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, 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.
Serhiy Bronevytskyi
Head of "Kyivgenplan" KO
Serhiy Bronevytskyi
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: After the presentation of the draft General Plan, the developers were criticized, despite the fact that none of the journalists and members of the public have yet seen the document in its entirety. You haven't published it yet. To understand at what point we are, specify - at what stage is the work on the capital's General Plan now?
Serhiy Bronevytskyi: As of today, work on the project of the new General Plan is 95% complete. The master plan consists of 17 main sections, one of which is the historical and architectural reference plan. We are currently waiting for the approval of this document from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. After that, we will finally bring all sections into compliance with the historical-architectural reference plan and present it as a complete document for public discussion. I hope that it will be in a month or a half.
PM: Will the master plan give us answers to all the painful questions, including the building regulations? For example, is zoning, which is designed to regulate development, part of the General Plan?
SB: Unfortunately, many people expect the impossible from the General Plan, that it will solve all the problems of city development. But this is a general program document that defines only the functional purpose of the territory. Namely, zoning is the document that will determine the regimes and technical and economic indicators for the development of one or another territory. According to our legislation, zoning can be considered both as part of the General Plan and as a separate document. According to the decision of the Kyiv City Council, zoning is considered as a separate document. It is developed in parallel with the draft General Plan, but it can be approved only after the adoption of the main document. In terms of functions, zoning must clearly correspond to the General Plan, we will prescribe the parameters for each quarter, microdistrict.
Why are there construction scandals now? Today, the General Plan of 2002 is in effect, in which there are actually no height restrictions. It is very convenient for developers to have such a document without restrictions. There is no historical-architectural reference plan that would regulate the modes of use and the boundaries of the protected zones (which is also convenient), there is no zoning that would indicate that the maximum number of floors in certain territories of Podil is 4-5 floors. All this is also money for developers. Therefore, non-acceptance of these documents leads to further chaotic construction. We are entering the 20th year with such a situation. And we need to correct it this year: approve the General Plan in the summer. The historical and architectural reference plan prescribes the regimes of territory use, the boundaries of protected zones of monuments and the boundaries of buffer zones of UNESCO world heritage monuments. About 3 architectural monuments are marked. We hope that by the new year of 500 we will submit to the Kyiv City Council zoning that will regulate the development.
Why are there construction scandals now? It is very convenient for developers to have a General Plan without restrictions
PM: Despite the absence of restrictions, Kyiv has already managed to adopt a lot of detailed plans of the territories - DPT. Including controversial and scandalous. They are still being accepted. And if it turns out that they contradict zoning, the General Plan?
SB: The detailed plans of the territories, which have already been approved by the Kyiv City Council, are the initial data for us, for the design of the General Plan. We must take into account all the decisions of the Kyiv Council that are valid today. We are not a court, according to state construction regulations we must comply with all applicable documents, such as decisions of the Kyiv City Council, urban planning restrictions, approved by the DPT. According to the state construction regulations, we are obliged to take into account the investment intentions of the developers, if they do not contradict the state construction regulations and the interests of the city. Because one of the main purposes of urban planning documentation is the rational use of territories in Kyiv.
And in Kyiv, 7,5 thousand hectares are currently occupied by non-working industry, which is no secret to anyone. Moreover, industrial enterprises located on the territory of Kyiv create sanitary protection zones on 13 thousand hectares. That is, a third of the city's territory is occupied by sanitary zones. A quarter of a million inhabitants live in them. De jure it is impossible, because it is prohibited.
Therefore, in the draft of the General Plan, we envisage either the removal of these harmful industries, or the introduction of new technologies by enterprises in order to reduce sanitary protection zones. By the way, moving industrial enterprises outside the city limits is a global trend. In Paris, you will not see any industrial zone.
PM: But how realistic is the idea of moving industrial enterprises outside Kyiv? What levers can the government use?
SB: There are regulatory levers of influence — state regulations prohibit the presence of enterprises of the I-II category of harmfulness on the territory of the city. There are purely economic levers - incentives or land tax. But I want to say that the owners of most enterprises today are interested in repurposing such areas. These enterprises do not work, there are no jobs there, no taxes are collected from these territories. And the owners of such territories want to use them for another purpose — for the construction of housing or public service facilities: office, shopping centers.
Project of the General Plan 2040
Distribution of objects of cultural heritage on the territory of Kyiv
PM: Does the master plan envisage moving the Kyiv airport outside the city limits? This is another topic that stirred the public.
SB: The project of the General Plan envisages the preservation of the airport in Zhulyany for the estimated period from 2020 to 2040. It remains the second airport in the city of Kyiv. There is no such intention to close it next year or in 5 years. For the off-balance sheet period, we recommend locating the airport either in Gostomel or in Roslavichy.
