Country Profile · LATVIA
Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning in Latvia
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National overview
In Latvia, sustainable urban mobility planning is firmly embedded in the wider framework of national transport policy, metropolitan development and municipal strategic planning. The country has already produced a major integrated mobility document for the Riga and Pierīga area, and sustainable mobility objectives are now clearly reflected in national transport policy for the current programming period. This gives Latvia a recognisable SUMP context: not one based on a universal legal obligation for every municipality, but one in which integrated mobility planning is already established as a legitimate and increasingly important public-policy instrument.
A defining feature of the Latvian context is the central role of the capital region. Riga and its surrounding area concentrate the country’s largest travel flows, strongest commuting patterns and most complex interdependencies between transport, land use and regional development. This is why mobility planning in Latvia has developed most clearly at metropolitan scale, where transport investment, spatial development and environmental impacts need to be assessed together rather than municipality by municipality.
At the same time, the Latvian model is no longer limited to Riga alone. Sustainable mobility is increasingly framed as part of a broader transition towards lower-emission transport, stronger public transport and more active mobility. National transport policy for 2021–2027 sets a clear direction in this regard, including a target to increase regular bicycle and micromobility use. This places sustainable urban mobility within a wider national agenda of climate policy, accessibility and transport-system modernisation.
Another important characteristic is the close connection between mobility and territorial development. Strategic planning documents in Riga link transport development with urban structure, accessibility, environmental quality and long-term competitiveness. This means that mobility planning in Latvia is not treated only as a transport-engineering exercise. It is part of a broader development model that connects infrastructure, spatial planning, economic vitality and quality of life.
Latvia therefore represents a planning environment in which sustainable mobility has become strategically important before being universally standardised. Its distinctive profile lies in the combination of strong metropolitan planning around Riga, growing national policy support for sustainable mobility and a gradual extension of this logic into municipal and regional development practice.
National frameworks or requirements
Latvia does not impose a nationwide legal obligation requiring all municipalities to adopt a SUMP as a distinct planning document. The national framework is instead built around broader strategic planning and transport policy instruments. Municipalities are required to prepare general development planning documents, while integrated mobility planning is introduced through national transport objectives, regional coordination and city-level strategic planning.
The key policy reference for the current period is the Transport Development Guidelines 2021–2027, which define the national objective of an integrated transport system that delivers safe, efficient, intelligent and sustainable mobility and supports both economic development and the transition to a low-carbon economy. These guidelines provide a clear policy basis for sustainable urban mobility, including public transport, active modes and multimodal connections.
At metropolitan level, the most important established framework is the Riga and Pierīga Mobility Plan, which created an integrated basis for evaluating and prioritising transport investments and improvement measures across the capital region. In Riga itself, strategic development documents also place strong emphasis on accessibility, mobility and the integration of transport with wider urban development priorities. Together, these instruments form the most relevant framework for understanding sustainable mobility planning in Latvia.
Funding and contact point
Latvia’s sustainable mobility agenda is closely linked to public investment policy. National transport policy for 2021–2027 includes dedicated support for sustainable urban mobility measures, while wider development planning for 2021–2027 identifies a modern low-emission transport system as an important condition for balanced national development and quality of life. In practice, this means that sustainable mobility is treated not only as a planning objective, but also as an investment priority.
The central national institution in this field is the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia. It is the appropriate public reference point for mobility policy, strategic transport planning and coordination of the national transport system. The ministry is also the formal national contact listed in the established European SUMP context for Latvia.
Contact point: Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia
Email: satiksmes.ministrija@sam.gov.lv
Data and monitoring
In Latvia, sustainable mobility planning is tied to analysis, scenario assessment and follow-up. The Riga and Pierīga Mobility Plan was built as a framework for evaluating and prioritising transport-system interventions across the metropolitan area, and its implementation is linked to monitoring obligations arising from strategic environmental assessment requirements. This gives monitoring a formal place within the planning process.
The national policy framework for 2021–2027 also uses measurable targets. One clear example is the target to increase the proportion of the population using bicycles or other micromobility vehicles every day or almost every day from 6.4% in 2019 to 10% in 2027. This shows that Latvian sustainable mobility policy is expressed through concrete indicators and not only through general strategic declarations.
At municipal level, recent practice confirms the same direction. In Cēsis, mobility planning and evaluation are being developed through a combination of strategic planning, local diagnostics and monitoring-oriented discussion on mobility habits, infrastructure quality and the role of micromobility. This indicates that the use of evidence is expanding beyond the capital region and becoming part of wider local practice.