URBAN PROJECT ON THE BORDER VALGA-VALKA, ESTONIA – LATVIA
Valga and Valka are among the few cities in the world divided by a border. The historic town of Walk was split in two in 1920, between the newly established states of Estonia and Latvia. For decades, the borderline remained an urban scar: invisible under Soviet occupation, reinstated with independence in the 1990s, and finally reopened with the Schengen Agreement in 2007. That empty space between the two urban cores, lifeless and without infrastructure, became an opportunity: to transform a boundary into a shared center.
In 2014, supported by the European Interreg program, both countries launched an international competition to design the new centrality of Valga-Valka. Our proposal brings this vision to life, turning the former no-man’s-land into a vibrant urban landscape that unites two cities in a single heart.
The intervention creates a civic and pedestrian axis that links squares, streets, and facilities, featuring a large central plaza for public events and a green park that recovers the former watercourse and connects with the Pedeli River. The pathways, the “strands”, cross the border as trails, boardwalks, and bridges, offering unique places where nature, culture, and play come together.
One of these strands becomes an iconic bridge: a singular spot over the border where a swing playfully allows people to move, quite literally, between Estonia and Latvia. With brick paving, wooden pergolas, and furniture inspired by local legends, the project gives tangible form to the shared motto: “One city, two states”.
