Large housing estates represent a significant part of the existing housing stock in many European cities including Riga, the capital of Latvia. A considerable number of large housing estates were developed within the Soviet housing expansion plans in Riga. Based on social ideals and planned economic strategies for urban development, large housing estates seek their place in the context of other political and economic formations. Socialist ideals and a command economy influenced the principles of town planning and determined the pace and scale of construction. Large housing estates are a troublesome legacy of the previous period, which has become a reality in the housing situation of a significant part of the population of Riga. There are certain problems in this type of housing that are related both to the ageing of the housing fund and to the new social and economic conditions. Various processes that have occurred in recent decades - housing reform, land reform, etc. - have produced significant changes in the way large-scale residential districts are managed and maintained. Despite the differences in spatial and structural solutions of housing estates constructed in various decades, they shared some common features according to the common principles used in their development. The study is focused on the spatial organisation of the estates - original ideas, development stages, current conditions and challenges for future redevelopment. Effective planning, financing, management and legal instruments are necessary for executing complex reconstruction projects. Finding solutions among parties with different interests is a complicated task due to changes that will directly affect real estate property rights.