Folia Geographica 10. sējums - Latvijas Universitāte

DEVELOPMENT OF PLACES AND REGIONS8. Rīgas iedzīvotāju dispersijas pakāpe ir augstāka nekā strādājošo dispersijas pakāpe unpašreizējais iedzīvotāju un strādājošo izvietojuma modelis neveicina ikdienas ceļojumuminimizēšanu.9. Ja nākotnē pilsētas iedzīvotāju un pilsētā strādājošo teritoriālais izvietojums nemainīsies,ir sagaidāma lielāka slodze Rīgas transporta sistēmai un pieaugošas investīcijasinženierinfrastruktūrai, kā arī iespējami augoša negatīvā ietekme uz vidi.10. Pašreizējā disharmonija pilsētas iedzīvotāju un strādājošo teritoriālajā izvietojumāgalvenokārt ir jāattiecina uz padomju varas gados īstenoto Rīgas teritoriālās attīstības politiku,tomēr arī kopš Latvijas neatkarības atgūšanas 1991. gadā vēl nav veikti nozīmīgi, lieli pasākumiteritorijas fragmentācijas pakāpes samazināšanā. Nekustamā īpašuma tirgus viens nespēs šoproblēmu atrisināt, tāpēc ir nepieciešama tūlītēja pilsētas pašvaldības rīcība Rīgas teritoriālāsstruktūras funkcionalitātes uzlabošanā.SummaryFew modern cities are purely monocentric, having jobs and economic activities located inthe central business district, and few cities are completely polycentric. Riga belongs to theformer type of city; it is a typical monocentric city in which about two thirds of all theworkplaces are located in a relatively small area, close to the historical part of the city.At the same time most inhabitants live farther out, close to the administrative borders inmulti-story residential buildings. These areas take up 1680 hectares or 5.4% of city territory, butthe buildings accommodate about 50 percent of the total population. Riga has very few low-riseresidential areas because since the 1950’s the construction of family homes has been forbidden,and the zones once designated for low-rise residential housing have been re-developed and usedfor high-rise residential housing. In the current Official Plan all low-rise residential zones havebeen preserved, and new areas have been suggested to give the opportunity for a variety ofhousing. However, in the future the area of these designated zones may prove insufficient,especially if the standard of living grows rapidly and improvements occur in the transportationtechnology.Because Riga is an old city, the pattern of land use distribution in Riga shows the featurestypical of both a market economy and a planned urban economy in which site value was notpriced and the costs were heavily subsidized:1) Most workplaces are located within the three-kilometer radius from the historical core,emphasizing the monocentric structure of Riga.2) There is a low percentage of residential area of about 35% out of the total built-up areabecause the other land had been allocated to non-residential use. A share of 50 to 65%would be more appropriate for Riga.3) There are fewer residential areas between three and seven kilometers from the city centerbecause most of the land is used by old land-intensive industries. Many of these industrialareas are obsolete or under-utilized.4) Several high-density residential areas are located between eight to nine and thirteen tofourteen kilometers from the center.5) The pattern of population density shows four distinct concentric zones:• the pre-socialist historic core with high population and very high employmentdensities;• the old industrial belt showing a drop in residential density;• the ”socialist” residential belt (relatively high densities) where land use was dictatedby uniform urban planning norms, irrespective of the distance to the city center;• peripheral areas with low densities (detached housing) and large green areas.These land use distortions are causing problems for the transition to a market economy,and they are negatively effecting the attractiveness of Riga as a location for business and a placeof residence. A deficient spatial structure fragments labor and consumer markets into small andless efficient markets. It also unnecessarily increases distances between homes and work andcreates greater pollution.105