Spatial division of real estate investment and formation inhabitants' perceptions of their area of residence: Selected neighbourhoods in Riga

Real estate investment (REI) as a set of activities aimed at generate income for persons investing through rental or lease and to achieve capital appreciation by committing of funds to property has been researched by many scholars in the past years. However the impact of investorsí decision to invest at a specific place on the place itself and the inhabitants living at the area has not been studied so widely although it is almost evident that both the area chosen for investment as well as peopleís living there lives are been changed as a result of real estate investment at a particular territory. REI at a certain circumstances are generating the income not only for persons investing but for other parties like municipalities and other actors. The purpose of this paper is to analyse both the spatial division of real estate investment in selected neighbourhoods (spatial entities) and the impact of real estate investment made on inhabitantsí perception of their living area. A post-socialist city of Riga capital city of Latvia, largest city in the Baltic States and one of the largest in the Baltic Sea region has been chosen as a case study for the research, in particular selected neighbourhoods of the city where the largest and the smallest amount of real estate investment has been invested following the joining of Latvia to the European Union. With the help of analysis a spatial side of real estate investment in a post-socialist city is defined as well as correlation of the real estate investment and the inhabitantsí perception of built environment is estimated thus allowing contributing both to the literature aimed at investing impact of real estate investment and individualsí perception of spatial (built) environment. Analysis conforms that the real estate investment spatial side exists and is linked to the competitiveness of a particular territory as a set of specific factors and that perception of a local environment differs according to the time spent in the area by the individual and again is linked to the competitiveness of a particular territory as a set of specific factors.