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Ukrainian Urban Forum 2020

Ukrainian Urban Forum 2020

Since 2018, Ukrainian Urban Forum has been facilitating the exchange of experience and networking among activists, researchers, government officials, and all those interested in the equitable and sustainable development of Ukrainian cities. The main goal of the forum is to deepen the discussion on urban development in Ukraine and to strengthen professional and informal ties in the community.

About Forum

“Will the Market Decide?” — this question became the central theme of the 2020 Forum. We invited urbanists to talk about urban development under market economy conditions. In particular, we focused on the social, political, and economic processes behind the everyday challenges of typical Ukrainian cities.

Why doesn’t public transport run and why are hotels replacing municipal cinemas? Who needs a shopping mall instead of a public square? And why is our architectural heritage falling into decay?

We decided to combine various formats and organized a series of podcasts, articles, and themed online discussions as part of the Forum.

The 2020 Forum was initially planned to take place in Khmelnytskyi. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and our commitment to the safety of participants, all activities were held online.

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The History of the Forum

The first Ukrainian Urban Forum in a modern format was held in 2018 in Kyiv. Its topic was “What is a fair city?” One of the forum's important features is its traveling component: each year, the event takes place in a new city and allows for the development of a network of regional partnerships.

That is why, in 2019, the forum, which was held in Zaporizhzhia at the invitation of local activists, had the theme “People. City. Plant.”

In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the forum switched to a hybrid format. In order to cover the socio-economic problems of Ukrainian cities, we chose the question “Will the Market Solve?” as the topic of the forum and launched a podcast of the same name.

In 2021, the project continued to exist in the form of online discussions, a podcast, a series of articles, and tours in Lviv, Kyiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk. These activities encouraged the community to discuss the future of Ukrainian cities and what it might look like “After Tomorrow.”

In 2022, as a result of the outbreak of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Cedos team decided to cancel Ukrainian Urban Forum. However, in 2023, Ukrainian Urban Forum is already back and heading to Vinnytsia to discuss urban renewal, the right to housing, and how we can create a “Common Home” together.