Lithuania’s Environment Ministry is considering allowing a higher build–up of cities, increasing it to a limit of 60,000 residents per square kilometre in urban areas. This would result in density close to cities like Shanghai in China, according to architects, informs Lithuanian public media LRT.
The population density of the Lithuanian capital is now several times lower than that of the world’s largest cities.
The proposals from the Environment Ministry would bring the density up to 600 inhabitants per hectare, or about 16 square metres per inhabitant.
«That’s 150 apartments per hectare, which is not such a frightening figure if we look at a built-up area,» says Deputy Environment Minister Daiva Veličkaitė-Matusevičė.
However, a member of the Seimas Committee on Environmental Protection says that the density of foreign cities should not become an example for Vilnius. He considers that the quality lifr in Lithuania is much better in comparison with other countries and he doesn’t see the reason why the established traditions should be changed.
Vilnius’ chief architect says that urban densification is a normal process, but even in the most populated areas, there are now 2–3 times fewer people than the ministry’s plan.
Architect Algirdas Kaušpėdas supports densification, saying that it is often misunderstood by saying that «Densification does not mean that we will deliver more apartment blocks.»
The point is to conveniently place amenities in neighbourhoods so that all services are available within a 15–minute walk. But the process has to be natural, not based on fixed numbers.
The Environment Ministry says that it has put this figure simply as a maximum, referring to already populated areas and that it is up to the municipalities to decide whether to densify their towns.
The ministry also has to clarify the size of green areas. In the past, the Lithuanian authorities planned that it would take only a few minutes to get to a small park, a public square or a forest after leaving the house. Now, green space can be kilometres away.
According to the Special Investigation Service (STT), Lithuania’s anti-corruption watchdog, the new rules on calculating green space standards would only benefit a range of interest groups.
«We can see that attempts are being made to pander to the interests of property developers and reduce the size of green areas,» said MP Tomilinas.
The Environment Ministry, which has already come under criticism, is now considering changes.
The minister’s order on reduced green spaces is also being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Lithuania’s Environment Ministry is considering allowing a higher build–up of cities
