Assessing Sustainability of Soviet-Era Urban Form
Vilnius Case Study
A. Degimaitė (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)
Tomer Fishman – Mentor (Universiteit Leiden)
Roy Remme – Graduation committee member (Universiteit Leiden)
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Abstract
This study investigates the intersection of two critical yet often separately studied domains of urban sustainability: the material stock embedded in the built environment and the ecosystem services provided by urban green infrastructure. Focusing on Soviet-era mass housing districts in Vilnius, Lithuania, the research combines material stock accounting and urban cooling modelling to inform future planning in post-socialist urban contexts.
Using established building typologies and material intensity coefficients, the study estimates structural material stocks (concrete, steel, brick, mortar, and plasterboard). Urban cooling effects are modeled with the InVEST® urban cooling tool. The combined analysis reveals spatial patterns and trade-offs between material density and ecological performance.
Results show Soviet-era neighborhoods covering a wide range of material stock profiles and urban heat mitigation capabilities. Several neighborhoods emerge as both material-intensive and ecologically weak, forming urban heat risk hotspots. Findings highlight strategic opportunities to align material recovery with ecological retrofitting. By integrating building materials and ecosystem services at the neighborhood scale, the study provides a spatially nuanced basis for sustainable transformation of post-socialist urban housing.