Zolitūde () is mainly an apartment house neighbourhood (or

microdistrict A microdistrict or microraion is a residential complex—a primary structural element of the residential area construction in the Soviet Union and in some post-Soviet and former socialist states. Residential districts in most of the cities a ...

) located in the western part of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, the capital of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Zolitūde is a centrally planned estate, consisting mostly of

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. Some research ...

concrete block

Brutalist style Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

homes built in late

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

times. Construction started in 1984, and was mostly halted in 1991, when Latvia obtained its independence from the USSR. Large parts of the population, as in similar neighbourhoods of Riga, are Russian speaking. Zolitūde had been a mixture of

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

and

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

flats, but many properties have been

privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...

since the fall of the Soviet Union.

History

In 1991, Latvia regained independence from the USSR, and due to the end of financing from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

most of the state funded construction projects were halted. Few new homes were built until after

joined the EU in 2004, but construction halted again due to the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. Due to the flow of investments and affordable housing credits from private parties, Riga had experienced a construction boom. Construction of newer parts of Zolitūde had begun, and 15 new apartment houses were planned, with some partly completed. Construction of detached houses had been noticed close to Zolitūde neighbourhood as well. As with most residential neighbourhoods of Riga, Zolitūde's infrastructure was in a dilapidated state. According to the "Riga Development Plan 2006–201

the development of infrastructure, services and housing had been expected. This had been seen as means to provide growth to the community of Zolitūde. 1990s improvements included two markets and a number of shops. The late 2000s had seen some improvements to local road quality, as well as renovation of both public schools in the area, which had become available by Riga council's use of EU funds. The late 2000s and early 2010s had also seen an expansion of Supermarket, supermarket chains in the area, as well as foreclosure of the only police office in the estate. On 21 November 2013 a Maxima supermarket collapsed in Zolitūde, killing 54 people.

Geography and transportation

The proximity to

Riga International Airport RIX Riga Airport (; ) is the international airport of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest airport in the Baltic states with direct flights to 107 destinations as of September 2024. It serves as a hub for airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines a ...

, the seaside resorts of

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

and contemporary architecture have made Zolitūde attractive for young families. Some residents commute to the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

using

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

Pasažieru vilciens railway, with two stations in the area, or using bus and minibus services.

Etymology

The area's name comes from the French word ''solitude'', which means 'loneliness'. It is believed that servicemen of Napoleon's army were parted from his company in this area, which later gave the area its name. An alternative version is that the word ''solitude'' referred to the loneliness in which landowners lived here due to the extremely high prices they demanded as rent for the working class or peasants. Prior to 1984, Zolitūde consisted of little more than fields, scant forest, swampy ground, and a small number of cottages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zolitude Neighbourhoods in Riga