You traveled to Leipzig for an evening to give a lecture on urban development under wartime conditions in your hometown of Lemberg. You have to go back first thing in the morning. What are your most urgent tasks in Lviv at the moment?
The most urgent tasks in our work include expanding the medical infrastructure and rehabilitation services for the wounded, building new social housing, rebuilding destroyed buildings and facilities, strengthening urban resilience and remembering the fallen. We are currently expanding the entrance areas of hospitals because the experience of other cities shows that emergency rooms are often overloaded after attacks, meaning that the injured cannot be treated quickly enough, even if the hospitals are large enough. An important issue for the city is the approaching winter. We deal with various scenarios for energy failure. This includes pragmatic measures such as setting up stoves in the basements of homes and schools or obtaining enough wood for heating. Even if everything fails, we have to ensure safety standards and for this we have to plan well in advance.
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Lviv, located in the west of Ukraine, is not one of the cities close to the front and therefore particularly affected by the war. Is the war still noticeable in the cityscape?
In Lviv, too, the destruction caused by drone and missile attacks is unmistakable. But the war also changed the cityscape in other ways and presented us with new planning tasks. The biggest challenge is creating infrastructure for internally displaced people, injured people, war veterans and other Ukrainians who have decided to stay in Ukraine and hope for safety in Lviv. We have built container settlements for temporary accommodation, as well as permanent housing for those who need it most, such as people with disabilities resulting from war injuries.
We are supported in this by the European Commission and other partners. The support of German cities is particularly valuable to us; several projects, for example, were realized with the support of Freiburg and Würzburg. The war is also visible in the fact that the city holds a farewell ceremony every day for the fallen soldiers. Sometimes we say goodbye to two fallen soldiers in one day, sometimes to twelve. A memorial with more than a thousand graves is already being built in the city center.
How is the population provided with shelters?
There are thousands of bunkers in Lviv. Most of them are renovated shelters from the Soviet era. We have also built numerous new bunkers and are working intensively on security concepts for these buildings.
But despite the war, is there also everyday normality in urban life?
Yes. Schools are open, people go to work and sit in cafes. There is a lot of normal life, and this is especially important for those who come here from areas close to the front and want to recover from the war in Lviv. But war is also omnipresent in our city. Fifty thousand residents of Lviv are deployed at the front. As a relatively safe city, Lviv has become an important humanitarian center for the entire country. Because of the many rehabilitation facilities, it currently has the highest proportion of disabled people in the world in relation to the population. However, it is not one of the most barrier-free cities in the world.
How does urban planning respond to this?
Everything we plan is based on the principles of accessibility and social balance. On a practical level, it ultimately involves many small but coordinated steps. We have made all pedestrian crossings barrier-free within two years and are working hard to convert the bus stops. We are preserving the historic cobblestones that are common in Lviv, but sanding the surface so that it is no longer an obstacle for wheelchair users. The restaurateurs who benefit from this participate financially. There are also developments that surprise us. So we discovered that playing boules is very good for the rehabilitation process. Since then, we have been setting up the boules courts directly at the hospitals. For many war-wounded people, playing boules is an incentive to get out into the air for the first time after their treatment.
Are there also large new building complexes that were built as a result of the war?
Yes. This includes the “Unbroken” network of centers for medical treatment, prosthetics, rehabilitation, mental health, and sports and art therapy spread across the city. The main campus is part of the expanded Lviv Central Hospital. With thirty thousand seats, it is the largest in Ukraine. Numerous residential and office complexes are also being built in the city. The economy functions and continues to develop.
While in Germany even manageable construction projects can take decades, we look with amazement and admiration at the pace in Ukraine. Is there anything else that Germany can learn from Ukraine when it comes to planning and building?
I have never thought about what Germany can learn from us. But I think we can learn a lot from Germany. Germany has a high planning culture, which provides us with a lot of inspiration. We now need to concentrate on the essentials. We have to manage our forces well and use the limited resources wisely. At the same time, we need quick results. Nevertheless, we also have to take enough time for proper planning. Because most of the time you end up losing with bad projects. That's why we also organize architectural competitions and strive for process quality when planning and building. We have to defend ourselves and at the same time reform many things.
Lviv is now considered a boomtown and at the same time a center of urban planning innovation in Ukraine. What are the reasons for this?
Lviv is a democratic city. There are hardly any large builders, but there are many committed players who compete with each other. And despite the risk in war, there is a great willingness to invest.
What should Lviv look like after the war?
After Russia's attack on Ukraine in 2022, discussions began about how the country should be rebuilt after the end of the war. Higher, bigger, more spectacular – many people demanded it back then. That didn't suit us. We wanted a reconstruction that includes people, relies on creative forces, offers needs-based solutions and at the same time is developed in exchange with international experts.
With the support of many partners, including the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), we launched the Lviv Urban Forum. This year, 1,400 participants came, including many very renowned architects and planners. We are grateful for the great interest and solidarity. At the same time, we are pleased to be able to contribute to the international debates about the future of cities with the forum.
