Riga Planning

region
Rita Puria
Ina Ludriksone
Naila Aghayeva
Oleg Andreev

Territory

Territory
Located in center of Latvia
Consists of
28 areas
2 towns

Center of region the capital Riga

Curort towns Sigulda and Jurmala
9270,7km2

Inhabitants
1,2 million inhabitants

Rga region
Other regions

53%

47%

In towns lives 85% of inhabitants

Unemployment rate
Column1

Unemployment level is 5.5% in Riga

development region.

Unemployed

Employed

Charasteristics
60% of industrial coproduction of Latvia
competitiveness of business environment determine
supply and quality of labor, researh and innovation
level, legal and institutionl basis
Important country objects (promising for investment
and economic development):
Ship port (Riga), also fishing port (Salacgriva)
Railway station
International airport
Main motorways
See, river Daugava
Biggest tax payers are in centre/town, biggest donation
receivers in countryside

More advantages
Geographical location (central)
infrastructure as comparative advantage
Convenient access to countries, resources
and markets

Stereotypes
Economical and cultural development (which
also is as driving force of the general area
Restaurants
Nature
Sports, etc.

Riga, Silgulda, Jurmala - tourism

Seaside -tourism
Negative: Riga is the place to for young single
men (beer and women)

Infrastructure I

Moving around and cargo transport in the region is ensured by motorcar

roads and railway, whereas the international access is ensured by motorcar
roads, railway, as well as air traffic and ports.

The region is the node of cargo and passenger transport organization of

national and international importance, Almost all important state motorcar
roads, railway lines start in Riga; the international airport Riga, several
small airfields, Riga port and four small ports are situated in the region. In
long period a relatively balanced dense transport net has been formed,
which ensures the internal flow of cargo and passengers of the countryside
areas, as well as their connections with Riga and cities of other districts.

Riga center can be accessed by public

transport in 30 minutes if from Pieriga,
but from the remote areas of the region
even 3 hours might be necessary.
The lack of mutual link between the arched
connections and most important populated
areas is not optimal for the development of
the region in most cases the displacement
is through Riga, increasing the traffic jams and delaying the mutual
communication of centres
inside the region.

Infrastructure II
The Riga Airport gradually plays more important role in the international transport, it has turned into the biggest airport
in the Baltic countries,
and it complies with the international requirements and develops
rapidly. The airport does not have corresponding connections to the regional
public transport system and railway net.
*

Historically the Riga port has been the driving force for the economic development of the region, regarding cargo turnover
the port occupies the second place in the country after the Ventspils port. In recent years the cargo turnover (the sent and
received cargoes) increases considerably in the Riga port, but it does not use sufficiently the possibilities of attending
passengers, which respectively does not correspond to the possibilities of Riga as of the metropolis and the centre of the
Baltic countries.
In comparison to other regions in Latvia Riga planning region is provided considerably better with the information
technologies and the access to their resources,
which is proved by the proportion of computer users, which is
two times higher than in other regions.
However, at the same time, unequal access of inhabitants
to the information resources is characteristic for the region,
depending on the place of residence and net of
telecommunication service infrastructure.
Riga region has not evaluated yet and sufficiently
used the advantages of its territorial position, which
causes lagging behind in comparison to other regions
of the capital cities of the Baltic Sea, which thus
considerably
prevents the development of Riga
region already in the near future.

Infrastructure III
Three magisterial international pipe lines cross the Region, thus ensuring the flow of gas and oil products and the
access to good resources,
and providing preconditions for the modernization of the local infrastructure. The most important national sites of
producing energy (Kegums hydroelectric power station, Riga hydroelectric power station and Riga TEC-1
(thermal power station), TEC-2), management (headquarters of Latvenergo"), energy division
The dispatching control service office of the
Baltic States and Russia North-Western electro systems),
as well as larger energy consumption sites are
situated in the territories of the municipalities of
Riga region. With the
increase of the energy
consumption the existing power supply does not
provide possibilities for long-term development
it is necessary to increase our own power supply
and to decrease the dependence on foreign countries.
In accordance with the requirements of the EU directive the modernization of the community management has been
started. At the moment many cities and populated areas of Riga region lack the centralized system of water supply
and sewerage or the infrastructure of the existing systems is out of date; there is lack of machineries for iron removal
from the water. As the amount of household waste increases rapidly, the introduction of the regional system for
waste recollection, sorting and recycling becomes topical and important.
The multiform infrastructure of the Region is on the verge of changes,
because the existing possibilities for use and development are exhausted
in most cases, which means that new solutions have to be found.

Riga Planning region

Rita Puria
Ina Ludriksone
Naila Aghayeva
Oleg Andreev