“Verde” – project that finally connected Skanste with city centre

Skanste, a neighbourhood in Riga, has been regarded for decades as one of the capital's priority development territories. Its growth, however, remained uneven for a long time, creating a mismatch between the area's formal status and how residents actually perceived it.

Although Skanste was always administratively part of the city centre, many Riganians did not consider it to be a genuine part of the centre. This perceptual divide has persisted for years. The Verde project is described as finally connecting the neighbourhood with the city centre, thus helping to bridge this long-standing gap.

The project marks a significant shift, as it allows Skanste to become a full-fledged component of the urban environment rather than a territory that is only formally within the centre. It thereby addresses the contradiction between administrative belonging and everyday urban experience.

Skanste retains its status as a priority development area, and Verde demonstrates how an urban planning project can change perceptions of a part of the city. With this project, Riga's centre and Skanste have finally become a unified whole, in line with both formal planning and people's actual experience. This is a notable development for the Latvian capital, as it closes a chapter of uneven growth for one of its historically designated priority zones.