Free Riga – Urban commons and temporary use in Latvia’s capital

Riga, Latvia's capital, is a city shaped by a heavy and complex history. After a long Soviet occupation and subsequent economic liberalization, it is now marked by demographic decline, urban sprawl, and nearly 1,000 abandoned buildings. Privatization after 1991 and speculative real estate dynamics have left a fragmented cityscape where vacant lots coexist with gentrification.

The 2008 financial crisis triggered social and economic instability. In its aftermath, austerity measures and population loss intensified, but also opened space for civic initiatives and cultural experimentation in these urban voids.

Free Riga emerged in 2013 during the Survival Kit festival, where activists posted "occupy me" stickers on abandoned buildings. Their aim: draw attention to the lack of space for artistic and community initiatives. In 2014, Riga’s title as European Capital of Culture gave them visibility.

Free Riga offers a new model: property guardianship. Through agreements with private or public owners, they renovate and occupy buildings in exchange for free use, sometimes for as long as 25 years. Their work turns ruins into vibrant cultural spaces like Lksnas 26, Bruinieku 2, Lastadija and Viskali.

Their governance model is horizontal and collaborative, with working groups and collective decision-making. Residents contribute through a moral contract of 12 hours of volunteering per week, embodying a form of contributive economy.

Free Riga’s financial model is fragile. The group relies on tenant fees and occasional project-based grants, primarily from the EU. This leads to operational challenges, such as winter closures due to lack of heating. Yet their autonomy allows experimentation that would be unthinkable under more regulated systems.

They face complex relations with owners. In some cases, once Free Riga revitalizes a site, landlords reclaim the property to monetize it, as happened in the Tallinn Street Quarter. Gentrification and speculative gains often follow civic reuse.

Free Riga also contends with cultural barriers: the idea of the "commons" is not always embraced in Latvia. Collective living evokes Soviet-era trauma, and public perception of shared space remains skeptical. Moreover, strict heritage regulations and real estate laws complicate occupancy, especially in UNESCO zones.

Despite these challenges, Free Riga connects to wider networks such as Trans Europe Halles and STUN, and participates in EU projects like BASICC and Refill. These platforms provide not only training and legitimacy, but also inspiration for developing resilient urban commons.

However, unlike in France or other Western European contexts, the social mission of these initiatives in Riga leans more toward community and ecological transformation than toward social housing or welfare-oriented goals. Housing insecurity is real, but rarely the central focus.

Riga’s abandoned buildings represent more than decay: they are sites of memory, experimentation, and potential. Free Riga exemplifies how grassroots actors can reclaim urban space, reshape imaginaries, and open cracks in dominant models of development.

Their work is deeply contextual: born of a post-Soviet neoliberal transition, shaped by cultural caution toward the commons, and constrained by speculative real estate dynamics. Yet, their persistence reveals the transformative power of civic imagination, even amid precarious conditions.

Rosalie Moreau, based on contributions from the teaching team of the French Common Spaces University Certificate, Elsa Buet and Arnaud Idelon, and the alumni and students who participated in the field trip to Riga with Free Riga.