added to the houses in order to get more space for living.
These extensions house, for instance, swimming pools and saunas. To make the rooms
brighter, some extra windows, balconies or terraces were also added.229
Most of the houses,
which were originally built for several families, were transformed into a one-family-house.
An exception is the biggest building that has already been reconstructed – a wooden
Jugendstil house called “Laubes M#ja”. This 3-storey-building, which originally had about six
apartments on each floor and shared toilets and bathrooms in the staircase, was turned into
seven apartments and three offices.230
However, according to the architect the original
structures of the rooms were kept as far as possible.231
226
Gaile, Z./Cibule, I./Atavs, I. (2005), p. 1 227
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2005 n.p.): Power Point Presentation “Prezentacija Kipsala_2.ppt”, slide 22 228
Zaigas Gailes Birojs (2005 n.p.): “_Baznicas ielas maja_1.jpg” 229
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 230
Gaile, Z./Cibule, I./Atavs, I. (2005), p. 4-19 231
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006
61
The architect and the developer claim that they paid special attention to the history of
the buildings and carried out the reconstruction process in a balanced and sustainable way.232
In contrast, the evaluation of the reconstructions by independent experts is rather negative:
They argue that, as in the case of the gypsum factory, reconstructing historical buildings using
partly new constructions and materials is bad architectural practice. The architectural
condition of most houses was quite good, so it would have been better to renovate the original
houses instead of taking them apart and reconstructing them partly using new materials. Now
only parts of the buildings have remained original. According to P%teris Bl&ms this was done,
because the houses should be sold to wealthy residents who were interested in the historical
look of the buildings, but at the same time wanted to live in a new, modern apartment with all
amenities.233
It was also noticed, that concerning some details, the historical reconstruction
was not correct: For instance, instead of using historically correct buildings materials like
cobbled stones, concrete was used to cover parking lots and yards. Fences were built up, even
though traditionally there had never been fences in the area.234
Another point of criticism was
that the modern additions to the old buildings are too conservative to be called real “modern”
architecture, which makes the combination of old and new rather boring. So, according to
Jonas Büchel, the work of the architect is neither a balanced modernisation of the area adding
modern architecture nor a completely correct conservation.235
Another project by M#ris Gailis and Zaiga Gaile is the construction of a memorial
museum in the historical part of the island in the honour of *anis Lipke, who saved altogether
36 Jews during World War II, hiding them in a shed in the garden of his house on !"psala.
The museum on the former site of the shed on Maza Balasta iela 8 is going to be designed by
232
Gaile, Z./Cibule, I./Atavs, I. (2005), p. 1 233
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 234
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 235
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
62
Zaiga Gaile. The museum is going to be inaugurated in 2008.236
According to M#ris Gailis, he
and his wife took the initiative for this museum in order to add some additional value to the
island – to have a cultural attraction in addition to the living houses. It was interesting for me
to hear that they did not initiate the museum, because they are personally interested in Jewish
history or because they regard it as important to tell *anis Lipke`s story, but only because a
museum about the holocaust sells well. Thus, they hope to make the island even more
attractive for residents, as well as to attract tourists and visitors to the area.237
4.3 Results of the empirical research in the case study area
Together with my Latvian translator Anita Pluce I spent several days on !"psala in order to
collect opinions of old and new residents of the project area. 33 people participated in the
research, 25 original residents and eight new residents (four living in the gypsum factory and
four living in adjacent town-houses). The focus was placed on the original residents of the
neighbourhood, since it was my primary interest to find out, which impact the redevelopment
projects by M#ris Gailis have on these people and what they think about the changes within
the area. The scale of this survey is not very big, so the results rather indicate general
tendencies than actual, universal conclusions. Especially the number of new residents who
participated in the survey is quite small, so the results from this group must be interpreted as
individual examples instead of general conclusions. Nevertheless, they give a very rough
impression about the social and financial status of new residents and their opinions about the
area.
236
Jansons, V. (2006), p. 20-26 237
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006
63
About two thirds of the original residents were Latvians, while 28% of the respondents
were Russians. In the case of the new residents, we spoke with three foreigners from Great
Britain and the USA and five Latvians. This corresponds well to the information given by
Zaiga Gaile, who mentioned that the restored buildings are popular among affluent
foreigners.238
One striking yet obvious feature is the big difference in the incomes between
old and new residents: Almost half of the interviewed original residents stated that their actual
income is less than 100 LVL per month, i.e. less than 142 Euros. In contrast, half of the
interviewed new residents did not reply to this question, while two respondents earn between
251 and 500 LVL (in part-time jobs) and two earn more than 1000 LVL (more than 1420
Euros) per month after deductions. Another interesting aspect is the difference in the level of
education between old and new residents: More than two thirds of the original residents have
either a basic or a secondary education, and only 16% have a higher education at university
level. Among the new residents, in contrast, six respondents out of eight have a higher
education. This makes the original residents typical representatives of the so called “losers” of
the transformation societies in Eastern Europe that have been identified in chapter 2 of this
thesis: elderly people, unskilled workers and state employees.239
In the survey, almost half of
the original residents were pensioners, an aspect that strongly correlates with their level of
income, since all but one pensioner stated that they must live on less than 100 LVL per
month: This reveals that the lowest income group consisted almost exclusively of pensioners.
