Bipolar of Vilnius and Kaunas

The bipole vision marks the shift from the tantamount distribution urbanization of the region established in Soviet Lithuania to new concentrated urban agglomeration in country’s central region. Project aspires for bipolar-metropolis that would meet the requirements for a competitiveness in wider EU free market region and formal Eurocity standards.
Soviet demographic expansionism into newly integrated regions (ex. Baltic states) was followed by russification taking advantage of newly established industrial agglomerations. In contrast doctrines in Soviet Lithuania in 60’s–70’s fostered the development of the small and medium size towns and equalized industrialisation – and altogether served as a buffer to reduce forced demographic integration into the Soviet Union. The inherited logic of region is at the moment overlaid with EU integration processes.
In the new political light during the first years of independence the lithuanian engineer, architect, urbanist PhD Jurgis Vanagas starts developing the concept of bipolar urbanised region encompassing two biggest Lithuanian cities within the distance of 80km. North – South and West–East European transport corridors crossing near Kaunas, are marked by Rail Baltica and Via Baltica projects. Karaliaucius District – Russia link is of major logistical importance in this geographical nod. The negotiated addition to the Rail Baltic project that would connect Vilnius to Kaunas works as a central spine and the strategic base for the Bipolar conglomeration.
The new agendas were being reformulated in the project preparing proposals for general plan of Vilnius in 1995. And the concept became a part of strategic territorial general plans of Lithuania that were validated by the parliament in 2003 and stays as a political strategy that is waiting is for more detailed implementations in the regional plans.