Ogmios Miestas continues to delight and engage visitors as it shows off its latest transformative step from under-utilised outlet centre to fully fledged and fully integrated city quarter. This enormous 12 hectare territory, lying only a few kilometres from the centre of Vilnius, has until very recently been largely overlooked by locals and visitors alike - merely a destination for bargain-hunters and homemakers - certainly not an attractive place to go and enjoy your leisure time. Times are changing and Ogmios Miestas is leading by example.

The function of the area has changed drastically over the years - its abrupt transition from soviet army base to cluster of wildly scattered outlet stores occupying a hard and unplanned urban block a direct response to the broader political and economic climate dictating the past decades. In more recent years, subtle changes are leading to noticeable shifts in the way the area is perceived and utilised. Multi functionality is encouraged to attract people not only for shopping, but for eating, for playing, for living. Physical changes are transforming the cityscape.

Streets, footpaths, squares, parks - attributes of the city have until recently been incongruous with Ogmios Miestas. Conscious choices are therefore made in an attempt to fulfil the territory’s aspirations of developing a true urban quality. Elements are designed to ensure that a pedestrian-friendly environment is prioritised, that driving in the area becomes less desirable, that the area is accessible and open to the rest of the city around it, and that public spaces are both pleasant and functional. Older elements have been preserved with each modification, ensuring connection to place and familiarity are maintained. Each successive alteration has sought to reuse and integrate the original structure below rather than to erase it, respecting the history of the area and revealing the process of its evolution.

The changes can be seen and felt - Ogmios Miestas is buzzing with people who now choose to spend their time in a recreational and commercial zone that embraces visitors with abundant and attractive public spaces that provide a good quality of urban life. Like the City, Ogmios Miestas is forever a work in progress - it will continue to grow and evolve organically, to greater strengths like the city.