The Green Ring is one of the key strategic projects for the development of Sofia – a project that shows how the city can develop comprehensively, sustainably and with people in mind. With a length of about 30 kilometers, the future linear park will connect over 30 residential neighborhoods and provide direct access to the city's green system for more than 250,000 residents.
The idea is ambitious, but completely achievable: to turn abandoned territories, old railway lines and river corridors into active public spaces for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, sports, recreation and social life. The Green Ring is not just a park, but the backbone of the city's future pedestrian and bicycle network, said Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev.
In 2025, the project received a new impetus with the resumption of coordination between the Sofia Municipality, the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the Sofiaplan team. The focus was on those mandatory but often invisible steps - institutional coordination, preparation of terms of reference, technical and transport studies, as well as optimization of administrative procedures. It is this work that makes it possible for a large-scale project to go from a good idea to real implementation.
One of the key areas that is already being worked on is the Vazrazhdane section in the Sredets oil refinery area. There, the Green Ring will connect the Krasna Polyana and Krasna Polyana neighborhoods. and “Serdika“ with “Lager“, “Belite brezi“, “Krasno selo“ and “Slavia“. The territory is a former production area, planned for a complete restructuring, with the Ring Road being considered not in isolation, but as part of a broader rethinking of the street network, public spaces and future functions of the area.
In 2025, “Sofiaplan“ prepared a task for a comprehensive road, communication and transport study, and together with the “Architecture and Urban Planning“ work is underway to create public-private partnerships with investors in the area.
In 2026, changes in the regulation, additional transport analyses, traffic counts and modeling are expected, with the aim of choosing the most balanced solution and ensuring continuous and conflict-free passage of the linear park.
In parallel, the procedures for the first section of the Green Ring in the “Iztok” and “Izgrev” districts are also progressing. Part of the state-owned properties have already been transferred to the municipality, and in 2026 the process is expected to be fully completed. The next key step is the assignment of a technical project - the last necessary condition before starting construction. The goal is to start the construction of the first section - from the “Pioner” station - at the end of 2026. to “Shipchenski prohod“ blvd. and the future metro station, as well as a parallel start of work on three more sections, with the aim of the project developing in stages and in a connected manner.
An essential element of the project is the active involvement of citizens and the academic community. In recent years, students from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy have been developing parts of the Green Ring as part of their study projects, analyzing terrain, conducting research and working with local communities. Some of these ideas will find a place in future design assignments. Field events are also planned for 2026, through which people from the neighborhoods will be included in the early phases of the project.
In its full implementation, the Green Ring will pass through a large part of Sofia's green wedges and along six of the city's rivers. Thus, it will create a strong connection between the parks, rivers and Vitosha and will establish itself as the main urban structure on which all concepts for green connections between the center, neighborhoods and the mountain are built.
The Green Ring is a long-term investment in green infrastructure, sustainable mobility and a higher quality of life. It is much more than a park - it is an answer to the question of what kind of city we want to be: more connected, greener, more accessible and fairer for all, said Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev.