Heritage vs development: Kaunas torn over how to protect its UNESCO-listed architecture

A dispute over how to protect Kaunas’ UNESCO-listed modernist architecture has exposed tensions between heritage conservation and urban development. City officials warn that proposed restrictions could obstruct construction projects and heritage authorities say Lithuania must honour its international commitments.

Kaunas was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2023 for its modernist architecture. As part of the commitments associated with the designation, Lithuania agreed to prepare a plan to protect the city’s architectural and urban heritage.

Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology, commissioned by the Cultural Heritage Department, have drawn up a management plan for the city’s New Town (Naujamiestis) district. The document is now undergoing public consultation, with a public discussion held October 8.

But the city administration has already signalled that it will not approve the plan in its current form, arguing that it places too much emphasis on restrictions at the expense of the city’s growth.

City warns against putting development on hold

Kaunas chief architect Gedeminas Barčauskas said the disagreement was not about minor details but about the plan’s underlying approach.

“Kaunas is certainly not an open-air museum. It is a place where people live, with a social and economic environment. We have to balance everything – not only heritage protection but also the city’s development,” he said.

Barčauskas argued that the plan should encourage development that respects historic architecture rather than become a collection of prohibitions.

One of the main points of contention is the proposed regulation of building heights. The city is also concerned that the plan could affect projects outside the historic New Town district, including development on the left bank of the Nemunas River in the Žemoji Freda area, where the Nemunaičiai residential quarter is being planned.

The area falls within the proposed protection zone, where the city architect believes restrictions should be more flexible.

“This is not the New Town itself. It is a less sensitive area where, in our view, regulations should not be imposed in the same way,” Barčauskas said, arguing that developers had invested in land with legitimate expectations of being able to build.

The plan could also complicate the municipality’s intention to auction the former Red Cross hospital complex for redevelopment, he said.

Barčauskas insisted that the city was not opposed to protecting its modernist heritage. Instead, he called for an approach that would allow contemporary architecture to coexist with historic buildings.

He also questioned whether the plan adequately reflected the needs of residents, the local economy and the city’s urban character.

Heritage officials warn of international repercussions

Cultural Heritage Department head Vidmantas Bezaras said rejecting the plan could cause an international controversy because its preparation was part of the commitments Lithuania made when Kaunas received UNESCO status.

“This is not a straitjacket being imposed on the city. It is a way to preserve what has been inscribed on the World Heritage List,” Bezaras said, describing the designation as a matter of prestige for both Kaunas and Lithuania.

He noted that the New Town district covers only about 2% of the city’s territory, rising to roughly 5% when its protection zone is included.

The greatest disagreements, he said, concern the protection zone rather than the historic district itself. The plan takes into account observations by a World Heritage Centre expert who visited Kaunas four years ago and highlighted the importance of the valleys surrounding the modernist architecture, warning against building over them extensively.

The university researchers say the plan does not change the provisions of Kaunas’ general development plan but provides more detailed rules for implementing them.

Mantas Lapinskas, representing Kaunas University of Technology, said proposed building-height restrictions vary according to the characteristics of individual areas.

“The aim of regulating building heights is not to stop the city’s development but to ensure that new construction does not erase the historically established scale of the New Town, its urban structure and other features,” he said.

UNESCO status brings responsibilities, not a construction ban

Renata Vaičekonytė Kepežinskienė, head of heritage programs at the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO, said the designation brought international recognition as well as long-term responsibilities.

She said Kaunas’ municipal authorities had committed to preserving the urban and architectural structure of both New Town and Žaliakalnis when seeking World Heritage status.

In 2025, Lithuania informed UNESCO that the concept for the New Town management plan had been approved and that the completed document was expected in November 2026.

“Today, it is important to consistently fulfil the commitments the city itself undertook when it gained UNESCO status,” she said.

Vaičekonytė Kepežinskienė stressed that UNESCO listing does not prohibit urban development or contemporary architecture in historic areas. Instead, new buildings must be designed so their scale, height, volume and density do not undermine the historic urban structure or overshadow protected heritage.

She also warned that World Heritage status is not permanent, pointing to the removal of Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley and Liverpool’s Maritime Mercantile City in Britain from the list after major changes to the protected areas.

Lithuanian Architects Union Kaunas branch head Nerijus Stanionis also questioned the proposed expansion of the protection zone and said some provisions could conflict with existing planning documents and projects already in development. He expressed surprise that the plan included the Resurrection Church, which stands in Žaliakalnis rather than New Town.

Culture Ministry urges compromise

Culture Vice Minister Lina Baublienė called for a more constructive debate, noting that the plan was still being developed and that the public consultation offered an opportunity to propose specific changes.

She said it was premature to declare the document fundamentally flawed before the consultation process had run its course.

Baublienė also played down concerns that a failure to approve the plan would automatically put Kaunas’ UNESCO status at risk.

The Culture Ministry is seeking to facilitate dialogue among municipal officials, heritage experts and developers, she said.

The immediate challenge, she added, is to agree on a plan that protects the city’s internationally recognised heritage while allowing it to remain a living, growing urban centre.

“We need to agree on what the plan should look like so that the city can live and breathe, and so we can show the world how we manage a UNESCO-listed area,” Baublienė said.