Among the original residents, the type of housing is very mixed: 44% of the
respondents rent an apartment, 48% own a private apartment and the rest of the people have
other accommodation agreements, such as a free room in return for some caretaking work in
house and garden. In contrast, most of the interviewed new residents lived in private
apartments, and only one respondent had a rent agreement. These results show on the one
238
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 239
Sailer-Fliege, U. (1999), p. 11
64
hand, that the privatization process has started to spread among the unrenovated buildings in
the historical zone of !"psala. But on the other hand they also show that the restored
apartments are almost exclusively private – a change of the ownership structure from renting
to owning is a typical phenomenon of the gentrification process.240
On the average, the
original residents pay about 47 LVL rent per month and roughly the same amount for utilities.
Almost one quarter of the respondents have experienced a rent increase within the last year,
even though the standard of living had not improved. 36% of the original residents have lived
in the neighbourhood for more than 40 years and 80% of the original residents wish to
continue to live there also in the future, if they can afford it. Two owners of unrenovated
historical houses mentioned that they want to wait for a good opportunity to sell their property
for a high price.
Concerning the project area, 88% of the interviewed original residents mentioned that
the neighbourhood has considerably changed during the past five years especially that many
new residents moved to the area while old neighbours left and that the look of the historical
buildings has changed a lot. All respondents who knew the gypsum factory project were of
the opinion that it has a big influence on the neighbourhood. They mentioned both positive
and negative influences: The buildings look better and thus the project makes the area more
beautiful, but now more wealthy people live in the area and prices are on the rise. Also, it was
said that the area is becoming less friendly, because there is not so much interaction between
the residents any longer. Indeed, all interviewed new residents stated that they have only little
or no contact to the original residents and vice versa. Also all new residents think that the
gypsum factory project has an influence on the area, but they see this influence exclusively
positive: according to them the projects accelerate the positive development of !"psala and
make the area more beautiful. The main reason, why the new residents chose to move to the
area is the beautiful, central and quiet location of the historical area on !"psala. For the people
240
Mayhew, S. (2004), p. 219
65
living in the gypsum factory the fact that their apartments are located in a restored industrial
building and the direct location on the waterfront were important reasons why they chose to
move to !"psala. They seem rather active in using the restaurant of the gypsum factory (six
respondents go there about once a month or more frequently), while only 12% of the original
residents use it occasionally. These issues give evidence about the fact that segregation and
gentrification are actually happening on !"psala at the moment.
With regard to the planning process, none of the original residents have been informed
about the restoration plans of the developer. None of them were invited to participate in the
planning process either, even though 32% of the respondents explicitly stated that they would
like to get more involved in the development of the neighbourhood. Seven out of eight
interviewed new residents of the area mentioned that the developer has informed them about
the second phase of the restoration of the gypsum factory, but they were not invited to
participate in the planning process. This result shows that the developer is not interested in
taking the wishes or needs of the residents, especially the original inhabitants of the area, into
account in his planning.
The vision of the new residents for the future of their neighbourhood on !"psala is
generally positive: they said that it will be a nice residential area with renovated houses and
maybe also a commercial centre. In the future there will be more services for the people on
!"psala, such as schools and restaurants, and also the conditions of the roads on the island
will improve. The original residents have a rather ambivalent vision for the future of the area:
They see it as a place that will be exclusively for the rich, especially when the restoration
projects will be finished. While three people explicitly mentioned that they evaluate the
development of the area as positive, three others wished that the area should be as it had been
in former times.241
241
Based on my own research on !"psala, November/December 2006
66
4.4 Evaluation of the restoration projects
In my opinion both positive and negative aspects can be identified, when evaluating the
restoration projects on !"psala. The developer succeeded to add new value to the waterfront
in !"psala and to establish a closer connection between the island and the water. From a run-
down area the protected historical zone is turned into a high-quality and high profile
residential area that attracts wealthy foreigners and the wealthiest people of the country.
