RIGA, June 11 (LETA) - Riga's development is hampered by a fragmented system, with no single authority responsible for integrated urban development, according to a study by the LaSER think tank on Thursday entitled "Simple and fast? Planning and Building Permit Process in Riga", said LaSER researcher Oskars Leosks at the presentation.

The study concludes that Riga's system is poorly coordinated, slow and difficult to predict, which hampers investment and development. At the same time, the study points to a dual development pattern, with new buildings concentrated on the outskirts, while the city center remains stagnant.

Leosks said that the construction block of the Riga City Council's Urban Development Department is only one fragment of a fragmented system. "No single authority is responsible for integrated urban development. Large, strategic projects will have to 'go through' at least four departments, there is oversight by four City Council committees, operational oversight by the executive director, political oversight by the mayor and two vice-mayors," Leosks said.

He pointed out that the fragmentation of political oversight is also a problem - of the four departments responsible, two are overseen by the National Alliance, one by the United List and one by the Progressives.

Leosks admitted that there is no single authority in the city that "takes a project by the hand and takes it through all the departments". "The LaSER study recommends that Riga should look at Helsinki model, which moved to a single Urban Development Department in 2014. Leosks said that LaSER recommends this for Riga as well - there should be one development body under the supervision of one vice-mayor.

The LaSER study also concluded that Riga is developing a new development strategy - it has a vision, but it is without a financial and institutional basis. Leosks pointed out that developers cannot trust the promises of the municipality, and that the city is developing in a piecemeal fashion.

According to Leosks, the development strategy should be developed by all city departments together, it should be linked to the city budget and it should be realistic. The strategy should say how it will be implemented in practice and with what kind of funding - public-private partnerships, foundations or other.

The study also concludes that the fact that Riga has two spatial development plans - the UNESCO-required heritage conservation plan for the historic center, which has been turned into a separate spatial plan - is a hindrance to development. There are therefore two plans - for the center and for the rest of the city. LaSER proposes to move to a single spatial development plan, integrating the center into the city plan.

Leosks informed that from 2000 to 2026, the population decline in the area where the downtown area plan is in effect has been faster than the Riga and Latvia average.

"Therefore, we need to be clear about what heritage we are protecting and why we are protecting it. At the moment, the city is working towards preserving heritage without a vision for its development. If we want the city center to develop, we need to sort out the issue of heritage conservation and do everything possible to make the center inhabited, because empty buildings are dying," said Leosks.

He stressed that if a city is not inhabited, you cannot expect anything good to happen there. "The population in Riga has been decreasing, faster than in Latvia. A city has to serve the people and cannot be a work of art," said Leosks.

He also noted the shortcomings of the building block that the study revealed - three parallel streams (architect, engineer, lawyer) assess one development idea. Leosks stressed that the plans should be considered together and unnecessary normativity should be avoided.