Mykolaiv cannot yet allocate more than UAH 30 million for a new General Plan

Funding is needed to develop a new Master Plan for Mykolaiv. The preliminary cost estimate is over UAH 30 million, but the city’s limited budget does not currently allow for such an allocation.

The status of the document’s preparation was explained at a press conference by Yevhen Poliakov, director of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning. According to him, preparing the full set of urban planning documents could take about two years. The completion date will depend on how financial and organizational issues are resolved.

The need to update the city’s main planning document stems from the major changes in Mykolaiv: the consequences of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and significant social and economic transformations. The new Master Plan must take these circumstances and current challenges into account, setting out the main directions for the city’s future development.

Work on the document has been underway since 2022. Between 2022 and 2026, international partners were involved:

• the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe;
• the Italian architecture firm ONEWORKS;
• the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark;
• the Danish company COWI.

This cooperation resulted in urban planning materials that can serve as a basis for further development of the Master Plan. However, the work completed so far is not sufficient to prepare its final version.

The city authorities are looking for ways to simplify the process and reduce the cost of preparing the document. To this end, the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning has already approached the Association of Ukrainian Cities with a proposal to amend Ukrainian legislation. Thus, moving on to the final development of the Master Plan requires not only funding, but also improvements to the procedure set out in law.

We previously reported:

• Milan Polytechnic team to help develop Mykolaiv’s master plan
• The city could become an ideal model for reconstruction: Mykolaiv presented at a conference in Italy
• Five city recovery projects proposed for Mykolaiv: what they plan to do
• Residents of Korabelnyi are dissatisfied with transport and safety levels, according to a survey on the Master Plan
• European architects to be involved in developing a new Master Plan for Mykolaiv