Already now it is the most expensive place in the city.242
The waterfront is dominated by
aesthetically reconstructed historical buildings. Some water-related activities, like a restaurant
terrace and a marina are placed on the shore.243
The new residents of the area and visitors with
a certain income like to use the area because of its central location close to the water with a
prime view towards the old town.244
The developers claim that they pay special attention to a balanced conservation and
restoration of the historical heritage of !"psala. This ambition certainly exists and must be
seen very positive, because traditionally wooden houses and industrial heritage do not have a
very high status throughout the city, even though the wooden architecture in the centre of
Riga even is included in the UNESCO world heritage. With their reconstruction efforts the
developers helped to direct public attention to the wooden heritage on !"psala, which
previously had been very much neglected. Today, more and more people in Riga appreciate
the historical wooden architecture.245
The same goes for the industrial architecture of the
gypsum factory: It was the first project of transforming factory buildings into loft style
apartments in Latvia.246
This prestigious project makes more and more people realise the
interesting aspects of industrial architecture. Thus, today the restoration of industrial buildings
242
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 243
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 244
Based on my own research on !"psala, November/December 2006 245
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 246
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006
67
for living purposes becomes more and more fashionable in Latvia and several projects are
currently in the making, both in Riga, Ventspils and Liep#ja.247
However, the way the historical buildings were reconstructed must be questioned: For
the actors the original look of the buildings was more important than the original itself, thus
they demolished parts of the buildings in order to build them up again with new materials, but
in the original style.248
From the conservation point of view, this practice is very questionable,
since usually the buildings were in such a good condition, that a balanced renovation of the
original materials would have been enough. One reason for this practice was probably that the
restoration was not carried out for the original inhabitants of the buildings, but for a wealthy
target group who was interested in other values than a balanced conservation.249
This bears
the risk that the buildings lose their authenticity and develop into artificial facades, or – as
Jonas Büchel puts it – into kitsch.250
Also, in the case of the protected houses it is interesting
to see that the state inspection of monuments did not interfere.251
The practice of removing
wooden houses from the UNESCO centre in order to restore them and build them up again on
empty lots in !"psala is generally not regarded as problematic, as long as it is only done in
exceptional cases.252
According to conservationist P%teris Bl&ms the practice of relocating
wooden buildings has a long tradition in Latvia.253
Thus, this method does not disturb the
authenticity of the place as long as it does not dominate the area so much, that it turns into a
kind of museum village. However, these developments go in line with a general trend in
Latvia for “Historismus”, meaning that special attention is paid for the facades, and not for
what is behind.254
The restoration projects on !"psala can thus only be seen as a first step into
247
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 248
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 249
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 250
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 251
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 252
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 253
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 254
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
68
the right direction. Historical wooden and industrial architecture have become appreciated
values, but a balanced restoration requires more. Newer projects in Riga like the restoration of
the wooden houses on Kalnciema iela in Pardaugava have learned from the mistakes on
!"psala: Instead of restoring the houses for new target groups, the actors provide the original
tenants with the know-how and the financial support to carry out the necessary renovations by
themselves. This makes the place much more authentic than the !"psala historical area.255
Water-related features play a big role in the waterfront projects on !"psala. M#ris
Gailis puts a lot of effort in establishing stronger connections between the island and the river
Daugava.256
Recently, the embankments of the river along Balasta Dambis were renewed on
his own initiative. In summer the restaurant in the gypsum factory, which is owned by M#ris
Gailis, serves its guests on a floating terrace on the river. Here is the berth of his historical
motorboat from the 1930s, “Ingrida”, which can be booked by the guests of the restaurant.
Right next to it he developed a marina for private yachts and motorboats. According to him he
does not make any money with the marina itself, but he understood, that it adds some special
value to the area. So, by having the marina, he can raise the prices for the apartments in the
adjacent waterfront locations.257
Interesting features like the traditional wind indicators on
some buildings add to the maritime atmosphere of the place.258
The maritime and industrial
history of !"psala is actively used by the developer in his marketing strategy – with success,
as the great interest of wealthy residents in the area shows.259
This practice is another way to
commercialize history and in my eyes a typical case that shows how the pre-Soviet past is
used to make profit.
255
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 256
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 257
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 258
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 259
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006
69
Even though the project area is located very close to the city centre, it is not very
comfortable to access.260
The easiest way to get to the protected historical area is by car, but
there is not much parking space.261
Bikers can easily get to the island, but in the historical
area there are not biking tracks and some streets consist of cobbled stones, which makes
biking not very comfortable. Since often there are no pavements and some streets do not have
a surface at all, it can get very muddy at times, which makes it quite uncomfortable for
pedestrians to get around, even though usually there is no heavy traffic. The area is poorly
connected to the city centre by public transport. Within the area there is no connection at all,
but the only bus route starts on Kr. Valdem#ra iela at the bridge Van)u tilts. The detailed plan
says, however, that for the future there is another route planned, when the new bridge between
!"psala and Pardaugava will be completed.262
The waterfront area on !"psala would be ideal
for waterborne transport to and from the city, but so far, public connections of this kind do not
exist. The only kind of waterborne transport is provided by M#ris Gailis, whose motorboat
“Ingrida” travels between his restaurant and the city centre. During the summer months this
boat can also be booked for private tours along the river Daugava. The service is primarily
intended for the guests of the restaurant and the original residents from !"psala could never
afford it.263
In former times sandy !"psala was a popular recreation area for the citizens of
Riga, who liked to come here for swimming. According to M#ris Gailis, also today it is
possible to swim in the river Daugava. Regularly he orders an analysis of the water to ensure
its quality.264
In contrast to other planned waterfront projects in Riga, which shall be developed into
mixed-use areas, the restoration projects on !"psala are primarily intended for residential
uses. In the case of the fishermen`s houses this connects well to the original use of this area,
260
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 261
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 9 262
R"gas Dome (2005a), p. 8-13 263
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 264
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006
70
which had always predominantly been a place for living. Some houses are reconstructed for a
combination of working and living, such as the “Kangaroo house”, which hosts the
Portuguese embassy and the residence of the ambassador.265
In the case of the gypsum
factory, a former production site has been redeveloped for new uses: mainly for apartments
but also for some offices and for a restaurant. In the current redevelopment of the second part
of the gypsum factory, housing is still the main function, but other functions such as offices,
wellness and some services play an increasing role. Furthermore, the developers plan to build
the above mentioned Jewish memorial museum in the historical area of !"psala. With these
measures they aim to put additional values to the area in order to make it even more
interesting and attractive for living and for visitors.266
The fact that the waterfront on !"psala
is mainly a residential area makes it a rather quiet place. Only the restaurant brings some life
to it, especially during the summer, when the outside spaces and the floating terrace are in
use.267
If carried out in a qualitative and interesting way, the combination of old and new
architecture usually adds to the attractiveness of a place.268
In the restoration projects on
!"psala, the side-by-side of old and new was one of the main factors in the redevelopment
efforts.269
However, as it was mentioned above, it has been criticised by architects and
planners, that the combinations of old and new were not very successful: the old architecture
was not preserved according to the principles of conservation and the “modern” extensions
are of good quality, but too conservative to present interesting modern architecture.270
Also,
some features of the restored buildings clearly give the impression of kitsch271
, such as the
giant metal kangaroo that was placed on top of the “Kangaroo house”, just because the house
265
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 266
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 267
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 268
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 28-29 269
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 270
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 271
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
71
had once belonged to an Australian investor.272
In the case of the gypsum factory, in contrast,
the evaluation of architecture is rather positive: The result of the combination of old and new
buildings presents an interesting ensemble. Even though the different buildings are built in
different styles, they form a harmonious entity.273
The mixture of industrial and modern
architecture was also positively mentioned by the residents of the gypsum factory: For them
the style of the buildings makes the area attractive, which was one of the reasons why they
moved to !"psala.274
But as in the case of the wooden houses, the way the restoration was
carried out must be criticized in my opinion.
