Riga

Riga, founded in 1201, is the capital and the largest city of Latvia with a territory of 307 km². Being home to 639,000 residents (2019), it is also the largest city in the Baltic states, and thanks to its central geographical position it is recognized as the European metropolis at the crossroads of Eastern and Northern Europe. Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage site with one of the world’s richest collections of Art Nouveau on the grand boulevards and the attractive historical architecture in the suburbs and Old Town.

Nowadays, smart environment & climate friendly urban development is among the city’s key development priorities – the Sustainable Development Strategy of Riga until 2030 sets out an ambition “to become compact, resource-saving, and smart city with the highest quality of life; green urban environment with high-quality natural territories, green corridors, and accessible waterfronts; to provide smart and efficient management of the city resources, modern administration, innovative economy, as well as to ensure active participation of Riga residents in city development processes”.

From participation in the ATELIER project, Riga city aims to:

• acquire new knowledge, experience, skills and innovative approaches for the development of PEDs – a concept that is new for Riga;
• develop a “Bold City Vision 2050” for guiding the city’s energy transition challenges, and to integrate the vision in urban planning processes at all levels, among other, to update city’s SEAP-2020 to SECAP-2030;
• develop new funding opportunities – incentives and business models aimed to finance sustainable development in the city, in particular smart and energy efficient retrofitting of residential and tertiary buildings;
• create a community of local stakeholders willing to engage in smart transformation processes;
• raise awareness amongst the local population on sustainability issues and smart city concepts.