Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning

Planning Regional Reconstruction amidst Conflict: Balancing Territorial Governance in (Post-)War Ukraine

Daria Malchykova — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article analyses the challenges of regional reconstruction in scenarios of ongoing conflict and deepens existent understanding of the multivariate patterns of (post-)war spatial policy making. Using a case study approach, the article points to situations where the existing institutional structure of decision-making at the territorial community (hromadas) level cannot overcome all consequences of the war in Ukraine. The paper argues that matching (post-)war reconstruction measures with the new functionalities of hromadas, their institutional capacity, level of destruction, resilience, and subjectivity will maximise support for bottom-up initiatives, while adaptively and flexibly supplementing them, where necessary, with a top-down approach.

Strategic Spatial Planning Under Pressure in Ukraine

Vira Ohorodnyk, Mariia Markina, Inna Illiashenko — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the transformation of Ukraine’s spatial planning system in the context of decentralisation, regulatory reform, and the growing role of local communities in decision-making. It emphasises the significance of comprehensive spatial development plans as instruments of integrated local governance. Using the Chernihiv region as a case study, the paper analyses institutional, financial, and organisational challenges in implementing planning decisions and highlights gaps between legislation and practice. The study stresses the need to align spatial planning with modern community development strategies, focusing on digitalisation, local capacity building, and stakeholder engagement. Recommendations are proposed to enhance strategic planning tools and promote balanced territorial development.

Similar and Distinctive Features of Urban Development Analysis

Olga Shevchenko, Nataliia Kuzmynchuk — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The challenges facing Ukrainian cities today require a thorough analysis of their socio-economic development. This article proposes developing a clearer toolkit for assessing the ability of individual cities to build their economic capacity and sustainability, based on studying the socio-economic situations of urban territorial communities from different regions within Ukraine. Based on estimates of socio-economic status, an algorithm was worked out to assess this development. Taking into account the integrative nature of urban policymaking, the framework, mechanisms, and instruments of such a policy were developed, and a scheme was built to link scenarios, strategies, and instruments of urban policy. These can be applied to urban territorial communities at different stages of development. In this study, we relied on available statistical data. However, in practice, we encountered fragmented and incomplete data, particularly regarding the migration patterns of internally displaced persons, their potential contributions to given individual city’s economies, and the impact of displacement on urban planning. This made it impossible to address the challenges of maintaining security, building resilience, and developing urban planning visions. To conduct a thorough analysis of cities’ resilience to challenges while also needing to maintain security, we propose expanding the range of municipal statistical data and updating the statistical observation methodology. The practical significance of this study lies in the possibility of applying the proposed approaches to collecting and processing data on urban development and modelling scenarios and strategies for developing urban policies in Ukrainian cities with similar development conditions. Particular emphasis is placed on complying with the principles of sustainability, security, and smartification when developing urban policies for Ukrainian cities.

Smart Shrinkage for Mykolaiv?

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In Ukraine, with the Russian invasion that started in 2022 still ongoing, the issue of considering a controlled shrinking strategy has become increasingly urgent when looking at the possible population scenario identified by the Mykolaiv Masterplan. Rather than considering the best-case scenario, we must consider the worst-case and baseline scenarios of demographic change. Planning for stagnation and decline must be prioritised to reduce disparities and enable sustainable development.
This paper presents possible demographic scenarios for Mykolaiv after the war, along with their socioeconomic effects. We have chosen the city of Mykolaiv because of its unique characteristics. It has emerged as a crucial defence city for Ukraine since 2014. In light of the Russian invasion of 2022, securing access to Odesa and the wider southern coastline is especially important. Furthermore, Mykolaiv has experienced ongoing demographic shrinkage; exacerbated by the war. Within this context, we map the geography of knowledge produced by smart shrinkage, and reflect on the leading causes, strategies, consequences, contradictions, and opportunities. Our research questions are whether and how these strategies can be applied to the mounting recovery challenges in Mykolaiv.

The Role of Landscape Planning in Local Spatial Planning

Oleksandr Golubtsov — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Landscape planning is now a mandatory element of local spatial planning in Ukraine. Introduced as part of recent planning reforms, it is now required in Comprehensive Spatial Development Plans for Hromadas. Based on the German methodological model, the Ukrainian approach has been adapted to local conditions. This article draws on the author’s practical experience to explore how landscape plans are developed and integrated into comprehensive plans. It provides examples from selected Hromadas, analyses how environmental objectives are reflected in final planning decisions, and discusses regulatory and practical challenges. The conclusions reveal key factors influencing integration, including legal clarity, data availability, coordination, and public engagement.