One factor for sustainable regeneration of waterfront areas is a sound mixture of
inhabitants with different backgrounds and incomes.275
This is clearly not the case in the
!"psala projects. Here, gentrification and segregation are taking place to a great extent.276
From a very poor neighbourhood the area has developed into one of the most expensive
places in the city within the course of only a few years.277
Especially in the beginning of his
activities, the private developer was able to buy wooden houses for a very cheap price in
order to restore them and sell them to wealthy new residents.278
Today, some owners of the
original houses have understood the value of their property and make a lot of money selling it
to the developer or even waiting for the price to rise even more. The losers of the situation are
the original tenants, who rent a flat in one of those houses. Many of them are forced to leave
the area, either because of rising rents or because their house is sold. For them, the second
case might be even more profitable, because according to the developer they then get a small
compensation.279
Anyway, it is a general prediction that within some years all original
272
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 273
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 274
Based on my own research on !"psala, November/December 2006 275
Schubert, D. (2001a), p. 28-29 276
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 277
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 278
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 279
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006
72
residents will have left the area, so it will develop in a place, which is exclusively for wealthy
residents.280
Even though today rich and poor people live in the direct neighbourhood, there is
hardly any interaction between them.281
According to the architect, the residents of the
gypsum factory form a close community with many personal contacts, but contacts to the
surrounding unrenovated houses are very seldom.282
The developer makes no attempt to
counteract this development: it rather corresponds well with his aims to develop the area into
a nice and luxury place. The high fences around the gypsum factory give already now the
impression of a gated community and Jonas Büchel claims that at least mentally this fence
already exists around the entire restoration area.283
The redevelopment projects by M#ris Gailis are completely private initiatives. He was
able to buy so much land on !"psala, that now he owns most of the protected historical centre
and is able to develop it according to his personal wishes.284
Since he and his wife live in the
area themselves, they also have a private interest in its development.285
Today, the
neighbourhood is dominated by private space: The gypsum factory and the restored wooden
houses are bordered by fences or walls, cameras symbolise the control about the private
properties and the isolation of the wealthy residents. The restoration projects have created an
area full of contrasts between rich and poor. The city council does not have the measures and
the will to control any of the private developments on !"psala. None of the current
developments – land monopolism, gentrification and segregation – are realised as possible
problems by the city council.286
The only rules that restrict the developments in the protected
historical area are the buildings regulations and the UNESCO regulations, but as can be seen
280
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 281
Interview with M#ris Gailis, 22.11.2006 282
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 283
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 284
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 285
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, 14.11.2006 286
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006
73
from several examples, the state inspection of monuments does not seem too eager to
intervene if these rules are violated.287
Since a private developer is primarily interested in profit and not in a balanced
development according to the wishes and needs of the inhabitants, it is not surprising that the
original residents were not informed about or involved in the planning process of the
restoration projects.288
Generally, community participation beyond the formal procedures
dictated by the law is not a very common practice in urban planning in Riga.289
On !"psala
these formal procedures did not play any role, because they only have to be followed for
projects of a certain scale, which the restoration projects did not have.290
So, community
participation and information did not take place at all within the restoration projects. Only
when the second round of the gypsum factory project was started, the inhabitants of the first
part of the factory were informed about the planned developments, primarily because they
would be affected by dirt and noise from the adjacent construction site. The opinions of the
original residents of the area did not play any role at any point of the planning process.291
4.5 Problems and perspectives of urban planning in Riga
As I see it, the points of criticism concerning the projects on !"psala mirror some general
problems of urban planning in Riga: the ways of how to deal with historical architecture, the
lack of public participation in planning, land ownership issues and the missing measures and
political will to regulate urban development.
287
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 288
Based on my own research on !"psala, November/December 2006 289
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006 290
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 291
Based on my own research on !"psala, November/December 2006
74
Dealing with historical architecture
The urban planning expert Jonas Büchel argues, that in Riga there exists a tendency for
“Historismus”, which forms a barrier for both the balanced conservation of historical
architecture and modern developments. “Historismus” means that many architects in Riga,
including Zaiga Gaile, favour the conservation of historical architecture at all costs –
preserving the past is their highest priority and that often prevents modern future-oriented
projects.292
And even more extreme: they demolish historical architecture in order to rebuild it
with new materials in the original look. Thus, the will to preserve does not mean the
completely correct restoration of historical buildings. It rather means the most important
aspect in restoration projects is the historical look, the facade. What is behind does not matter
so much.293
But still, as the !"psala case shows, history is actively and successfully marketed.
