We talked about the concept of the new General Plan with the head of the developer company Sergey Bronevytskyi; learned the point of view of an expert in the field of historical heritage protection Olga Rutkovskaya; transport expert Viktor Petruk; designer Elena Fateeva, who is engaged in the protection of green areas of the city; representative of the development company Daria Kukharenko.
This collection of subjective opinions cannot be perceived as a sociological study, since it cannot claim any representativeness. Our goal is to simplify the task for all participants of future public hearings, discussions, and discussions and help them focus on the strengths and weaknesses of such an important document for Kyiv.
Elena Fateeva
Designer, founder of creative studio Fateeva Design, public activist
Elena Fateeva
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: What was your first impression of the General Plan 2040 project, judging by its presentation?
Elena Fateeva: At the presentation of the new draft of the General Plan, a message was sounded: "The main task or overarching task of the General Plan is human-centricity." That is, ecological and social issues, and man as such, are at the forefront. We try to keep up with world trends, and ecology is the most important vector of the city's development."
In words everything is fine, but on paper in this edition of the General Plan I see only ignorance and greed. The proposed version of the document assumes the legalization of all illegal constructions. And a plan has been laid for the construction of the remaining green zones and parks of Kyiv, which is contrary to the previously announced declarations.
I see the lack of a strategy for the development of a healthy, harmoniously functioning multimillion-dollar city, developing with concern for people. We are offered concreting, or more precisely, damming of the banks of the Dnieper and Desna, with the destruction of sandy beaches, the felling of thousands of trees in the city limits, the destruction of the green zone of the Horbachi tract, the green zones of the Dnieper islands, Nikolskaya Slobodka, the Osokorka ecopark... And all this for the sake of enriching the next a developer close to the city government.
Similar plans of the city authorities violate international environmental conventions ratified by Ukraine, as well as directly contradict the laws of Ukraine. They will lead not only to the deterioration of the already unfavorable environmental, transport and infrastructure situation in Kyiv, but also to reputational losses in Ukraine.
In the proposed version of the General Plan of Kyiv, I did not find anything that would confirm the declared vector of uniform infrastructure development on both sides of the city. The specifics of planning a city divided by a river are not taken into account. Accordingly, no solution to the problem of forced pendular migration is offered. No bridges and intersections, public and private transport will not eliminate the transport collapse. The solution to the problem is the development of workplaces, offices, enterprises, shopping and entertainment centers, kindergartens, schools, and hospitals on the left bank. And also parks, nature reserves, beaches and other full-fledged recreational areas.
But instead, the developers of the General Plan offer us new "sleepers" on the left bank, built on the remains of former green zones.
I did not see transit underground tunnels in the section devoted to transport. Their construction is a common world practice that helps relieve traffic and significantly improve the environmental situation. Why is everyone keeping quiet about the fact that Kyiv city planners once envisioned the construction of transit transport tunnels, and this would be a great solution for both residents and transit transport drivers who want to cross Kyiv as quickly as possible?
The quality and duration of our life depends on the attitudes of Kyiv's development
PM: Can you name the openly conflicting points on the map of Kyiv?
E.F.: There is a huge list of specific, concrete remarks to the General Plan. For example, I am dealing with the issue of creating a Horbachykh nature reserve on a territory of about 100 hectares on the left bank of Kyiv. At the moment, the territory of the Horbachiha tract is an object of the nature conservation fund with an area of 82,8 hectares. On what basis was it divided and given over to development in the new edition of the General Plan of Horbachi? Why is the water and coastal protection zone allocated for development? Why is part of the territory of the tract in the new project of the General Plan no longer designated as a historical and cultural heritage and not a natural and landscape value?
The entire territory of Gorbachykha is now protected and valuable, and since the adoption of the new General Plan in this edition, a large part of the territory has already lost its value. And how do you imagine it? Will beavers, herons, turtles, European eagles and other Red Book residents of the tract receive notices from the KSHA that there will now be construction and another residential complex on the territory of their homes?
Such a decision means that Ukraine refuses to comply with international conventions on the protection of flora and fauna and the preservation of their habitats. Is the Kyiv government freed from compliance with the laws and obligations of Ukraine? Such a crime is impossible in any of the European capitals! And in the new version of the General Plan of Kyiv, this crime is included.
Photo: Yurii Ferendovych PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
PM: To what extent did the developers of the General Plan take into account the wishes of the public, which were publicly discussed earlier?
E.F.: Everything is not easy. Many wishes of the public were supposedly taken into account, but the question is to what extent? In addition to the fact that the protected zone of the Horbachiha tract is being reduced, along Nikolskaya Slobodka, instead of the natural shore of the Dnieper with sandy beaches and a green zone up to 2 km long, only a piece of the beach "Veselka" with a length of approximately 150-200 m is left for recreation. The rest of the territory is supposed to be allocated for construction with concreting of the coastline, which will destroy not only the beaches, the existing green areas, but also harm the entire ecosystem of the Dnieper, Kyiv and all the settlements located downstream, and ultimately the Black Sea ecosystem.
The procedure for approval of the General Plan provides for public discussions. The developers of the General Plan will have to take into account the edits of independent specialists and experts, listen to the suggestions, comments and wishes of the residents of Kyiv who defend their right to live in a comfortable and healthy environment.
The purpose of the public audience is to convey detailed information about options for the development of the city to every resident, as well as to give every active citizen the right to vote and the opportunity to influence the choice of the future for himself and his children.
The general plan is essentially the Constitution of the city's development and life at all levels. And its development is a titanic work, which initially had to be carried out in close interaction with the public.
I cannot say that the interests of citizens and the proposals of independent experts are taken into account, but the interests of several financial groups of developers are taken into account in this draft of the General Plan for 100%.
The government's plans violate international environmental conventions ratified by Ukraine
PM: The creation of buffer forest parks around Kyiv is a fairly old idea. How do you feel about her? Is it possible to say that this is only a formal expansion of the green territories of Kyiv - do they actually exist anyway?
E.F.: I travel a lot and communicate with leading specialists from different countries in the field of "green urbanism". In most cities, green mass is considered as greening, first of all, in the spots of buildings. And not in the city environs, although the buffer green massif is also extremely important. Increasing the amount of vegetation in the building is a prerequisite for solving many pressing problems. For example, climatic ones - the temperature in summer in neighborhoods without or with insufficient greening will be 5-10 degrees higher than in neighborhoods with parks. Green plantings minimize the risk of flooding during short-term seasonal downpours.
By sacrificing trees, we lose birds, which are natural controllers of insect populations. We do not take into account the results of scientific studies that prove that the lack of greening in the city leads to an increase in the level of depression and stress.
In my opinion, the developers of the General Plan, proposing the expansion of the road and transport network, do not take into account the impact of transport on air quality. Meanwhile, the residents of Kiev are increasingly suffering from smog, which has a detrimental effect on the health of adults, and especially children. Outbreaks of respiratory and allergic diseases, I am sure, are the consequences of the catastrophic reduction of greenery planted in Kyiv.
And all these problems will only get worse if this edition of the General Plan of Kyiv is finally adopted. Therefore, it is necessary to understand that the quality and duration of our life ultimately depends on the principles of Kyiv's development laid down in the General Plan. And this obliges us all to actively participate in the process, so that Kyiv becomes the greenest city in Europe, effective for a healthy and comfortable life. I really hope that we can do it together.
