Brownfields Information Brocker

This paper discusses a possible solution for developing a virtual place for advertisement, investment and the harvesting, collecting and sharing of information concerning brownfields - now abundantly availabe land that was previously used for industrial, commercial or other uses. The novelty of the proposed solution is an automated brownfield related information integration (brownfields data integrator or brownfields broker) from various sources and its further distribution for other purposes (reuse of collected information) in a machine readable format and that meets European requirements regarding the integration of spatial information (INSPIRE directive and its related activities). This virtual place will provide services for brownfields related automated data harvesting, data update by local governments and citizens, as well as mechanisms for the reuse of this data through Application Protocol Interfaces and other „machine to machine “interfaces. The brownfield broker should also help to improve the ratio between developments made on brownfields and greenfields, which are currently imbalanced and statistically unknown in the European Union (EU). The beneficiaries from the brownfields data integrator will be very broad: owners, entrepreneurs (potential investors), municipalities (will be able to upload and then re-use relevant reliable, classified, updated information about brownfields and to advertise it through the application), planners, realtors (will be able to publicise the data using their web portals), financial institutions (for providing distance financial services), volunteers, scientists and the general public (for their personal interest, data creation, use, publishing and informing)

City in Transition: How to Plan Riga in 21st Century

It is clear that the social-economic and political reality of the 21st century has undermined most of all the expectations from the current (2006-2018) planning vision of the city of Riga, the capital city of Latvia and the largest historical and economic canter of the Baltic States. It is time to restart the necessary instruments (evaluating the current state, defining goals and needs of interested parties, developing planning tools and supplementary documents – like visions, normative acts, data bases, etc.) in order to be “well-prepared” in planning, as well as in preserving the most important values of Riga (such as the number of residents, infrastructure, cultural sites and buildings) for the next 12 years (2018-2030).[9] [10] The modern thinking for spatial planning strategies is based on principles of urban intelligence and on the development of the new concept of smart cities, in which the integration between contemporary reality and the historical city becomes an important factor and were urban “smartness” has been also reached through historic (cultural) elements within “the virtual world” of ICTs.[19] This paper will discuss the most important aspects (problems and possible solutions) in the planning of the most internationally well-known part of Riga - Riga's Historical Center and its protective zone (HCR and its PZ), which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site [11], noted for its architectural qualities – outstanding urban space, Art Nouveau and 19th century wooden architecture. [15] [20] The paper will also note what kind of modern instruments would be necessary (still not efficiently used) for the planning process of the most internationally well-known part of Riga (Riga's Historical Centre and its protective zone) smart (more and more uses of ICT tools for creation, updating and publication of spatial planning related information)

Linked Open Data for Environmental Protection in Smart Regions – the New Challenge for the Use of Environmental Data and Information.

This paper will introduce the specific objectives of the recently initiated project SmartOpenData - “Linked Open Data for Environmental Protection in Smart Regions” (SOD project) that is supported by Seventh Framework ENV.2013.6.5-3: Exploiting the European Open Data Strategy to Mobilize the Use of Environmental Data and Information. The main concept of the project is to create a Linked Open Data (SOD) infrastructure (including software tools and data sets) fed by public and freely available data resources, existing sources for biodiversity and environment protection and research in rural and European protected areas and its national parks. The aim of the SOD project to develop real proposals for building a SOD infrastructure for biodiversity and environment protection in European protected areas that satisfy the requirements of four kinds of target users: public bodies, researchers, companies (also small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and citizens. The SOD project will focus also on how the SOD Initiative can be linked with the INSPIRE directive, GEOSS Data-CORE, GMES, completed European scale Geographic Information System (GIS) projects (like a Habitats project, which defines models and tools for managing spatial data in environmental protection areas), and external third parties, as well as how it can impact economic and sustainability progress in European environmental research and protection. The key elements of the project will be five target pilot projects in related areas (agro forestry management, environmental research and biodiversity, water monitoring, forest sustainability and environmental data re-use), where harmonization of metadata, improvement of spatial data fusion, as well as visualization and publication of the resulting information according to user requirements will take place. Key words: Linked Open Data, Geographic Information Systems, GIS, INSPIRE directive, environmental data, natural resources, sustainable development and research

Challenges in the preservation of Riga’s architectural cultural heritage / Iššūkiai, su kuriais susiduria Rygos architektūrinio kultūros paveldo apsauga

Historical buildings are the most visible part of cultural heritage. They make up Latvia’s historical landscape that has been centuries in the making. In the vast majority of cases these buildings are included in the historical cultural heritage of Latvia. However, the practical mechanisms of their preservation (ownership preservation, maintenance, renewal opportunities) and, consequently, their economic potential, still have not yet been fully evaluated. Does cultural value interact with market value? What factors affect urban planning in the Historic Centre of Riga and its PZ – a UNESCO World Heritage site? Answers to these questions, as well as the main challenges in the preservation of values of Riga’s architectural heritage will be discussed in the paper. Santrauka  Istoriniai pastatai – matomiausia kultūrinio paveldo dalis. Jie išryškina šimtmečiais kurtą Latvijos istorinį kraštovaizdį. Dauguma tokių pastatų įrašyta į Latvijos istorinio kultūros paveldo sąrašus. Vis tik praktiniai jų apsaugos mechanizmai (nuosavybės apsauga, priežiūra, atnaujinimo galimybės), o kartu ir ekonominis potencialas dar nėra visapusiškai įvertinta. Ar yra kultūrinės vertės ir rinkos vertės tarpusavio sąveika? Kokie veiksniai turi įtakos Rygos istorinio centro urbanistiniam planavimui – ar tai, pavyzdžiui, buvimas UNESCO pasaulio paveldo sąraše? Bandoma atsakyti į šiuos klausimus, aptariami Rygos architektūrinio paveldo vertybių apsaugos srityje kylantys iššūkiai. Raktiniai žodžiai: sukurta kultūrinė aplinka, istoriniai pastatai, kultūrinė vertė, rinkos vertė, istorinis Rygos centras, UNESCO paveldas