Case Studies   Vilnius Old Town: Užupis – Paupys Area Case study

5.4. Anchoring & mainstreaming

Vilnius Old Town Renewal Strategy took into a serious consideration Užupis community’s visions and thoughts about indicators for progress of the area. Respect of Užupis-Paupys historic character is to be comprised with fulfilling needs of its preservation, partial conversion and qualitative contemporary renovation. This major principle of integrated and consistent progress of the area can be observed at the results of the recent social inquiry (March – May 2003) performed by the Social Research Centre under the request of OTRA. The inquiry results witnesses set of controversial indications and factors reflecting residents attitudes, expectations and their plans, current social, demographic, economic and business situation, state of the housing stock and needs for improvements of the living environment and daily services, obstacles of the progress.

Careful analysis and summary of the inquiry results, anyway, shows that guiding principles for the sustainable regeneration of the area should remain nearly the same as those influenced creation and evolution of the former historic suburban area:

1. Respect to the local community life traditions

2. integrated and sustainable regeneration, development and use of the cultural and natural heritage assets, trying to achieve a cohesive equilibrium between the cultural and natural environments

3. to sustain variety of the local community social groups, nations and religions tolerating and ensuring their coexistence and prosperity

4. to create socially sound environment in the area

5. to support and develop cultural initiatives

6. to convert Paupys area into ecologically clean, attractive and adopted multifunctional urban unit of the highest contemporary standards

7. to flexibly sustain social character of the Užupis-Paupys area and its relationships to the Old Town and the rest of the city.

It was mentioned in the above paragraphs that, progress of the Strategy implementation will very much depend on “width and depth” of community involvement and PPP quality level. OTRA seeks to widen and reinforce the CCB part of the VOTR Program. OTRA also inspires UF and AC to be even more active in reflecting perceptions, needs and wishes of the Užupis-Paupys community. The UF and AC should attempt (and OTRA will mediate to the Municipality or governmental institutions) in founding the Community centre or adequate facility to what Vilnius learned from ENTRUST Copenhagen partners. Berlin, Hamburg, Dublin experiences are those of to be followed reinventing and/ or adopting relevant financial and management schemes.

Summarising five years experience of OTRA work it can be concluded that local neighbourhood or community initiatives support and development remains complicated and unstable because of continuous political, economic and social changes in Vilnius and the whole country. There are several obvious factors, which harass fluency of the processes described:

1. most of the municipality’s administration staff are experienced in living and working under conditions of former Soviet economic and political environment - this is their fundamental background; new generation represented by advanced market economy minded politicians and decision makers and civil servants is still lacking at the municipality

2. high and cute political declarations and goals can not be achieved in due time because capacities of administrative/ management system as well as financial resources available are still far inadequate

3. middle social class - majority of the community of the Užupis- Paupys area is still economically week, and, though have sufficient skills and capacities to act as an inner mediator and consolidator of the neighbourhoods, nevertheless are insufficient economically

4. because of the growth of social differences and insecurity communities and neighbourhoods are experiencing inner tensions and contradictions

5. different generations feel uncomfortable to each other because of different attitudes towards radically changing characteristics of community life.

For more information about Vilnius Old Town, VOTR and CCB programs, and, specifically, about the Užupis area search at www.vsaa.lt and www.uzupis.com

April-September, 2003

5.3. Empowerment of initiative groups    Appendixes