RESEARCH OF THE DAUGAVA RIVER TRAFFIC RENEWAL, THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIMODAL TRANSIT STATION IN RIGA

Project idea

Anete Biņķe's master's thesis "Research of the Daugava River Water Traffic Renewal, the Development of Multimodal Transit Station in Riga" analyses significance of the Daugava from the historical and modern aspects, the potential of water transport development by studying and taking into account the existing infrastructure in the city, the role of the transport system and pedestrians in the urban environment, based on the principles of sustainable development in the urban environment.

Project description

Project idea is developed in two parts theoretical (research part) and practical (design project).
Design project is Multimodal transit station in Riga, Latvia. Building design, materials and shape follows from location as well from Latvian water transportation traffic history.
Goal of this project is to renew water traffic as it is more friendly for environment, and also because of the overflow of cars in the city.

Technical information

The master's thesis consists of 4 chapters, which study and describe the development of water transport in the Daugava to the present day, public water transport development strategies in the world, as well as the movement of land vehicles in Riga, as well as technologies aspects in Latvia.
The first chapter describes in more detail the history of the Daugava, its significance to the present day and the extent to which water transport was developed, what are the main reasons why the development of water transport has been planned but not implemented since 2000.
In the second chapter, multimodal stations are analyzed. Their principles of how such stations in the city facilitate the movement of people, specific instructions on how to design such places so that the station provides fast and easy flow of people. Also, the chapter discusses 4 foreign examples, studying them from different aspects, for example, from a technological perspective, researching floating structures or studying existing berths, which both operated and look very successful in the urban environment.
The third chapter examines the flows of existing vehicles, both private and public, because an important indicator is that water transport must be a connected part of the total transport flow, as well as pedestrian flows, a potential target audience for water transport.
The fourth chapter examines the technological aspects of structures above water, as well as how the legal side affects the development of such structures, both in terms of shape and size, and in terms of their permitted location and placement.
In the course of the work, guidelines for the development of water transport in the Daugava were clarified, 2 experts were interviewed, 250 residents of Riga and Pieriga were interviewed, and several foreign examples were compared by studying their technologies and architectural tendencies. The master's thesis consists of 99 pages, 78 figures, 4 appendices and 53 sources. Research keywords: Daugava, multimodal station, city periphery, neighborhoods.