PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: To what extent will the pandemic slow down vertical progress and how will new waves and mutations of the virus affect the perspective of high-rise construction?
Andrei Vavrysh: High-rise construction is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of engineering thought and technology, the whole world, including Ukraine, is moving in this direction. However, its development prospects depend on the territory and are determined by local legislation and the amount of free land for development. In Ukraine and in Kyiv, in particular, free territories and industrial zones in need of renovation will be enough for the next 50 years of construction, so it is too early to tell us about the prospects of a vertical city.
Andrei Vavrysh, CEO of SAGA Development
PM: How justified is high-rise construction in the center of the city? Is it permissible to "stand up for the blue line", and if so, in what cases?
A.V.: The expediency of high-rise construction should be considered in the context of the territory. If we are talking about Kyiv, then the center here is heterogeneous. There is a business center in the vicinity of "Olympiyskaya", Pechersk, where a high-rise building has already formed, and it makes no sense to prohibit it. And there is the historical part of Podol, where the construction of high-rise buildings is unacceptable and unjustified, even despite the fact that most of the modern construction of Podol is an imitation of the old. We have several projects in Podol — SAGA City Space, ANDRIYIVSKY City Space. While working on these projects, we took into account public opinion and UNESCO recommendations to avoid pseudo-historical imitation. At the same time, the height and dynamics of the building harmonize with the surrounding buildings.
ANDRIYIVSKY City Space is a project by BURØ architects for SAGA Development. Kyiv, Ukraine. Image source: BURØ architects
PM: Can the vertical growth of cities solve such urgent problems as heavy traffic, shortage of affordable housing, deterioration of the ecological situation? Or, on the contrary, will it aggravate them?
A.V.: The solution to these problems is the result of effectively working city strategies in the field of transport, affordable housing, and ecology. If urban strategies and rules are developed taking into account the trends in which the city is already developing, if they include the prevention of these problems, the situation will improve. If the city's development strategy goes against the way the city is actually changing, the problems will worsen.
For example, in the last 30 years, Kyiv has been growing in suburbs instead of developing inwards due to the renovation of idle industrial zones. This is the result of a mistaken development strategy that preserves the Soviet industrial heritage in the hope that it will one day work. As a result, we have problems with transport, ecology and inefficiently spend funds on the creation of new infrastructure instead of using the existing one.
