Riga city microdistrict: Purvciems.
Purvciems is a part of the city of Riga in the suburb of Vidzeme, to the east of the Riga-Ierikai railway line (in the place of the former Hausmanis swamp), it is surrounded by Brīvības gatve, Biķernieku, A. Deglava, Ulbrokas iela and the railway. It consists of 6 neighborhoods and a community center.
The name of Hausmanis swamp was formed in the 17th century. at the end of the 18th century in the beginning, when this impenetrable peat bog gradually began to drain. At that time, winding roads led past individual farmsteads across the vast marshes across the backs of sandy hills. In the earliest area of Hausmanis marsh in the 18th century. in the end only free peasants lived. Later, in the 18th century at the end, when the edges of the swamp became more often inhabited, Purvciem was formed.” 19th century The site of the Hausmans marsh was gradually built up with single-family buildings, mostly built on the elevation of the sand layer in the middle of the marsh. The territory of Purvciema was included in the administrative borders of Riga only in 1924. A district development plan was developed and a new street network was created, resulting in more intensive construction of single-family houses. This area is covered by the master plan of Riga developed in 1923 under the direction of architect Arnold Lamze, according to which only extensive low-rise construction was foreseen in the periphery of the city. Intensive construction of Purvciema continued in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century, when large multi-storey residential buildings were built. Along the highways of Purvciema, freely laid 9-story multi-section buildings were placed.
The basis of the planning structure of the new residential massif of Purvciema was a regular 120-degree network of modules, where each side of the hexagon is made up of one 5-story, 4- or 6-section residential building. They are complemented by separate 9-story buildings. In later years, experimental buildings were also built here according to individual projects, one of them is a multi-storey residential building on Únijas street, which was built in 1994. The pride of Soviet times is also located in this place – the company “Mēbeļu nams” on Dzelzavas Street 72, and the supermarket “Minska” (Riga’s first supermarket in the modern sense, now Rimi), which still serves as a symbol of friendship between nations – in Minsk (Belarus) there is a similar supermarket “Rīga “.
Nowadays, it is possible to buy a wide variety of properties in Purvciem – both residential houses of different classes and commercial objects are being built. Purvciema is developing young people and new projects are being built. One of them is “Green City” on Upeņu Street 9.
