Research on the needs for social and green infrastructure in the neighbourhoods south of the Sofia Ring Road, "Malinova Dolina" area and "Simeonovo" district
Group of services:
Services:
Research Objectives:
- To define the current territory’s deficits in terms of social and green infrastructure within the scope of the developing new neighbourhoods south of the Ring Road (around Malinova Dolina villa zone) in relation of the current and expected new population in the territory.
- To derive recommendations for the necessary additional capacity required (by 2050) of the following services: nurseries, kindergartens, schools, community and cultural centres, parks, and gardens, and to recommend potential locations for new facilities.
Team:
Contracting authority:
Challenges in the context of the scope:
Increased investment interest shapes the territory, ignoring more balanced development concepts and higher values of the development parameters set compared to those in some spatial proposals from the early 1990s, leading to the most significant number of issued building permits in the period 2010-2020, as well as among those with the highest population growth for the same period
Deficit of social and green infrastructure: In the southern parts of Sofia, especially in the new neighbourhoods, the market pressure of the rapidly developing and dominant residential function leads to a severe shortage of kindergartens and nurseries, sports facilities, recreational areas, cultural centres, green spaces and others. There is also a mismatch between the scale of public and private investments in the southern territories of Sofia
Structure of the territory: The territory is fragmented, missing connections between the individual urban planning units
Public municipal property: There is a vast deficit of public municipal property, so the Sofia Municipality’s land resource for constructing new necessary facilities (transport, technical infrastructure, social facilities, green spaces and othres) is reduced to a minimum
Dependence on cars: The lack of public transport and its negative image have led to a strong dependence on cars among the residents of the southern parts of Sofia
Mono-functional areas due to the market development of the environment: The development of predominantly residential neighbourhoods leads to the distancing of residents from their places of work, education, healthcare, and others. This is in contradiction with popular concepts such as polycentric development, multifunctional urban environment, and the “15-minute city.” One of the main consequences is the disruption of physical and social connections in the environment and society.
Challenges in the process:
- Gathering information from various official sources such as NSI, OP ,,Sofiaplan”, CAIS, ZUT, and legal regulations
- Supplementing data through a survey in the absence of data on the capacity of educational and health facilities
- Researching norms in the context of the social infrastructure of Bulgarian laws and regulations
- Creation of norms in the absence of defined ones in the Bulgarian legal framework. The newly created norms are based on research and comparison with norms from other national and international documents
- Forecasting the population in the scope to estimate the future social infrastructure capacity required
- Create analyses for future needs of social infrastructure
- Formulating recommendations targeting different stakeholders and making arguments responding to diverse interests.
Approach of work
Research of current regulations
The legal regulations affecting the study’s objects — kindergartens, nurseries, schools, sports grounds, parks and gardens, community centres, health facilities, temples, and cemetery parks — were examined.
If a specific norm is missing, the team develops it based on other studies, comparisons with other countries and international documents.
The defined norms are used as the basis for the analysis in all subsequent stages.
Demographic analysis
The team developed a demographic forecast for 2050 based on three development scenarios. The forecast takes into account the territory’s urban specifics and potential investor interest, as well as data from the National Statistical Institute and the Sofiaplan Public Enterprise, sociological research and statistical analysis, and the occupancy rate of similar territories. The residential load is calculated based on the data from approved and in-procedure urban development plans.
Urban analysis
The population’s service coverage is analyzed in relation to the current and projected population. The location, ownership and capacity of the sites are examined. Access to them is studied – pedestrian, in several time ranges and with MGT.
The team studies the investment interest, the details of adopted and in-procedure PUPs and changes in the transport network. It determines potential suitable locations for locating new sites.
GIS analyses are used for accessibility and territorial coverage through network analyses, routing and isochronous zones. The results are visualized through cartographic images.
Output
- Analysis of the future pressure on the territory, which outlines the deficits of social, technical, cultural and sports infrastructure and green system, presenting forecasts for their development.
- Recommendations to Sofia Municipality and investors for developing essential public services and ensuring access for the entire population.
Numerical, up-to-date data as of the year of the document (2023):
- Between 1998 and 2021, the population of the study areas shows an increase of 15%, while in other parts of Sofia the population is decreasing
- The forecasts show that the population will continue to grow, reaching 300,000 people by 2050 in the study area, which will require an increase in social infrastructure of at least 25%
- The highest growth in issued construction permits was registered in the administrative districts of Vitosha and Pancharevo, with an increase of 30% over the last decade
- The availability of kindergartens increased by 20% compared to previous years, but still does not cover the needs of the growing population
- According to WHO, every resident should be within a maximum distance of 300 meters or 5 minutes’ walk from green infrastructure
- The WHO standard for available urban green space is at least 9 square meters per resident, ideally 50 square meters.
Forecasts to 2050:
- 2,250 people without access to green space
- Schools – more than 1,000 unserved children, need for at least 2 new schools with capacity for 500 places, each covering 12.5 acres
- Kindergartens – 300 unserved children, 6 new sites totalling almost 10 acres
- Nurseries – 450 unserved children or 9 sites, with over 11 acres of space required
- Playgrounds – over 1,000 unserved children or 18 playgrounds missing, totalling 3.6 acres
- Sports pitches – almost 10,000 residents without access to sports pitches need 15 new sites totalling 1.5 acres.
