The old port area will be used by university and business

EASTERN PIER

Karlshamn was founded in 1664 by Karl X Gustav. The ending -hamn (harbour) indicates that it was intended to become a major port. A strategic position, a deep-water harbour, a sheltered position, generally ice-free at the winter season; these were the reasons for choosing the bay of Miean as a new port in Blekinge. Karlskrona became a naval port and Karlshamn became a commercial port for goods and trade. 
At the end of the 19th century and right up to the sixties industrial enterprises have been located to Karlshamn, mostly those in need of a good supply of waterpower and shipment. The beginning of the seventies meant the start of a new port, 3-4 miles to the west of Karlshamn. Gradually most of the activities have been relocated to the new port. This autumn (1999) all activities have left the eastern part of the old port of Karlshamn. The last one to move to the new port was the ferry terminal. 
Today the port of Karlshamn is number 7 regarding goods (5 million tons a year) Between Stockholm-Trelleborg it is the largest one. The capacity has more than doubled the last few years, mostly related to the political changes round the Baltic Sea. What happens to the old parts of the former port, The Eastern Pier downtown? Unemployment has never reached a high level at Karlshamn. The last few years we have had a small, but irritating reduction of population. Our traditionally strong industrial sector has started shrinking and we see no growth of the service sector.
Our ambitions regarding the

Eastern Pier are:
- to develop and improve university education at Karlshamn 
- to attract and get service industry of popular lines of business 
- to have an easy access and improve attractiveness to those living at Karlshamn 
- to have 1000 students and 500 places of work at this area. 
The ground is filled up and is no part of historical Karlshamn. The area will be easily accessible in summer 2000. The quays can be used by different kind of boats. Planning is going on. Intensive discussions together with university people are now being held regarding aims and directions of study programmes. It will probably be applications of IT technology and trade, logistics and business of all kinds.

URBAN CENTRE

Kaunas is one of the two most important urban planning centres in Lithuania. Several interesting urban and spatial planning projects are currently prepared in Kaunas. The most important one is Kaunas Master Plan, which is prepared by the municipal enterprise "Kauno planas" together with specialists from Kaunas Technological University, Vytautas Magnus University, Architecture and Constructions Institute and other institutions. City development visions of the city's urban development model have already been prepared and territory development strategy is almost finished. Basic principles are sustainable development, improving living conditions of inhabitants and underlying attractiveness of the city. The Master Plan suggests using the city's territory in a compact and optimal way and developing communications and engineering infrastructure. The essential tasks are to improve quality of the environment, reduce pollution, and maintain valuable natural and cultural territories. 

The urban plans of the most important city areas, which take almost one third of the city's territory, have been prepared by "Kauno planas" and "Miestprojektas". The other urban development strategy concerns valleys of the Neris and the Nemunas and is quite special, as it indicates principles of this valuable and sensitive spatial development. The plan suggests to re-organise industrial zones into public, residential and recreational ones, attempting to do this through economic means. The basic principle is opening the city to the waterfront. 
One of the main actors in this field is Kaunas County Governor's Administration -organiser of several important projects. One of them is Via Baltica spatial development project implemented by six countries and financed by EU funds PHARE. Lithuanian consultants are specialists from the municipal enterprise

"Kauno planas". This project creates aims of general development of the area as well as strategies for the development of spatial planning, economy, communications, culture and tourism. The project is approaching to the end. Other partners in that project are f. ex. Transport and Road Investigation Institute and Kaunas Technological University. 
The other important issue is "small" planning that is actively promoted in Kaunas through preparation of plans of plots for restitution. This kind of work can do significant influence to the city's urban structure, i. e. to promote its development.