This goes well in line with the fact, that restoration projects are usually aimed for a wealthy
target group, and this group is not primarily interested in a 100% correctly restored building,
but in a beautiful historic look – a building that looks historic, but not old, combined with all
possible modern amenities.294
In my opinion, this attitude towards historical architecture must be seen critical, since
it turns historical areas into artificial places that are beautiful, but that lack any authentic
character. The same goes for the planned Jewish memorial museum on !"psala, which in my
eyes uses the history of the holocaust in Riga just to make profit. This very commercial
attitude towards history is, as it was outlined in the theoretical framework above, a typical
feature of a post-socialist city in transformation.
292
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 293
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 294
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
75
Public participation
Since the restoration projects on !"psala are a completely private initiative with no
intervention from the public sector, it is not a surprise to me that public participation does not
play a role in the planning process there. However, also in general public participation has a
rather low status in Riga and the inhabitants have a rather low interest in participating. Indeed
public participation is defined by the law: For development projects on a bigger scale a legal
procedure has to be followed, including a public announcement of the plans and at least two
periods of public hearing.295
But genuine participation of the inhabitants beyond these legal
procedures, meaning that the inhabitants are really empowered to shape developments
according to their needs, does not exist. Instead, the mode of urban planning in Riga has to be
characterised as top-down and technocratic.296
But also from the inhabitant side it must be
noted that the interest in participation is very low. This can partly be explained by the fact that
in post-socialist societies urban planning as such is perceived in a very negative way and the
public interest in planning and public authorities is traditionally rather low.297
But also in the
Baltic context and even in the inner-Latvian context the level of interest is extremely low in
Riga. While other Latvian cities, such as Liep#ja and even small towns like Talsi the civil
society is developing very actively, in Riga it is not developing at all. According to Jonas
Büchel this derives from the fact that in Riga there is no fruitful relationship between the
people and the public authorities. The city council acts like a “city in the city”, which in
reality is not interested to make the urban development transparent and understandable for the
inhabitants. The missing connection between the citizens and the city council leads to a very
low level of identification of the citizens with their city and their neighbourhood. Thus, they
generally feel that it is not worth to get involved, because they cannot change anything
295
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 296
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006 297
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
76
anyway. This makes Riga the least active city in the country when it comes to community
participation.298
Land use and level of public regulation
Another point that has to be discussed is how the city of Riga deals with its land: How can it
be that a private investor buys almost an entire island in order to develop it according to his
personal wishes, without facing any control from the public authorities? Today, most of the
territory in Riga is in the hands of private bodies, even most of the land under public housing
blocks. Some city officials have recently started to regard this development as a mistake.299
But the privatisation of land is a global phenomenon, so in this respect the cases of !"psala
and Riga are nothing special, but they are in line with the global development trends. What
makes the developments in Riga problematic is that the city council does not have any legal
measures and often also not the political will to control the direction, towards which the city
is heading.300
Even if some regulations exist, there is always a way to by-pass them.301
The same goes for processes like gentrification and segregation: Not only does the city
lack the measures to regulate these processes but it does not even realise these developments
as a problem.302
The background of these problems is an extremely liberal mode of urban
planning.303
Some experts even say that urban planning in the Western European sense does
not exist at all in Riga.304
Of course the spatial plan and the building regulations – even
though they are possible to by-pass – provide the legal framework for land use and urban
development, but apart from these measures the city has no possibilities and often also no will
to regulate the developments in the city in any way. Urban planning documents only form a
298
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 299
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 300
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006 301
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, 17.11.2006 302
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 303
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 304
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006
77
“wish-list” of the city council for the development of the city, but their realisation is usually
left completely for the private market.305
Thus, the developments in Riga are so much market-
driven that there is no way for the city council to steer the direction to which the city is
heading or even to ensure the sustainability of the development projects.306
Private developers
do not have to take any responsibilities regarding the needs of the society. However, Riga is
not the only city where this trend can be observed, since the lack of public control is a typical
feature of urban development in post-socialist cities, as could be seen in chapter 2. A similar
development can be observed from the neighbouring capital Tallinn, where Merje Feldman
states that the city “distances itself from leadership and responsibility. It commands formal
authority, such as the right to approve detailed plans, granted by legislation, but has not been
able to use that authority in an efficient and constructive way.”307
305
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 11.12.2006 306
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 307
Feldman, M. (2000), p. 845
78
5 Conclusion
Riga has a long maritime history, which has always had a big influence on the development of
the city.308
Through various factors – like the relocation of port activities towards the river
mouth and the building of bridges and streets – the close connection between city and river
disappeared.309
Only recently the city council realised the need to bring back the city to the
water. Its location on the banks of the river Daugava close to the seaside provides the city
with huge waterfront areas, which offer a unique potential for developments – including both
the regeneration of architectural heritage and new constructions. But even though the need for
the revitalisation of waterfront areas has been formulated in the main documents of the Riga
development plan, the realisation of redevelopment projects to meet this need are usually left
for the private market.310
Due to the massive private land ownership and the lack of public control, an overall
concept for the urban development that is followed by all actors does not exist in Riga.
