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State of the Environment in Riga 2001
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 Use of land
 

In the course of the development of the Riga City , a certain pattern of use of specific territories has evolved. The area of the Riga City within its administrative boarders is 30 717 ha (of which 25 317 is dry land). Riga has a comparatively large territory with an average of 25.7 people sharing 1 ha. The density of population in different parts of the city is different, for example, in the central part, an average of 180 people share 1 ha, while in Kurzeme district - the average is only 14 people per ha.

The dominant land use is natural and planted green areas (see Table 6 ) constituting 11 252 ha or 36.6 % of the total area of the city. Natural green areas include waterways and water bodies making up 17.6 % of the total area. The distribution of the green areas in Riga is rather unbalanced. In the central part (within the railway arc), parks, gardens, squares and other greenery form only 8 % of the territory.

With the present distribution, the natural green areas in the peripheries do not perform the functions assigned to them in the Official Plan, namely:    

  • ecosystem function
  •  recreational and health promotion function
  • representative and educational function

The acutest problems exist in the central part, where economic activities exert pressure on the greenery thus diminishing it and threatening to diminish the quality of the environment in future.

 

The use of land in Riga does not always proceed through action or omission according to the Official Plan. There have been attempts to interpret the Official Plan to suit economic interest groups. Green areas under particular risk are those around the big waterways and in the city centre. There are some territories in Riga, which do not have owners. The owners of private houses are not always held sufficiently accountable for tidying up their territories. State and municipally owned land is not maintained properly.

 

 

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This page was last updated: 2003.03.31.