The value of the cultural landscape heritage, its accessibility, preservation, landscape protection zone rating, avoidance of blocking or releasing viewlines (silhouettes, panoramas) etc. – these are the issues which are very little reflected in municipal documents. The documents mainly consist of decisions and support to meet practical or business-friendly needs. Along with the increased attraction of EU investment in agriculture, the mentioned issues become even more aggravated – at which expense the areas and the respective payments are increasing? The answer is one – at the expense of the landscape. In each of Latvian counties, there are territories that cannot lose historical value and we must search for a mutually beneficial algorithm. EU funding projects must contribute to the preservation of the cultural landscape heritage, i.e. to the introduction of Europe's best philosophy and practices. The recovery of the cultural landscape, including maintenance works and its progress in postsocialist areas, is not an easy task, knowing the existing ownership and the economic situation in the country. Will we really get a greater contribution to the state economy from the amount of threshed centners than from the preservation of landscape values in the long term? A task of crucial importance is the research of each region's landscape space, the development of a concept and elaboration of project documentation. As the study shows, Latvian greenfields and cultural heritage calls for the actions to form several areas of the museum reserve.

Children and adolescents have always been an important part of the future of society and the country. Often, the urban environment is subordinated and adapted to families with children, with playgrounds and infrastructure. However, the desire of adolescents to be out in society, in public spaces and to participate in social interaction is not sufficiently supported. Public space is a 'stage' for adolescents to test themselves, their limits and learn social skills, as well as to explore the norms of society and community. The aim of this article is to provide an insight into the principles of designing environments that are suitable for adolescents, with recommendations for the design process of such public outdoor spaces. Analysing publicly available information on the needs of adolescents and the suitability of outdoor spaces for their outdoor activities, it emerges that often the adaptation of urban environments for children or adults contributes to the isolation of adolescents from society, which in turn results in gatherings in unsuitable areas, vandalism and substance abuse. Introducing with suitable case studies in the design of outdoor spaces for adolescent children, we conclude that in order to mitigate the above risks, it is necessary to understand the developmental processes, emotional and psychological characteristics of adolescents, as well as to raise awareness of the basic principles of democratic upbringing in society, and to develop guidelines for the involvement of adolescents in urban planning, which would help municipalities to involve this specific target group in urban planning, ensuring that adequate public spaces are created for adolescents.

Since the industrialisation era, there has been a trend towards radial sprawl, rapid development and concentration of people in the largest cities. Historically, people needed space outside their homes to interact and communicate to each other. In the city it was provided by public open space, forming the centres of social life. The conditions and opportunities for people to use outdoor space have also changed with changing eras and political power settings, along with the scale of development, security concerns and ownership of space in the city. The aim of the study is to explore the nature of Privately Owned Publicly – Accessible Spaces (POPS) and their potential development contribution to urban green infrastructure, developing design and planning recommendations for the development of Privately Owned Publicly – Accessible Spaces in the urban environment. The research carried out during the literature review and analysis of city plans of the cities introduced POPS program shows the relevance of the topic of private ownership of public open space in the world's major metropolises, but that it is conceptually possible to adapt it to smaller-scale urban planning, for example by applying it to private investors and developers in their requirements for new buildings and sites development.

With the increase in the number of the global population, that is likely to grow also in the nearest decades, the expansion of cities continues at the expense of forests and farmlands, and in these new areas, a more significant role is granted to the interaction between cities and countryside, revealing diverse interests of stakeholders. It is necessary to preserve, and it is even desirable, to expand the green spaces of the urbanized territories. Vienna, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Riga were selected for the study. The authors looked at the experience of the urban and green area planning through the literature review of city planning documents. Analyses of results show that planning takes place at the city, suburban or regional level and in the case of Riga, its development is similar to the development of other large European cities. The share of the urban forests in the territory of Riga city and its suburbs is comparatively large. In the European cities, which are rich in forests, the territories of the urban forests are often owned by local municipalities, and the development axes are created along highways, separating the diverse green territories. The authors offer a schematic model of the urban forest and urban area development for Riga city, which will ensure the preservation of forest areas and the non-confluence of urban areas.

European countries have different experience in landscape characterisation and assessment. Comparing the different approaches used in different European countries, it is proposed to use the method developed and validated in the United Kingdom - Landscape Character Assessment, adapted and modified for the Latvian situation. This approach has also been used in most other European countries, which have chosen to use the UK approach to landscape characterisation, adapting it to their specific national situation. The need for a landscape assessment in Latvia is highlighted in the Latvian Landscape Policy Guidelines 2013-2019 and Latvian Landscape Policy Implementation Plan 2024-2027, taking into account the actions set out in the European Landscape Convention to be taken by all Parties to the Convention. The purpose of the research was to carry out the analysis of Latvian landscape sensitivity within spatial planning scenarios important for local municipalities. It is of high importance to assess landscape sensitivity for changes of build and natural environment influencing pace and scale of development of the rural areas of Latvia. As local municipalities set different goals for their spatial development, common spatial development scenarios were chosen to make analysis of landscape sensitivity in Latvian landscapes. Results from the analysis of landscape sensitivity show variation of suitable actions to be implemented if different places in Latvia. The results also can be used for defining landscape quality goals to harmonise scope of activities to be implemented by local municipalities of Latvia.

Research in various fields emphasises the benefits of nature and its positive impact on people’s mental and spiritual health, and increasingly mentions its regenerative properties, helping people to regain strength and peace. Over time, especially after the COVID 19 pandemic, people have learned to appreciate the value of nature and are willing to take the opportunity to go to nature. This makes it all the more important to create opportunities to enjoy nature in the urban environment by creating quality outdoor spaces, which also means using nature-friendly materials in landscaping. Scandinavian cities have long been known as places that integrate wood into the built environment in a variety of ways, aiming to use these natural materials as much and as diversely as possible. This is evident in contemporary buildings and outdoor design, such as in the Danish capital Copenhagen. The aim of this paper is to analyse the contemporary trends and diversity in the use of wood in the design of public outdoor spaces, and to contribute to the promotion of sustainable practices in the urban environment, using the city of Copenhagen as an example.