Land policies are integral to the affordability and sustainability of our homes and also the inclusiveness of our neighbourhoods. Land policy is also critical to Ukraine’s ambition to “build forward greener” and a just recovery. In 2023, Building on thePBL report Rebuilding a Place to Call Home, we invite experts and policy-makers to address the critical issues of recovery:
What are the key legislative and structural challenges in land policy to achieving balanced and inclusive recovery of homes and places?
How can the use of private land be aligned with the public interest and long-term goals of climate-neutral land use and affordable housing provision?
Which land use instruments are available and which should be developed in hromadas for the promotion of affordable housing?
And, finally, what is the role of research and institutions on the national and local levels in this regard?
russian invasion has created the worst humanitarian and ecological crisis in Europe since WWII and a lot of new homes are necessary. It is widely understood today that land is necessary for all functions of the urban environment – housing, schools, hospitals, and transport infrastructure. Altogether the daily existence of our environment is impossible without land. But land is a scarce, finite resource – an extremely limited public good that cannot be multiplied, yet the land market operates as a commodity market. To build back socially, ecologically and economically sustainable places, new financial and distributive mechanisms are necessary, that take into account the challenges of depopulation, governance capacity and local needs.
Since 2021 the EU has set a goal to achieve zero-net land take by 2050, and in Ukraine, even after so many territories have been mined, scattered with shells, poisoned or flooded, we seal off hectares of land every day. About 30 percent of Ukraine, more than 170000 km2 will require time-consuming, expensive and dangerous clearance operations, according to a recent report by GLOBSEC. As of today, municipal and state land is steadily transferred to the private market via auctioning, while national land and housing strategies are absent. Different but acute challenges mount for the Western regions with pressure for the expansion of land for housing, agriculture and renewable energy, while in the South-East contraction of the population requires innovative and active land policies suitable for changing local needs, aspirations and constraints.
The challenge ahead is immense and building the necessary evidence and knowledge are the first steps to approach the recovery of homes.
The challenge (10:00-10:30) Julie Lawson, Ryan van den Nouwelant and Laurence Troy (RMIT University, UNSW, University of Sydney) – access to adequate housing in Ukraine – a needs-based assessment
Session 1. Possible solutions to housing needs (10:30-11:30)
(Needs and data, national conditions of land use, municipalities and housing, state and housing — priorities and policies; forms of housing construction and management)
Moderated by Pavlo Fedoriv (NHP)
Vita Shnaider/Galyna Sukhomud (New Housing Policy) — Non-profit actors in emergency housing sphere: access to land and management of IDP housing
Olena Lukaniuk (IOM) — Overcoming barriers to affordable housing in local areas. What reforms are needed and what is possible now?
Wolfgang Amann (IIBW) — Common good housing approach: delivering systemic change for sustainable public housing in municipalities in Ukraine
Session 2. Do we have land for future housing development? How do we assess it? (11:45-13:15)
(Sectoral limitations and challenges, market of land; energy transition, natural landscapes and agriculture - search for balance; war related land loss and conservation; taxation and assessment towards sustainable use)
Moderated by Oleksandr Anisimov (NHP)
Anna Akermann, Maria Diachuk (Ecoaction) – Establishing national and local evidence for the land loss and approaches to local land use after the war
Oleg Nivievskyi (KSE) – TBC
Olexiy Burkovskiy () – National land policy in light of the challenges for the future recovery, data on the land-use and finance in the agriculture sector
Edwin Buitelaar (PBL, Utrecht University) — Land-use policy challenges and prospects in the local communities in the Netherlands in the light of Net-zero aims by 2050
Lunch
Session 3. Land-use tools and policies for recovery (14:30 - 15:45)
(inclusive zoning, building contracts and agreements; long-term land lease, land banking; land-use planning; land balance; models of land ownership - forms in Ukraine; infrastructure and land for the future — planning tools for recovery and development)
Moderated by Pavlo Fedoriv (NHP)
Oleksandr Anisimov (Aalto University, KhSA, NHP) – Tools for land-use and land development, integration for local land-use
Yehor Vlasenko (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) – Spatial and regional planning, penetrating rural/urban dimensions in Ukrainian communities
Andriy Martyn (NUBiP) — developing local land use plans, tools and assessments – experience and challenges in Ukraine
Keynote (16:00-17:00)
Vlad Mykhnenko (University of Oxford) — How can the post-war reconstruction jumpstart Ukraine’s economy?
Discussion Panel: How to inform the national reforms in housing and land for green recovery? (17:00-18:30)
Moderated by Ivan Verbytskyi (CEDOS)
(Supply or demand approach? Planning of reforms in light of the priorities, international agenda and Ukraine Plan, expected strategic investment and local capacity, role of civil society and expert circles)
Rebuilding a Place to Call Home – the Role of Land Policy in (post)war Ukraine
Land policies are integral to the affordability and sustainability of our homes and also the inclusiveness of our neighbourhoods. Land policy is also critical to Ukraine’s ambition to “build forward greener” and a just recovery. In 2023, Building on the PBL report Rebuilding a Place to Call Home, we invite experts and policy-makers to address the critical issues of recovery
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