On Tuesday, 15 April, the first round of the revitalisation project opened in Skanste – one of the largest urban development projects of Riga municipality in recent years. A modern green area created in the Skanste neighbourhood, it will contribute to its sustainable development and attractiveness. Residents and city guests have access to a nearly 15-hectare expansive, state-of-the-art area with walking trails, water landscapes, skatepark, volleyball courts, outdoor exercise equipment and children's playgrounds. The project has built four new streets and engineering networks, ensuring mobility and neighborhood development in the future.
Skanste is one of the priority development areas of the municipality for the development of neighbourhoods and entrepreneurship, and along with the revitalisation of the historically overgrown and degraded area, a cleaned, accessible and well-developed environment has been established in Skanste, as well as a convenient connection with other parts of the city. The project is one of the prerequisites for the further development of the sustainable territory of the Skanste neighbourhood, as the new infrastructure and the improved environment create favourable conditions for business and housing development.
At the opening of the project, the Chairperson of the Riga City Council Vilnis Ķirsis emphasized: “Skanste neighborhood is the fastest growing neighborhood in Riga in recent years – a couple of decades ago there was no indication of the new, modern and vital part of Riga we see here today. And the park is an absolutely integral part of such a neighborhood. There is a great deal of satisfaction for a modern-made park and for residents of Riga for walks and sports activities in a convenient new Skanste park. All the more so because, until very recently, this was a degraded area of the city – it has now been cleaned up and turned into a pearl, like a bright button at the tunic of Riga.”
The central location is the new Skanste park, located in the block between Laktas, Zirņu and Skanstes Street. It creates a vast landscape space of water and planting over 7 hectares, which will provide serene and active recreation facilities. Children and adults of different ages will be able to spend their spare time there due to the construction of toy equipment, rubber cover placed in the children's playground, the creation of two beach volleyball courts and the installation of outdoor exercise equipment. Rest areas equipped with waves and benches, rubbish cans. 46 bicycle stands have been installed. One of the key elements of the park is a skatepark created with an interesting and attention-grabbing painting. The park can be used for walking, running and crossing while heading to other adjacent areas. In general, walkways of more than two kilometres have been created in the park and the new walkways have been built with both concrete paving and a top suitable for running. Visitors to the park have access to a public toilet and a free drinking water tap with an anti-freeze valve, which can also be used during the winter period.
Four new streets with a total length of 1,972 metres have been built during the project. On the new streets - Lapeņu, Jāņa Dikmaņa, Jāņa Krūmiņa and Jāņa Daliņa Street - water supplies, rainwater sewers, electronic communications networks, street lighting have been built, as well as streets now have new asphalt cover. The total length of the new water supply system together with the supplies reaches 1 277 metres. Car parks and cycle lanes have been built on the streets. In addition, rinsing and water quality testing of pre-built pipelines have been carried out.
A sustainable model of rainwater collection system in the form of ponds and canals has been built in the territory of the project for Skanste and Riga, because of the historic presence of landslide meadows. The system consists of a combination of traditional and green solutions: for collectors collecting runoff water from streets and properties, the greenery-covered suit, a canal with a gabion support wall, a section of the canal park and a pond. The system provides for a constant level of water corresponding to the current groundwater level. During the downpour, the water level rises and then gradually decreases, draining water into the city's rain sewer network. The system is in line with best international practice, turning water from a problem to a resource and offering a number of functions: water collection, storage, drainage and purification. Such a solution will protect the area from flooding in heavy rains, improve the public outdoors, regulate the city's microclimate and cool on hot days, and ensure biodiversity.
The green area of the project is designed to maximise its adaptation to natural conditions. A greenery area has been created along the rainwater collection system with rest benches on 1.6 hectares. The greenery of the area has been carried out by creating the meadows of the city and, as far as possible, preserving the previously grown trees. A total of 881 trees, 571 leafy bushes, 10,202 perennial winter starches and other plants have been planted, including phytomediated or surface-purifying plants. The planting will also contribute to biodiversity.
In determining the uneven settling of structures and engineering networks constructed in previous years, preservation of the structure and soil consolidation has been performed in the part of the project territory, which will take approximately five years. It is necessary in order to ensure the long-term nature of the structures already constructed, because in the future it is planned to complete construction and connection of municipal sewers to the city network in the territory of the project. The municipality will regularly monitor the territory and the engineered networks built.
The project “1st round of revitalisation of Skanste territory” has been implemented with co-financing of European funds, State budget grant and co-financing of Riga municipality. The total costs related to the implementation of the project are EUR 21 723 645, 69 of which, financing from the European Regional Development Fund - EUR 4 601 880, 20, grant from the State budget EUR 670 334.40; co-financing of Riga municipality – EUR 16 451 431.09.
The project has been implemented with co-financing of the European Regional Development Fund in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 645, "Regulations for implementation of the specific support objective 5.6.2 “revitalisation of territories by regeneration of degraded territories in conformity with Integrated Development programmes of local Governments” of the operational Programme “Growth and Employment” and measure 13.1.3.3 “revitalisation of territories for Promotion of entrepreneurship in municipalities” of the specific support objective 13.1.3 “Recovery measures in the field of Environment and Regional Development”.
Information was prepared by Tatjana Smirnova, Project Coordinator of the Department of External Communication of the Communication Department of the Riga Municipality e-mail: tsmirnova11@riga.lv