I want to express my personal opinion and the opinion of transport experts: the location of such an airport in the city of Kyiv is incorrect. Because there are millions of square meters of housing on the slopes of this airport. The areas around the airport are chaotically built up. Therefore, the existence of an airport on the territory of Kyiv today is problematic.
If there is an investor who can move this airport, for example, to Gostomel and build the appropriate infrastructure there, we as a city will welcome it. The territory of 300 hectares is attractive for investment, it is possible to build a public housing complex here, where tens of thousands of jobs will be created. The planned fourth branch of the metro goes from Troeshchyna and passes right by this airport.
A third of the city's territory is occupied by sanitary zones. A quarter of a million inhabitants live in them. De jure it is impossible, because it is prohibited
PM: At the presentation of the General Plan, it was said that Kyiv should remain within its borders. But it is about the creation of an agglomeration and the development of the transport framework, taking into account the suburbs. By what principle will this agglomeration be created and will settlements in the suburbs of Kyiv retain their autonomy?
SB: In no case is it about the joining of these territories and the fact that the center of decision-making is transferred to the KMDA. We are following the path of creating agglomerations, as is done in "Big Paris" or in Berlin, where similar areas are not included in the composition of cities. Suburban settlements keep their own councils, executive committees, deputies, and budgets. I am very glad that we have finally stopped the pointless talk about the expansion of Kyiv's borders. The current General Plan provides for the expansion of Kyiv's borders, and for some reason we thought that we would annex 65 thousand hectares of the territory of the suburban zone. But these dozens of settlements are developing in their own direction - Brovary, Bucha, Obukhiv, and Ukrainka. Therefore, we stopped these conversations and moved on to plans for the creation of an agglomeration.
We studied the experience of "Great Paris" in detail. Which, by the way, should not be taken over completely, because they also have many problems. We have an imbalance in the development of Kyiv and the suburbs. And the correspondingly high level of labor migration. More than 100 cars enter Kyiv every morning. Approximately 350 people go to work, to study, to the hospital. There are no jobs, no schools, no hospitals. There is no engineering infrastructure, unfortunately. Housing is actively being built, but infrastructure is not being built. And they have many problems and questions for Kyiv, including the need to join our engineering networks. And we have counter-questions and requirements for the territories of the region: placement of infrastructure facilities - cemeteries, airports, waste processing plants.
Photo: Yuriy Ferendovych|PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
PM: You mentioned the possibility of connecting suburban housing estates to the engineering networks of Kyiv. Aren't the networks of the capital already overloaded?
SB: In Kyiv, there are certain reserves regarding engineering networks. Investors will choose either to pay Kyiv for their use, or to build their own. Moreover, if we are talking about placement of cemeteries or waste processing plants, it will not be free either. Local territorial communities will receive some benefit from this. This is how it is done all over the world. Only by economic methods can we stimulate communities to agree to the placement of certain objects. We will not do it without the decision of local deputies. And in order for the deputies to agree to the location of the facility, they must go to their people and say: yes, this facility may be undesirable, but our settlement will receive preferences from Kyiv.
By creating an agglomeration, we stimulate the development of these settlements. When the "Greater Paris" agglomeration was created, the planners, connecting these territories with a public transport system, achieved equalization of development. For example, a huge shopping and office center is under construction in the suburbs. And the mayor of the town said that when they became members of the agglomeration, investors looked at these territories in a completely different way. We hope that it will be the same in our case.
There are common interests. For example, it is planned to build a water intake on Velikoy Island, which will supply drinking water to Troeshchyna and Obolon. But he will supply this drinking water not only to Kyiv, but also to the territory of the northern suburban zone. That is, it is an object of common interests.
Unfortunately, Ukrainian legislation is still imperfect in matters of agglomeration. In our case, one of the main documents will be the town planning concept. We are developing a draft of the General Plan of Kyiv, suburban territories and cities are developing their own. But in order for the agglomeration to work, we must have a single urban planning concept — to show exactly where these objects of common interest are, how the transport and ecological framework will develop, how landscaping will take place, where industrial enterprises will be moved.
In fact, there is no land in Kyiv that is free from development, not owned or leased
PM: Is the urban planning concept another separate document?
SB: Yes, this is an urban planning concept of creating an agglomeration.
PM: And when do you plan to begin its development?
SB: First, it is necessary to adopt state construction regulations that will regulate the composition, content and procedure for the development of these urban planning concepts. After that, you can begin the urban planning concept of creating an agglomeration. A de jure agglomeration is already starting to be created, dozens of settlements have signed an agreement on cooperation with Kyiv.
PM: Regarding Kyiv's reserves, are there any reserved areas for the implementation of such plans as the construction of interceptor parking lots at the entrances to the capital?
SB: If we talk about territorial resources, then in fact, in the last 15 years, there is no land that is free from development, not owned or leased. The last plots were allocated 10-12 years ago. Therefore, when solving the issue of locating enterprises or engineering facilities, we must definitely take into account that construction customers will need to solve the issue of land plots or the purchase of property. We cannot avoid this.