Reconsidering Urban Resilience Assessments Towards Recovery During Conflict

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the face of global crises, resilience is a crucial approach to recovery. Urban resilience frameworks have proliferated in the last three decades, as support for policy-focused guidelines towards sustainable development. However, gaps in the adoption of urban resilience frameworks for local-level urban planning still exist. This study argues whether existing frameworks, despite addressing current global challenges such as climate adaptation or rapid urban growth, are suitable for contexts experiencing conflict. The methodological approach is guided by two themes: 1) How can an urban system be dissected into sub-components, to make it more relatable to resilience approaches? and 2) what qualities of resilience are needed for effective implementation? Both questions support the formulation of a novel urban resilience framework which is integrated into an adaptable digital instrument. A pilot conducted in two Ukrainian cities is presented as the implementation case. The outcome of this study summarises the learnings from implementation and highlights the relevance of integrating resilience assessments into digital platforms focused on local, decentralised planning contexts, to accelerate digital maturity and better prepare against future crises of unprecedented scale.

Spatial Planning in the Ukraine’s National Higher Education System

Roman Lozynskyy, Iryna Zakutynska — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article analyses the role and content of spatial planning in contemporary higher education in Ukraine. It has been established that the system for training specialists who acquire knowledge across the broad spectrum of issues related to modern understandings of spatial planning is still in the process of formation. Contemporary educational programs related to spatial planning are, in fact, combined with regards to their content. They include educational components of the basic specialty, spatial planning, and other elements designed to attract prospective students. The state encourages connections between universities and non-formal education as they improve the practical orientation of educational programs related to spatial planning. The experience of Ukraine’s neighbouring EU member states in training spatial planning specialists provides guidance to Ukrainian higher education institutions. The greatest obstacle to the total integration of spatial planning into the higher education system is its legal uncertainty within extant legislation. Accordingly, it is not institutionally possible in Ukraine to define spatial planning as an independent profession and, as a result, training specialists in this field involves numerous risks.

Crossing Borders – Actionable Knowledge for Integrated Urban Development Planning in Ukraine

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores various initiatives that have been implemented with a view to strengthening integrated urban development in Ukraine. It emphasises the importance of actionable knowledge and international academic cooperation and it highlights the challenges posed by Ukraine’s political decentralisation and war-related crises; both have strained urban planning capacities. Programmes such as Ukraine Digital and German- Ukrainian partnerships address these needs through digital education, scholarships, and joint courses. The Competence Platform for Integrated Urban Development presented here offers modular courses, tools, and case studies that promote interdisciplinary learning. Teaching modules include lectures, seminars, design studios, and workshops focused on urban resilience, reconstruction, and participatory planning. These initiatives aim to prepare students and municipalities for sustainable and resilient development. Future goals include establishing dual degree programmes and expanding international cooperation to comprehensively rebuild Ukraine’s cities, in line with the principles of the New Leipzig Charter.

Spatial Planning Beyond Algorithmic Logics

Joanna Kopacz- Gruzlewska — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ukraine is currently in a state of war and is experiencing significant demographic changes as well as shifts in residential living and the organisation of its industries. The impacts of the war will require the rebuilding of the country, and this presents opportunities to improve the living and working environment of Ukrainians while also introducing new sustainable solutions. There is a need to establish new strategies for spatial planning that include new technologies and broad public participation through the development of National Spatial Data Infrastructure. This paper explores the potential solutions, opportunities and risks of developing a new spatial planning approach in Ukraine.

Editorial

Oleksandr Anisimov, Dominic Stead — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ukraine faces some of the most extreme conditions to have been experienced in Europe since the Second World War, including the loss of human life, depopulation, forced migration, the destruction of settlements, natural and agricultural areas, and the lack of access to basic services (e.g. water, electricity). These extreme conditions require huge, concerted efforts to promote the country’s recovery, as was also the case in Europe in the second half of the 1940s, when countries were rebuilt after being ravaged by war. At that time, new planning practices were developed in many countries in parallel with the establishment of new arrangements of the welfare state, including public housing, education and healthcare provision, on a scale unimaginable just one or two decades earlier. While Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction have been discussed at length, little attention has so far been devoted to the implications for the role of spatial planning in the rebuilding process (with some minor exceptions: Maruniak et al., 2022; UN-Habitat Urban Recovery Framework Thematic Papers, forthcoming). The spatial dimension has largely been absent in political and expert debates, as though geography and the built
environment hardly matter, which is certainly not the case. Less than five years ago, pre-war territorial and administrative reforms reshaped the governance and land ownership landscape in Ukraine (Anisimov et al., 2024; Umland and Romanova, 2024). While these shifts have created new opportunities for locally led economic growth, they have also presented new problems and challenges for regional development, nature conservation, and land degradation (Anisimov et al., 2025). These reforms have also increased the dynamism of governance and land management. Understanding the spatial governance context is highly important for the EU and its member states, as Ukraine’s accession to the EU is likely to pose new challenges in the implementation of directives and regulations with direct impact on land.