USEAct Fifth meeting in Riga! SAVE THE DATE!

 Existing buildings placed in historic areas of the cities  (or in more recently built urban areas - e.g. developed during the fifties or sixties) – that, because of their age or bad physical conditions, are losing appeal, can potentially represent important resources from which to start regeneration urban processes.  

Frequently, however,the physical conditions of the buildings are just a part of the problem: the physical and/or social qualities of the surrounding areas and public spaces in which the buildings are located are often not good enough to break the process of deterioration of the buildings themselves. 

The Riga seminar aims to tackle this general issue by focusing on two specific focuses.

• The first is about how to develop"regeneration-oriented" public strategies through refitting and maintenance of existing buildings in the urban fabric, paying attention, at the same time, to the physical/social conditions of the neighbourhood.
• The second is on involving flat-owners in integrated refitting strategies, mainly through promoting energy efficiency or in overall  “property management” improvements. 

During the USEAct meeting, opportunities and challenges but also limits and difficulties related to interventions in "occupied" buildings were discussed, also trough cases studies from other cities.

Special attention was payed to the "engagement of the inhabitant issue", which is a very sensitive aspect. With reference to all the above mentioned topics, partners were invited, during the meeting, to provide information and comments about each local context and to actively support the other partners that are developing LAPs tied to the matter.