Still, we partially entered the territory that still belongs to the city. But mostly they are privately owned. The city will have to partially compensate the owners of these territories for their cost. It's no secret that during the construction of the Podil bridge crossing, the city bought about 30 land plots, rented out apartments or other land plots. We have planned Northern and Southern bridge crossings across the Dnipro. Will have to do the same. This is a normal situation. Therefore, compensation to the owners of these territories will be included in the construction estimate.
Photo: Yuriy Ferendovych|PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
Photo: Yuriy Ferendovych|PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
PM: On the one hand, we heard the thesis: "The focus is on comfortable movement for cars." On the other hand, you talked about the priorities of pedestrians and public transport. So which vector of development is proposed — car-centricity or pedestrian-centricity?
SB: In the General Plan, when developing the "Transport" section, we adhered to the European principles of the development of the transport network - this is the priority of the pedestrian over the car, the priority of public transport over private. But we are certainly considering the development of the street and road network. Because 25% of the population use private vehicles, and they also need to create comfortable conditions.
That is, the priority is the creation of public zones and pedestrian areas, especially in the center of Kyiv, the development of public transport, first of all rail, the creation of separate lanes for the movement of public transport, the development of a bicycle network. But at the same time, the construction of intercepting parking lots, intersections, bridges, highways is no less important.
We comprehensively consider the problem of pendulum migration between the left and right banks of the Dnieper and propose the creation of jobs on the left bank. For example, an investment-attractive territory in the Troye region, a number of territories near the Livoberezhna and Chernihivska metro stations have been marked. In order to show investors where new jobs can be created, so that people do not travel from the left bank to the right. This is exactly in line with the European principle of creating work next to housing.
The whole world is building subways. And they tell us: "You don't need to build"!
PM: The KMDA previously discussed the idea of replacing the expensive construction of the metro in Troeshchyna with the launch of a high-speed tram — it is both cheaper and much faster to implement. Why was she rejected?
SB: The whole world is building subways, there are 300 stations in Berlin, 270 in London, dozens of new ones are being opened even in the capital of our northern neighbor... And we are told: "We don't need to build"! But in our country, the density of metro stations per square kilometer of territory is probably the lowest among cities with a population of three million in Europe. Why are we supporters of the creation of a new branch of the metro? Yes, I agree, the tram will be much cheaper. It is even cheaper not to build at all. But if we compare the tram and the subway in terms of the volume of transportation, the subway is three times more efficient.
If we start a high-speed tram, direct it to the bridge, and it reaches Podol, then it will turn from a high-speed tram into a regular one, because a high-speed tram is impossible in Podol. Calculations show that one tram will not be enough to transport passengers from Troeshchyna. Therefore, we need to have a subway with an exit to Podil and a high-speed tram along the left bank. These two types of high-speed transport will solve the problems of Troeshchyna.
Photo: Yuriy Ferendovych|PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
PM: Responding to critical remarks, for example, during a broadcast on one of the TV channels, you said that the opponents of the General Plan project created by you are defending someone's interests. Whose exactly?
SB: There are developers and powerful companies that have realized that it is much easier for them to work in transparent conditions. When an investor enters a city and knows in advance which building of which floor, which function, density he can build in a particular area. But unfortunately, there are developers who benefit from the mess that has been going on for the past 20 years.
PM: And are you ready to stand up to this lobby?
SB: We will resist because there is no other way out — the building must be regulated. When I hear arguments that the Master Plan cannot be adopted because it is simply bad, that is not an argument. We haven't even posted the Master Plan materials on the website yet, and it's already bad. Why? What I haven't heard is that there is no need to build a metro to Troeshchyna, that we are halving green areas (although, on the contrary, we are increasing them), that there is no need to build housing in Kyiv... Why is it not necessary? Our housing security per inhabitant is three times lower than in European countries. What, no one wants to improve their living conditions? And how to do it, if you do not build housing? Yes, it cannot be built by the method of chaotic compaction, which was observed in recent years, when there were no restrictions. This caused just opposition of the population and distrust of the authorities. We need to organize the building, adopt the general rules of the game.
Housing security per resident of Kyiv is three times lower than in Europe
Photo: Yuriy Ferendovych|PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
PM: What role do the authors of the General Plan assign to the public? What if, according to some points, the opinions of activists and informal urbanists will sharply contradict the reasoning of your experts? Are these alternative views planned to be considered?
SB: When public hearings begin, round tables and meetings will be held as required by law. We hope more for the participation of the professional community. We don't consider ourselves geniuses and we can be wrong too. Therefore, an alternative but constructive opinion is important for us. In any case, we are obliged to respond to all 100% of requests. Consider and take into account the wishes or provide a reasoned refusal.
