The survey results also show that the city’s residents believe that many of their needs are fulfilled by their home neighbourhoods, but there are also ample problems to resolve.
A market and public opinion research company Spinter Tyrimai survey commissioned by the harmonious environment competences Darnaus Miesto Lab, which was founded by Darnu Group, has revealed that more than 52 per cent of interviewed Vilnius residents feel the best when they are in nature. 33 per cent of respondents indicated their favourite area in their home neighbourhood were parks. Roughly the same number of respondents pointed out squares, green spaces and other natural spaces next to bodies of water.
Architecture and urbanism innovator Donatas Baltrušaitis links the survey results indicating a direct influence of nature on Vilnius resident’s wellbeing with natural human instincts.
“Nature is of evolutionary importance to human beings because even the cities we live in are a part of nature. In the previous century, planning mistakes were made and cities were adapted more for machines and less for the people. Due to the rapid growth and increasing pace, there has been an increase in stress levels, which are best contained by none other than green spaces, which allow for quality resting. As such, we must now strive to create as much greenery in cities and amend the previously committed mistakes,” Baltrušaitis says.
The architect also notes that there is importance in not only the number of elements in the city encouraging relaxation but also their implementation.
“Public spaces in Vilnius often lack high-quality landscaping solutions, and in the city itself, an integrated network of pedestrian and bicycle paths which would directly link the neighbourhoods with one another. What is most important is to shift planning priorities from car infrastructure to planning for the people,” the specialist proposes.
Darnu Group director of property management Mantas Umbrasas says that in order to reduce the need for cars among urban residents, real estate developers are implementing a multi-functional neighbourhood development concept, which generates the most benefit to both those working or living in those neighbourhoods and also to the entire city.
“On one hand, we are ensuring the neighbourhood’s autonomy and reducing the need for people to travel around town in cars when all necessary social and commercial services are within reach. On the other hand, for example, the multi-functional nature of the Paupys neighbourhood we are developing is creating a number of centres of gravity for all those visiting Vilnius Old Town, and ensures larger inflows for businesses settling here, from catering establishments to hairdressers or art galleries,” Umbrasas notes.
Main decision – reduce the need for cars
The survey also revealed that Vilnius residents find the neighbourhood’s infrastructure, convenient access to the city centre and other neighbourhoods, traffic jams and car parking questions to be very important. When evaluating the residential neighbourhoods’ traits on a scale of one to ten, an issue in many neighbourhoods was revealed – car parking. The average evaluation for this aspect reached only 4.5 points, going even lower in some areas in the capital.
However, specialists advise to improve this criterion not by increasing the size of car parks, but by developing suitable alternatives.
Urbanist Martynas Marozas states that currently, with such a wide offering of car sharing, renting and other transport alternatives in Vilnius, for most of society, a car is simply unnecessary and every investment into car infrastructure is a vast expense on the budget, due to which other areas of the city lose financing, areas such as bike lanes, green spaces or public transport.
Marozas believes that in order to change the car parking situation, residents must be encouraged by all possible means to choose alternative transport means rather than a personal car. Such a choice could also emerge if several unappealing and vastly budget intensive car parking spaces were transformed into other functional zones.
“These could be small green spaces with benches and trees; bike storage locations; taxi stops; courier stops, which would not hamper nearby traffic; even underground recycling containers. When residents are offered a greater benefit than spending money on all-day parking in the city, perhaps we would also choose different transportation,” Marozas states.
Further from the centreless entertainment
The survey also revealed that outside of the Old Town, most of Vilnius’ neighbourhoods are lacking in art, culture and entertainment. The combined art and sculpture evaluation for Vilnius’ residential neighbourhoods only reached 4.92 points, while cultural infrastructure and entertainment offerings reached just a little over 5.5 points out of the possible ten.
Baltrušaitis reveals that in order to improve on these aspects of the residential neighbourhoods, it is necessary to follow the example set by the Old Town in multi-functionality – to distribute cultural infrastructure and entertainment more, by not only planning public spaces, but also real estate projects.
“If public functions were more distributed throughout every neighbourhood, people would not need to travel to the town centre or other neighbourhoods and everything could be reached by foot, bicycle or public transport,” Baltrušaitis states.
Marozas was of a similar mind in regard to city planning and pointed out types of housing projects.
“If a single building features homes for people of different types and social circumstances – someone starting off, a new family, rental, the elderly, the disabled or families with disabled children – then the neighbourhood becomes more interesting in a social sense and also far more sustainable because the infrastructure formed in it is used far more evenly,” he notes.
Baltrušaitis observes that prior to starting to plan spaces and developing various projects, it is essential to involve the neighbourhood’s residents in the decision making first.
“It is crucial to allow communities to feel that these are objects adapted to them, ones that match their needs. This way, by contributing to the formation of the neighbourhood, its residents will later enable new spaces far more effectively, which would satisfy their needs,” the urbanist states.
A total of 1006 respondents answered the market research company Spinter Tyrimai survey about satisfaction with their residential neighbourhoods.
