The main event will be a practical workshop on creating mental maps of the city's neighborhoods. The forum will lay the foundation for the launch of the "City Platform" - the first moderated digital platform in Ukraine for the development of the urban environment based on the real needs of residents.
Leading Ukrainian urbanists, architects, and managers will speak at the forum with a series of public lectures, where they will share their experiences of urban transformations in Ukraine and around the world. Among the invited lecturers are:
- Hanna Chernat — urban planner, architect of the “Space Odyssey” studio, lecturer at the Kharkiv School of Architecture;
- Darya Borovyk — representative of the spatial development agency “Restart”;
- Maria Hryshchenko — mental mapping expert, representative of the “Cite” agency;
- Borys Pakholiuk — Director of the Municipal Development Agency;
- Lyudmila Zubko — MP, businesswoman, public figure;
- Liliya Pelehata is the CCO (Chief Customer Officer) of the Premium Space group of construction companies.
After the lectures, the forum participants will divide into teams and try to "draw" their own vision of the urban environment using Kevin Lynch's methodology: key routes, favorite and dangerous places, symbols, barriers, and points of attraction.
Such “resident mapping” makes it possible to assess the city from the perspective of its everyday users and identify problems and features that remain unnoticed by official strategies.
Start of a large urban study
The forum opens a new approach to analyzing urban space, based on the experience and feelings of residents themselves. After the event, “Zhytomyr Enthusiasts” together with partners will begin a large-scale study of the comfort of Zhytomyr's neighborhoods, which will involve volunteers, students, urban planners, and sociologists.
Experts plan to work with different “layers” of data:
- historical sources, archives and maps;
- spatial analysis: development, transport, environmental functions and barriers;
- behavioral patterns: zones of attraction, usage scenarios, activity;
- surveys of residents: quantitative and in-depth interviews that will allow you to see the area through the eyes of the people.
The collected analytics will not remain in reports - it will become the basis for developing specific spatial solutions in each neighborhood of the city. Initiatives created on its basis will be implemented through the "City Platform" - a digital tool that will combine a map of city projects with the possibility of raising funds (crowdfunding).
The forum is organized by the team of the NGO “Zhytomyr Enthusiasts” – a young but already experienced community of urbanists, designers, cultural managers and researchers. The team has already managed to unite around this idea several partners who sincerely support the development of the city. In particular, Premium Space became the first company to believe in the importance of business participation in the formation of a comfortable urban environment and supported the forum.
The forum is open to all, participation is free, with prior registration. Details of the program and the registration form are available on the website:
forum.zhe.band
See also:
Dutch and Ukrainian urbanists present joint exhibition on sustainable renewal of Ukraine in Lviv
Urban Buro launches interactive accessibility map for Ukrainian cities