Riga Metropolitain: competition for underground station design

The Riga Metro was a planned metro system devised during the time of the Soviet Union. Three lines with a total of thirty-three stations were planned to be built by 2021, however in the late 1980s, during the independence movement, the whole project was put on permanent hold. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the possible construction of a metro system has still not been publicly discussed.
The main reason for public opposition concerned how the metro was to be built, with a belief that the construction could adversely affect the architecture of the old town and historical center of Riga. Discussions also focused on the ecological and social aspects of the project and its impact on unfavorable national arrangement. There was concern regarding a new wave of migrant workers from the Soviet Union, which would be an inevitable consequence of the subway construction. Strong public opposition led to the fact that the city and the Soviet republic would lose even more control of their territories, as Riga would be developed into a disproportionately large regional center for the region’s scale.