In the Riga City Development Strategy for up to 2030, the Skanste neighborhood has been defined as a priority territory: the central business district of the capital, a platform for European-scale events and a quality life and work environment for many thousands of Rigans. Next to the Historic Center and the “Quiet Center” of the city, contemporary, high-quality construction is taking place, attracting residents and businesses and fostering the competitiveness of Riga. Many international companies and banks have already chosen Skanste as the location for their headquarters.
Skanste is situated on the right-hand bank of the Daugava River and is considered as part of the compact center of Riga. The central traffic artery of the neighborhood is Skanstes street, and its borders are marked by Pulkveza Brieza, Hanzas, Vesetas and Duntes streets, as well as Ganibu dambis and the railroad.
Its location and promising future make Skanste an attractive environment for contemporary urban lifestyle, business, and investment. Where kitchen garden plots dominated only recently, now the most advanced offices, sports facilities of national significance and state-of-the-art housing are found. These new, elegant buildings are the work of well-known architects from Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Finland, Canada and the UK. Next to the finished buildings, there are bicycle paths and sidewalks for pedestrians, green spaces, playgrounds, and areas for sports and recreation.
In the coming years, important buildings such as the new Museum of Contemporary Art and the Riga Conference and Concert Center will be erected in Skanste, as well as new top-quality Class A office and living spaces, providing opportunities available only in a state-of-the-art urban environment. The many ambitious plans will make the Skanste neighborhood the Gateway to 21st-century Riga.
By November 18, 2021, Latvia will finally have its own museum of contemporary art, which will be located in the Skanste neighborhood. The London-based Adjaye Associates architectural bureau and their Latvian partners AB3D have been chosen as the winners of an international design competition. The construction of the Museum of Contemporary Art will be privately funded and overseen by the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture.
The Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art will be the first major public-private cultural initiative in Latvia and is set to be a cultural institution of interregional significance, shaping international perceptions of Riga and Latvia. The museum will support the nation’s growing artistic community and give Riga and the Baltic Region an attraction which speaks to new audiences as well as art lovers. The museum’s unique collection will span art and visual culture in Latvia and the Baltic Sea region from the 1960s to the present day.
Due to the rapid development of the Skanste neighborhood, up to 42 700 people will work and live there by the year 2030, as opposed to about 12 500 currently.
It is expected to develop over 100 000m² of office space by 2024 in one of the most rapidly developing parts of Skanste, the business and financial quarter New Hanza, therefore creating more than 10 000 jobs in various Shared Business Service sectors (SSC, BPO, and ITO).
One of the most vibrant offices in Skanste – TechHub Riga hosts workspace for new technologies and product-oriented startups. This is one of the first stops for investors who come to Riga looking for innovative technologies. TechHub also organizes a range of valuable events, the monthly Meetup, TechHub Academy, as well as the new technologies conference TechChill, which is considered the most important gathering of young entrepreneurs in the Baltic countries.
Skanste’s geographical location and developed network of streets make the neighborhood easily accessible both by car and public transportation. The public buildings have open-air or underground parking. A bicycle path connects the center of Riga and Mezaparks, the prestigious recreational district. The new low-floor tramline is expected in 2022 and will be 3.6 kilometers long. The tram line will link the Skanste neighborhood with the Central Train Station, which will be one of the stops of the international railway Rail Baltica, a project currently under construction to link Finland, the Baltic States and Poland with a standard gauge rail line.
Skanste is about a friendly environment for families as well. Various newly-built residential buildings are complemented with a broad variety of educational and recreation venues easily accessible in Skanste or in close proximity. Currently, the youngest residents of the neighborhood are welcomed by four modern kindergartens and their older peers can continue their education at the two Secondary Schools or Riga’s Lycée Français. Nearby resides the BA School of Business and Finance. Given the current demand and expected substantial increase in the population of Skanste, city development authorities plan to open an additional pre-school facility and build a new park.
Skanste also is a place of excitement and adventure. There are a number of sports facilities of national significance, including Arena Riga, which is the venue for practically all important hockey and basketball games, as well as concerts and shows, and the Olympic Center, with its sports arena and swimming pool. The bicycle paths and wide sidewalks are part of what makes the neighborhood an environment-friendly to cyclists and runners pursuing a healthy lifestyle, maintaining their athletic form or training for a race. Incidentally, the route of the annual Riga marathon also includes Skanstes Street.
