Evolution of industrial areas in

the future masterplan of Riga

Internship at Riga City Development Department

Miguel Oliveira
 Starting Questions

1. How should industrial areas evolve on the future master plan

of Riga?

2. How can we justify the importance of maintaining/expanding

industrial areas to developers who want to change the use (
to office, mixed use, residential), or the general population
who wants to use (or pass) those areas?

3. How other cities are dealing with evolution of industrial areas

on their master plans?

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 Research developed until now

• Study of the role of economy, industry and industrial

areas in the current Plans of Riga (2006-2018, and
strategic vision till 2025) and several documents about
the city (in english);

• General theoretical framework about the following

themes: deindustrialization, “shrinking cities”, patterns of
industrial evolution on other cities, industrial land use
studies;

• Revision of Master Plans in several countries.

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 Question 1 - How should industrial areas evolve on
the future plan of Riga?
Article: Evaluation of Recent industrial Land Use Studies: Do Theory and
History make better practice? Dempwolf (2010) - Studied several Industrial Land Uses Plan
(SFO, Chicago, Seattle etc) - Acess here

Main findings:
• Mixed use is becoming a staple in planning practice
• It´s imperative to protect prime industrial land from residential and
mixed use development. Why?

1. Industrial businesses provide crucial support to mixed use and

residential areas.
2. Close proximity is important to the provision of that support.
3. Industrial uses are highly sensitive to rent levels. Without protection,
marginal demand for residential and mixed use development can
crowd out industrial uses, negatively affecting all users in the long run.
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 Question 1 - How should industrial areas evolve on
the future plan of Riga?
Article: Evaluation of Recent industrail Land Use Studies: Do Theory and
History make better practice? Dempwolf (2010) - Studied several Industrial Land Uses
Plan (SFO, Chicago, Seattle etc)

Main findings:
• Overall, the recommendations were centered on either broad policy
changes or targeted area strategies;
• Some studies recommended significant changes to industrial zoning
classifications, introducing restrictions on the use of industrial land
for non-industrial uses. These changes were designed to provide
greater protection to core industrial areas;
• Several studies also recommended rezoning certain parcels out of
industrial where it was clear that they were better suited for mixed
use;
• The alignment of infrastructure with industrial land was also a
common recommendation and this frequently shows up in targeted
area strategies.

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 Question 1 - How should industrial areas evolve on
the future plan of Riga?
Main Findings:
Targeted area strategies were also frequently recommended in the
studies, and the range of solutions was much greater than that of the
policy recommendations. The solutions fell into four broad categories:

1. Plan – oriented efforts including overlay districts and targeted

neighborhood plans;
2. Conversion – oriented strategies including conversion criteria, impact
studies and impact fees;
3. Spatial compatibility efforts including buffer zones and design criteria;
4. Incentive efforts including site assembly, brownfield remediation and other
economic development and workforce development tools and incentives .

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Question 2 - How can we justify the importance of
maintaining/expanding industrial areas to developers who want to
change the use (to office, mixed use, residential), or the general
population who wants to use (or pass) these areas?

• Developing studies about current industrial areas and their

evolution, including data such as employed people, GDP weight on
the city economy, average wage, qualification of human capital etc.
Also making aware of the importance of the industry as support to
other uses;
• Establishing quantitative criteria to change the use of soil;

• What is the strategy for Riga industrial areas in the future? Can we
estabilish a long term and coherent strategy without evaluating the
current situation and it´s evolution?
• Should Riga have an industrial land use development plan?

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Question 2 - How can we justify the importance of
maintaning/expanding industrial areas to developers who want
to change the use (to office, mixed use, residential), or the general
population who wants to use (or pass) these areas?

Examples of Industrial land studies of american cities from cities and

regions throughout the US and Canada - acess here (San Francisco,
Oakland, Boston, Chicago Denver, Minneapollis,
Portland,Vancouver, Baltimore, NYC and other smaller cities etc)

• Composite outline for Industrial Land Use Studies based on the

previous examples (Article: Evaluation of Recent industrial Land Use Studies: Do Theory and History
make better practice? Dempwolf (2010) (pg 29)

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 Question 3 - How other cities are dealing with the
evolution of industrial areas on their master plans?

Article: Land Survey: Investigation of Comparable Cities (City of Seattle, 2007)

- Acess here

Interview with city staff of eight cities with similiar dimension (Portland, Vancouver,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia.)

Five questions:
1. What are the long-term employment trends in the industrial sector?
2. What are the vacancy rates for industrial properties?
3. What pressures are owners of industrial properties facing to convert to non-
industrial uses; what are water-dependent industries in particular facing?
4. What policies have been put into place to encourage emerging industries?
5. What tools (programs, projects, regulatory mechanisms) have been
developed to retain existing industrial landowners and attract new
industrial users?

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 Question 3 - How other cities are dealing with the
evolution of industrial areas on their master plans?

Main Findings:
• Cities are experiencing pressures to convert industrial lands to other uses.
Most note an historical trend of a loss of industrial lands and a relatively
recent acknowledgement of their value and an attempt to reverse or at
least slow the rate of conversion;
• Speculation on land use conversion in industrial areas is putting pressure
on land prices, making it difficult for manufacturing businesses to stay in
businesses and new manufacturing businesses to locate. Sometimes
pressure is also coming from institutional uses (such as schools) ;
• Most of the cities either have some type of strategy in place for
addressing conversion and conversion pressure or are in the process of
developing a strategy. Current and planned strategies include both
regulatory and non-regulatory means;
• Most of the cities utilize special overlay or neighborhood districts with
specific regulatory approaches.

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 Question 3 - How other cities are dealing with the
evolution of industrial areas on their master plans?
Main Findings:
Non-regulatory or incentive based measures include a wide range of
strategies that fit into several general categories:
• a. Identification of industrial land areas where preservation efforts should
be focused;
• b. Development of tax incentives or loans for existing or new industrial
businesses;
• c. Coordination with other agencies and/or industrial councils and non-
profits to create more comprehensive strategies;
• d. Public investment in infrastructure, brownfield development, workforce
training;
• e. Development of comprehensive land use strategies aimed at retaining
industrial lands for manufacturing by allowing more flexibility in the zoning
regulations;
• f. Ongoing data gathering programs to tract trends and progress of
strategies.

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 Bibliography

Articles:
• Evaluation of Recent industrial Land Use Studies: Do Theory and History
make better practice? Dempwolf (2010) - Studied several Industrial Land
Uses Plan - Acess here

• Land Survey: Investigation of Comparable Cities (City of Seattle, 2007)

- Acess here

Websites:
• Several Industrial land studies from cities and regions throughout the United
States and Canada - Acess here