Vilnius is preparing to live according to a new Master Plan

 

The municipality of the capital has coordinated decisions of the new Master Plan with 38 institutions. The City Council should be approving the Master Plan, which has come a long way through bureaucratic processes, in early July.

According to the Mayor, the process, which has staggered for more than a year and a half, is a victory over the bureaucracy. Once adopted by the developers, new building quality requirements will come about, planning for smaller-scale and smaller-volume buildings, investing in green spaces and other amenities for residents.

“Perkūnkiemis is an example of how people can be locked in boxes which can in turn be compressed so that there is no room for public spaces nor for other necessary social infrastructure,” says Remigijus Šimašius, the Mayor of Vilnius.

According to the Mayor, the city has so far been able to defend the public interest in courts only, and has successfully done that in many cases, but this way required a lot of resources. Developers were also dissatisfied with the fact that some managed to work out more profitable solutions based on old planning documents, while newcomers were already subject to stricter quality standards.

Currently the city follows the Master Plan which had to expire in 2015.

Vision of Vilnius

In the near future, Vilnius aims to develop in a sustainable way in four strategic directions: education, adaptation of residential areas for people’s needs, arrangement of the southern part of the city and sustainable mobility.

The Master Plan reflects many elements of the following strategic directions: installation of slower-traffic streets (street standard), 10 architectural rules of the city approved, greenery policy, development of road and other infrastructure.

The Master Plan allows subjecting real estate developers to certain specific conditions that are in line with the vision and strategic directions of the city.

What is the Master Plan? 

The Master Plan shall be approved for 15 years. The Master Plan defines the basic rules in the city, including the types of buildings to be built and the purposes of territories to be arranged, as well as their locations.

The updated territorial planning document of the city of Vilnius covering about 400 square meters will define the priorities of city development more clearly, precisely and specifically, accurately lay down the boundaries of green areas and territories of social infrastructure, set regulations for the use of specific territories of blocks of the city and their construction regulations, and lay down the requirements for city infrastructure systems, social infrastructure and green space development.