Tbilisi City Hall to Let Contractor Company Finish Land Use Plan
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, April 3
Tbilisi City Hall will let the City Institute Georgia to finish working on the Land Use Master Plan, aimed at developing the capital.
The information was released by Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze on Monday, who said the Mayor’s Office will assist the company to finish the plan.
“We have promised our capital to adopt the Tbilisi Land Use Master Plan…We have involved international experts in the process of assessment and analyzes. As the result of it, certain objections and directions have been made and they were discussed publicity. Consequently, we have ensured that the presented materials cannot be accepted,” Kaladze said.
He explained that five stages of the concept, presented by the City Institute are mostly acceptable, adding the sixth stage is the most important, which envisages implementation of the plan in reasonable period and in line with the main requirements of the society.
“We are completing the discussions and polemics on the Tbilisi Land Use Master Plan…It is of utmost importance for Tbilisi, therefore, we have made the decision to assist the City Institute to meet its obligations. We have an expectation and we will assist the company to get effective, long-term and high-quality material,” the mayor stated.
In May 2015, Tbilisi City Hall announced a competition for the Land Use Plan. City Institute Georgia has won the contest and according to the contract, the company should have submitted the finalized document in 18 months. However, instead of May 2017, the company submitted a draft Land Use Plan for further public discussions and expertise in June 2017. The Plan was criticized by the international experts, and the document was sent back to the company for eliminating the shortcomings.
City Institute submitted a final version of Land Use Plan to City Hall in November 2017, but City Hall was not satisfied with the presented document as the most important remarks were not taken into account. Consequently, City Institute Georgia was fined with GEL 140.000 on December 25, 2017. In addition, Tbilisi City Hall gave a company 10 days to correct inaccuracies.
On January 12, 2018, after 19 days Kaladze declared that some aspects in Land Use Plan still needed improvements, claiming City Hall might terminate the contract with City Institute and announce a new competition for the plan.
The main remarks of the City Hall towards the City Institute are:
- The company has not presented the cost of the recommendations
- The concept of property is ignored. E.g. the group proposed to arrange recreational areas on the plots which are private property
- There is no strategy of the replacement of transport, greenery, damaged houses
- The plan envisages abolition of certain green zones, while it should be focused on creating as much greenery as possible
- The plan does not include reconstruction of historical part of the city
- The company has not presented cost of industrial centers’ restoration
- There are shortcomings on the presented maps.
In May 2016 the City Hall paid the company GEL 2 million and after the City Institute finishes the sixth stage of the plan, it will get the rest 800,000 GEL.
