Urban expert Dr. Volodymyr Nudelman, city development expert, offers his prescription for saving Kyiv
Dr. Volodymyr Nudelman is a walking encyclopedia on facts and figures related to his native Kyiv. He’s got a recipe for how to cure many of its illnesses, having studied the city’s growth and development from the days of Soviet glory, post-Soviet collapse and now the new era of rampant commercialism. He is an academic with a doctorate in geographical sciences and a member of the Ukrainian Academy of Architecture. He is a modest man who travels around the city by public transport. But there is nothing modest about his extensive knowledge of the city, its problems and how to fix them.
KP: What are the main problems of the capital at the moment?
VN: The greatest roadblock is that the Kyiv city government has no strategy or perspective for the city’s development. For a while, the Ukrainian capital was progressing spontaneously, only driven by primitive market forces and the wishes of a small group of oligarchs.
Kyiv is totally overpopulated now. The number of citizens exceeds five million – a figure that had been originally planned for the year 2020. The number of cars has gone up to one million. New skyscrapers pop up downtown in the city each month. At the same time, the capital’s infrastructure hasn’t been upgraded in the last 20 years. Roads, sewage and energy systems are overloaded.
Some parts of Kyiv’s sewer system were built in 1917. Water leaks are huge in these parts of the city and enormous amounts of money go to fixing the old equipment instead of buying new systems. The loss of energy from leakages is equal to one year’s worth of output by a nuclear power plant. As a result, the energy share in water production is 40 percent, while the European standard is five percent.
The road infrastructure is also in poor condition. According to acceptable national standards, Kyivans should not spend more than 45 minutes traveling to work each day. But that is impossible in the city today.
[Communist ideologist] Karl Marx once said that in the near future the wealth of society would be estimated by the amount of free time. In Kyiv this rate is very low.KP: Is the Kyiv government trying to solve these problems?
VN: Considering the lack of accessible land and overpopulation of the city, the Kyiv City Council decided to extend the city’s borders. According to the general plan, the city will grow by 60,000 hectares from the current 83,600. Officials plan to annex territories west of Kyiv, up to the Irpin River; to the south down to the city of Ukrainka, and northern lands including Vyshgorod city. These territories are the most expensive areas in the vicity of the capital. And I am sure that after joining Kyiv, they are going to be sold off fully during the next land grab. Such a change is disadvantageous for both Kyiv residents and the villagers.
Upgrading the new territories bringing them in line with the capital’s standards will require huge investment. It also means that problems that exist in the present boarders of the city will not be solved.
Rural residents will be deprived their usual lifestyle. Access to the Dnipro River, to the forests and numerous benefits which are given by law to country residents will be cut off.
The issue of different mentality should also be taken into account. Village and city dwellers do get along well. They have have different perceptions on life and will find it difficult to mix together.
KP: So, how should the problem of limited land resources be addressed?
VN: I am sure we can avoid expansion of the city territory. Moscow is a good example here. It’s population density is twice as high, but the local government has no plan to increase its territory until 2020. The Moscow government satisfies its city housing and business construction needs using existing land resources. Kyiv can do this too.
To improve the capital land fund we should do the following. Firstly, we must move industry out of city. Then, move the city and national government out of the city center, and give out all the empty buildings to private investors, providing desirable territory for construction.
Investors will get the desirable territory for construction. For example, the Agriculture Ministry [located on Khreshchatyk] is a great place for a five-star hotel. This step will also reduce the number of cars that fill the center each day. Then, the city can give away outdated housing, which accounts for about one quarter of all housing in the city.
KP: What are the main infrastructural threats in Kyiv?
VN: I guess the most serious problem for the Kyivans is the sewage system. It is completely out of date and badlly in need of modernization. In three or four years the city may face an ecological disaster, with all the waste contaminating the water of Dnipro River. A land plot that was designated for a new sewage processing plant by the previous city government has already been sold by the new city government. And there is no other suitable space for it in or around Kyiv. The only way out is to buy new European technology that will cut the waste 100 fold. Some remains can be recycled to produce phosphate fertilizer. Unfortunately, the technology costs 500 million euros, which our government is not willing to pay.
The second problem is the city’s aging gas pipeline system. it has not been modernized since Soviet days. In the near future pipes could leak triggering accidents. Finally, the city budget is not big enough to fund modernization and solutions for all of these problems. Nothing can be done without funding from the state budget.
Also, Kyivans are losing valuable recreational resources. It is a real tragedy. The city population consumes 10 million tons of oxygen per year, while reproducing only 30,000 tons. The oxygen deficit requires a green area of about 25,000 square kilometers around the city.
