Identification and Monitoring of Degraded Real Estate in the Context of Urban Environmental Analysis and Development Planning in the City of Riga

Nowadays real estate plays an important role in the life of a person: it is one of the important elements of the quality of life (dwelling, workplace), as well as of public spaces, especially the outdoor space, i.e., the elements that make up the image of the city and the aesthetic enjoyment of the city. The topical issue under consideration is directly related to the physically deteriorated real estate that falls into the category of degraded or even dangerous buildings and structures. The article aims at investigating the problems of identifying, assessing and monitoring the degraded real estate in the context of urban development. The topicality of degraded objects is also observed in the main national and municipal development planning documents. The quality of real estate is assessed by different institutions according to the specificity and necessity of their activity, for example, planning and monitoring of territory development, application of real estate tax, as well as determination of the value of real estate. However, according to the research conducted within the article, information on real estate is not always up to date, available or linked between different holders of information sources. Different institutions evaluate the same thing at different levels of detail, but there is currently no fast, efficient and accurate exchange of information. This can be explained by disorganised administrative and legal issues, as well as the inefficiency of mutual communication.