ONE WORD THAT WILL SAVE RIGA

Over the past months, I have attended various forums and seminars discussing reasons to why Riga is not doing well. The main conclusion is that there is a lack of a common vision, for example, for 2050, which everyone could recite even at night. But paradoxically, in all these events, forums and seminars, almost, ALMOST NEVER a single word is mentioned, which seems to me to be at the heart of the whole solution.

At first, everyone in those forums plays the "some other Baltic capital is better". Supposedly it is meant to shame us, and that supposedly teaches us how to do better. Then someone has read that in NASA even the simplest cleaner was taught that their work helps to bring Americans to the Moon. There is also no shortage of men who talk about childbirth. Almost exclusively men.

Usually, the same problems of Riga arise:

• population and able-bodied population are ageing
• number of inhabitants is falling
• university-level education is not export-able
• there's lack of small and medium enterprises
• people leave both Riga and Latvia
• there is lack of investment

And once again, the same solutions are offered, which mostly manage only a specific industry, person, bubble or trend:

• just let them build and everything will be ok!
• digital technologies will save Riga!
• "let's cut the red tape and just work more!"
• tourists will come (just not migrants!), they will stay in hotels and spend money
• copy-paste Tallinn, Vilnius or Helsinki – hark!
• you just need to give birth more and raise the benefits
• "let's renew golden visas for (eastern) investors"!

Maybe, at some point in the history or future, these are not bad solutions. But at the same time they are all just tools – they are not visions. They can be introduced and halted anytime and anywhere, and they stop when conditions change or places to build run out (childbirth is also transient – as current statistics show).

If we are quite frank – none of this is fundamental, none of this will be the three elephants of Riga or the Atlas, on which, in this case, the resilience, sustainability, continuity, attractiveness and prosperity of Riga is based. It's all just staring at the visible part of the iceberg, hoping the Titanic won't sink.

But paradoxically, in all these events, forums and seminars, almost, ALMOST NEVER a single word is mentioned, which seems to me to be at the heart of the whole solution.

And that word is – YOUTH.

In general, call it what you want – youth, youthfulness, "city under 30", mecca of young talents, whatever... But Riga can reach its dreamed 700,000 inhabitants in 2050 only if we make a strategic decision – to provide all sectors in Riga to be attractive to the youth, the youthful, the young in a long term. When Riga is not another "smart" city, or another tourism or fintech city, but Riga is – the city of the youthful energy.

Working as the chairman of the Riga Youth Commission, I hear and read about this all so often – young people are no longer interested only in "having a good time". They are the ones who want better public transport, who want a greener city, who want safer streets and more bike lanes, who want more multifunctional places, who want better quality education, who want more cultural venues, who want fewer cars, who are willing to get involved in politics or in the neighborhood movement, who will start businesses and who will also start the families of the future. In my opinion, everyone would benefit from such a city - including young parents, middle-aged people and seniors.

But - if any young person cannot find any of this, of course, they will make a decision to move out and study, earn, spend, also start a family elsewhere.

The problem is not even regarding the Riga metropolitan region. The problem is that youngsters end up in other cities where this philosophy works, and it makes up a much fiercer competition for Riga – for example, it's Helsinki, any larger city of the Netherlands, also Berlin. These are places where being young is captivating – events are taking place, creative industries are booming, there are jobs, there are subcultures, there are services, there is safe infrastructure, there are exciting educational institutions, there are opportunities to meet, to take risks, to experiment and start something. These are places where the youth also choose to get old. These are places where that (in)famous digitization, those startups, that tourism, that investment and giving birth come second, but it comes.

Also, let me remind you that a large part of what we are proud of in Riga today was founded by youngsters. "Kalve" coffee brand was founded by people under 30, "draugiem.lv" social media site (that predates Facebook) was started by people under 30 (it has now turned into other businesses, such as "Printful"), "Infogram" was founded by people under 30, Ērenpreiss resumed producing bicycles under 30, "Positivus" festival was founded by people under 30, the start-up movement was started by people under 30, the creative quarters movement of Riga was started by people under 30, the Oscar-awarded movie FLOW was created by people under 30. And they are still here, and this is what attracts other young people – not only from Latvia.

After all – in Riga we are now dreaming of the "Knowledge mile" - a mega-regeneration project that could unite multiple university campuses and be a rather valuable and ambitious thing in Pārdaugava. Meanwhile - who do you think are and will be the main customers of these universities and the nearest places, clusters and campuses?

NB – no part of this text is a denial of the rest of society, I believe that Riga is already a great place to work, raise children and become old - no matter your age!

However, if there is no youth in Riga, then the city has no sustainability. Then the CAPITAL R will continue to shrink, and no policy of childbirth will help there. Riga will get older, buildings will be emptied, universities will decline, no one will build houses and no one will pay rent. Meanwhile, young talents not only from Latvia, but from all over Europe (even the world) will end up elsewhere – not in Riga or its region, but in Amsterdam, Helsinki, London, Berlin, Tallinn or Vilnius.

I don't know where I'm going to be in 2050. Maybe some of you will no longer be among us. But I know will. But in my city?

Mārtiņš Eņģelis

editor-in-chief 

Photo by Inga Fedulova. Before covid, she went to work in Greece and disappeared.