Instead, the city is the scene for independent, uncoordinated private development projects.311
One reason for this trend is also the fact that the urban planning department in the city council
consists almost entirely of architects, not of urban planners. In Latvia there is no university
that offers basic education in urban planning. Therefore only very few urban planners, which
have studied abroad, work in the country.312
In my opinion this contributes to the tendency
that the city council is dominated by small scale thinking instead of integrated large-scale
visions. But even if this condition – a better education for urban planners in Latvia – would be
fulfilled, radical changes would be required to provide the city with the will, the power, the
measures and the finances to bring back some regulating instances to urban development.
308
Pope, A. (2000), p. 265-269 309
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 310
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 311
Interview with Gvido Princis, 15.12.2006 312
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
79
From the development plans it can be seen that also for the waterfront an overall
concept of the city does not exist. Instead, the waterfront has become an arena for different
uncoordinated mostly private regeneration projects, carried out by different actors with
different, sometimes contradicting interests. Nevertheless, in my opinion some of the
initiatives give the impression that they might be able to re-establish a stronger relationship
between the city and the water, to bring back to the city some of the maritime atmosphere it
once had and to develop the waterfront in an interesting place that people like to use. The
restoration projects on !"psala – even though far from perfect – are a first step into this
direction. Since they were the first ones to show interest in the waterfront, their waterfront
projects are the only ones in Riga that have exceeded the planning stage so far. Today, many
other projects are planned on the banks of the river Daugava, which can learn from the
experiences made on !"psala.313
The plans for the projects presented above – especially the
Riga Port City and J3B – seem promising to me, but in how far they will be realised remains
to be seen.
The developer M#ris Gailis and his wife, the architect Zaiga Gaile, were about the first
private actors in Riga to rediscover the great potential of the waterfront in the protected
historical area on the island of !"psala, almost opposite the centre of the city. The place is
perfectly suitable for waterfront developments, since it is picturesquely located on the bank of
the river and has an excellent view towards the old town.314
What in my opinion makes the
redevelopment projects by M#ris Gailis and Zaiga Gaile unique, at least in the Latvian
context, is that they combined waterfront regeneration with the restoration of historical –
wooden and industrial – architecture.
The evaluation of the preliminary results on !"psala revealed, that the ambitious
projects are only partly successful: Indeed they succeeded in increasing public attention and
313
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 314
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
80
appreciation for wooden and industrial historical architecture in Riga and they managed to
develop the area from a forgotten place with high criminality and no amenities to a beautiful
and luxury place with a good reputation.315
But the projects also have to face some criticism
concerning the manner of how they reconstructed the historical buildings.316
Furthermore, the
projects cause a radical gentrification and segregation process in the neighbourhood.317
Other
critical aspects include the lack of public participation in the planning process and the creation
of mono structures on the island regarding land ownership, architecture, inhabitants and, to a
lesser extent, functions.318
As it was shown, these issues from the case study reflect some general trends in urban
planning in Riga. This raises the question: What kind of post-socialist city is Riga today and
what is it going to be like in the future? From the theoretical framework presented in this
thesis it can be concluded that Riga today still features many aspects of a post-socialist city in
transformation: For me the most important signs of the transformation are the lack of public
regulation and the massive privatization of land, which lead to an uncoordinated urban
development completely steered by the market. The central planning of the Soviet era, for
perceived negatively, was substituted by a radically different development mode based on
neo-liberal ideas. These conditions make it possible for private actors to carry out
development projects the way it was shown above, resulting in many features that are
regarded as typical in transformation societies: Cities that are dominated by an increasing gap
between rich and poor and by social processes like gentrification, segregation and
marginalization, in which certain groups of the society, such as old people and unskilled
workers, turn into the losers of the transformation.
315
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 316
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006 317
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, 19.12.2006 318
Interview with Jonas Büchel, 12.12.2006
81
The lack of effective regulatory instruments also paves the way for the manner in
which the city deals with its historical architecture: Commercial interests seem to be more
important than the historically correct conservation and restoration of historical buildings. Not
only bears this the risk that Riga develops into an artificial city of facades lacking any
authenticity. In my understanding the trend for “Historismus” concerning a certain phase of
the city`s past, namely the pre-Soviet past, can also be interpreted as a unique feature of post-
socialist cities which might even be able to survive the transformation period. In terms of
public participation, compared to other Baltic and Latvian cities Riga is left behind. Neither
the city council nor the citizens seem to be very interested in public participation. While in a
Western European understanding the democratic participation of all actors in the planning
process is regarded as crucial for sustainable development, in Riga it does not play an
influential role at all, even though through formal procedures the city tries to keep up the
notion of existing public participation. This can partly be explained by a general mistrust
among citizens towards planning institutions in transformation societies, but the fact that also
in the post-socialist context Riga is lacking behind suggests that the communication between
the public authorities and the inhabitants and thus the identification of the inhabitants with
their city is even less than in other post-socialist cities.
Judging from the issues above, in my eyes the transformation period in Riga is far
from completed, but the decisions about its future development should be made now. If the
city fails to establish effective regulatory instruments, Riga is heading towards – to say it with
Tosics´ words – an “unregulated capitalist city” model, which regarding the level of public
control and social processes is similar to North American cities, while its spatial form is rather
similar to Western European cities. This means a city, which is dominated by the gap of rich
and poor, in which private actors play the dominant role in urban development and which
makes use of its historic fabric in a very commercialized way. In my eyes the most essential
issue for the city is now to find a balance between the interests of the free market and
82
regulation by the public sector. The authorities have to create a strong vision for its future
development in order to provide some orientation about where the city is heading. Private
actors should respect this overall vision. Therefore the city council needs to establish effective
instruments to implement its development plans and to supervise the urban developments.
Another aspect that I regard as crucial in this context is, that the city council should establish
stronger participation rights for its citizens, so that they can not only express their demands,
but that these demands also have to be taken into consideration in the planning to some
account.
83
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Jaunie „Tr"s br#,i” (J3B):
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Jansons, Viktors:
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Infoblatt+Die+Nordamerikanische+Stadt (13.06.2007)
Kocers, Egils:
Ports of Latvia. Riga: Latvijas Ostu Padome 1998
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Riga Port City Masterplan. Rotterdam: Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)
2006
Kovács, Zoltán:
Cities from State-Socialism to Global Capitalism: an Introduction. GeoJournal, Vol.
49 (1999), No. 1, p. 1-6
Kunzmann, Klaus R.:
Creative Brownfield Redevelopment. In: Greenstein, Rosalind/Sungu-Eryilmaz,
Yesim: Recycling the City – The Use and Reuse of Urban Land. Cambridge,
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Transition in Eastern Europe. In: Andrusz, Gregory/Harloe, Michael/Szelenyi, Ivan
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Contemporary Urban Space-making at the Water`s Edge. In: Marshall, Richard (ed.):
Waterfronts in Post-industrial Cities. London, New York: Spon Press 2001, p. 3-14
Mayhew, Susan:
Oxford Dictionary of Geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2004
Meyer, Klaus:
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Riga City Development Department:
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Vorwort. In: Hafen- und Uferzonen im Wandel. Berlin: Leue Verlag 2001c,
p. 11-14
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Dz"vojamo 1ku Ansamblis 2ip)a Fabrika – Z&MG stila dz"vok,i. Riga
SIA MG:
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Smith, Michael P./Feagin, Joe R.:
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Strauß, Christian:
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City Development in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990: the Impacts of Internal
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The Urban Mosaic of Post-Socialist Europe. Heidelberg, New York: Physica-Verlag
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Wyly, Elvin:
From model to plan to market – Socialist and post-socialist urban systems. Geography
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Zaigas Gailes Birojs:
1ku Kompleksa Arhitektoniski M#kslinieciskais un Kult&rv%sturiskais Nov%rt%jums
2001 n.p.
Interviews
Interview with Inese Baranovska and Mario Zetzsche, J3B, 17.11.2006
Interview with P%teris Bl&ms, 14.12.2006
88
Interview with Jonas Büchel, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 11.12.2006
Interview with Jonas Büchel, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 12.12.2006
Interview with Zaiga Gaile, Zaigas Gailes Birojs, 14.11.2006
Interview with M#ris Gailis, SIA MG, 22.11.2006
Interview with Andis Kubla'ovs, University of Latvia, Department of Geography, 19.12.2006
Email interview with Aigars Ku)-is, JAU, 07.12.2006
Interview with Gvido Princis, Riga City Council, Urban Planning Department, 15.12.2006
Interview with Astr"da Rogule, J3B, 17.11.2006
Email interview with Edgar Schieder, PMT Austria, 10.01.2007
Interview with Edgars S&na, Freeport of Riga Authority, 14.12.2006
Documents
City Development Department (CDD):
City of Riga Development Programme 2006 – 2012. Riga City Council 2005a
City Development Department (CDD):
Es pl#noju R"gu – Long Term Development Strategy of Riga City till 2025. Riga City
Council 2005b
City Development Department (CDD):
Es pl#noju R"gu – Spatial Plan of Riga for 2006 – 2018. Riga City Council 2005c
City Development Department (CDD):
Building Regulations for Riga Historical Centre and its Protection Zones. Riga City
Council 2006a
City Development Department (CDD):
Es Planoju Rigu – Planning of the Riga Historical Centre and its Protection Zone
Territory. Riga City Council 2006b
R"gas Dome:
!"psalas Det#lpl#nojums. Riga City Council 2005a
R"gas Dome:
Teritorijas Izmanto)ana un Apb&ves Noteikumi, !"psalas Det#lpl#nojums. Riga City
Council 2005b
R"gas Dome:
Teritorijas zon%jums. Riga City Council 2005c
89
Photographs
Zaigas Gailes Birojs:
“_Baznicas ielas maja_1.jpg”. 2005 n.p.
Zaigas Gailes Birojs:
Power Point Presentation “Prezentacija Kipsala_2.ppt”, slide 22. 2005 n.p.
Zaigas Gailes Birojs:
Power Point Presentation “Prezentacija Kipsala_2.ppt”, slide 49. 2005 n.p.
Zaigas Gailes Birojs:
Power Point Presentation “Prezentacija Kipsala_2.ppt”, slide 50. 2005 n.p.
90
Appendices
APPENDIX 1: ZONING MAP OF KIPSALA (EXTRACT)319
319
R"gas Dome (2005c). The pink colour shows commercial zones with potential high-rise constructions while
the dark yellow zones are residential areas.
91
APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN (ORIGINAL RESIDENTS)
I. PERSONAL DATA 1. Sex
o male
o female
2. Age
o 18-25 years
o 26-35 o 36-50
o 51-65
o over 65
3. Marital Status
o single
o married o living together
o divorced
o widowed
4. Education
o basic
o secondary o vocational
o higher
5. Employment o yes
o no
if no, why? o unemployed
o pensioneer
o maternity leave o incapable of working
o other ____________________________
if yes, what kind of employment?
6. Nationality
o Latvian
o Russian
o no citizenship o other ____________________________
7. Actual Income per Month o < 100 LVL
o 100 – 250 LVL
o 251 – 500 LVL
o 501 – 1000 LVL o > 1000 LVL
92
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE APARTMENT 8. Your flat is... o private
o rented
o from municipality
o from private owner
o other ________________________
9. Total size of the flat
________ sqm
10. Total number of rooms ________ rooms
11. How many people live in the flat? ________ persons
12. How much do you pay for... ... the rent (per month)____________ LVL
... public facilities (electricity, gas, water,
heating/per month) _____________ LVL
13. Has the rent increased during the last... ... 1 year o yes
o no
o if yes, how much? ________ LVL ... 5 years
o yes
o no o if yes, how much? ________ LVL
14. If there was a rent increase, why?
15. Has your standard of living improved
during that time?
o yes
o no o if yes, in how far?
16. For how long have you been living in this
flat?
_______ years
17. Do you know in which year/period this
house was built?
o year: ____________
o period: ______________ o don`t know
III. PERSONAL OPINIONS ABOUT THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 18. In your opinion, has this area changed a
lot during the past 5 years?
o yes
o no
o if yes, what has changed?
93
19. If anything is changing, do you like these changes?
o yes o no
o why?
20. Do you know the residential project in the former gypsum factory?
o yes o no
21. If yes, what is your opinion about it?
22. Do you think that this project has an influence on this area?
o yes o no
o if yes, in how far?
23. Do you think that this project has an influence on your own life?
o yes o no
o if yes, in how far?
24. Do you have any personal contacts or interactions with the old residents of this
area?
o yes o no
o if yes, in how far?
25. Do you use any of the facilities provided in the gypsum factory?
o yes o no
o if yes, which ones?
o how often? _______ times per month
26. When the gypsum factory was renovated and transformed, did the planners inform
you about their plans?
o yes o no
27. Were you invited to participate in the planning process?
o yes o no
94
o if yes, how could you participate?
o did you participate?
o yes o no
o if yes, how?
28. Which facilities would you have liked to be included in the gypsum factory project?
29. Would you like to get more involved in the
development of this area in the future?
o yes
o no o if yes, how?
30. What would you like to change in this
area?
31. What is your vision for this area for the
future? What will it be like?
32. Do you think that you will continue to live here in the future?
o yes o no
o why?
95
APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN (NEW RESIDENTS)
I. PERSONAL DATA 1. Sex
o male
o female
2. Age o 18-25 years
o 26-35
o 36-50 o 51-65
o over 65
3. Marital Status o single
o married
o living together o divorced
o widowed
4. Education o basic
o secondary
o vocational
o higher
5. Employment
o yes o no
if no, why?
o unemployed o pensioneer
o maternity leave
o incapable of working o other ___________________________
if yes, what kind of employment?
6. Nationality o Latvian o Russian
o no citizenship
o other ___________________________
7. Actual Income per Month
o < 100 LVL
o 100 – 250 LVL
o 251 – 500 LVL o 501 – 1000 LVL
o > 1000 LVL
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE APARTMENT
96
8. Your flat is...
o private
o rented o from municipality
o from private owner
o other _______________________
9. Total size of the flat
_________ sqm
10. Total number of rooms
_________ rooms
11. How many people live in the flat? _________ persons
12. How much do you pay for... ... the rent (per month) ____________ LVL
... public facilities (electricity, gas, water,
heating/per month) _____________ LVL
13. For how long have you been living in this
flat?
________ years
14. Do you know when this house was...
... built?
o year: ________________
o period: _________________
o don`t know
... renovated?
o year: ________________ o don`t know
III. PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD 15. Why did you choose to move here?
16. What is your opinion about this area?
17. Do you think, the renovation of the gypsum factory and the wooden houses
has an influence on this area?
o yes
o no
o if yes, which influence?
97
18. What is your opinion about the old unrenovated houses in this area?
19. What do you think about the old residents
of this neighbourhood?
20. Do you have any personal contacts or
interactions with your direct neighbours?
o yes o no
o if yes, in how far?
21. Do you have any personal contacts or interactions with the old residents of this
area?
o yes
o no
o if yes, in how far?
22. Do you feel safe in this neighbourhood?
o yes
o no o why?
23. What would you like to change in this
area?
24. What is your vision for Kipsala in the future? What will it be like?
25. Do you think that you will continue to live
here in the future?
o yes
o no o why?
IV. GYPSUM FACTORY
98
26. Do you use any of the facilities provided
in the gypsum factory?
o yes
o no o if yes, how often? ___ times per month
27. Which facilities would you like to be
included in the gypsum factory?
28. Were you informed about the second
phase of the renovation of the gypsum
factory?
o yes
o no
29. Were you invited to participate in the
planning process?
o yes
o no o if yes, how could you participate?
o did you participate?
o yes o no
o if yes, how?
30. Would you like to get more involved in the development of this area in the future?
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