Chief architect: Mykolaiv will not receive a new master plan this year

Chief Architect of Mykolaiv Yevhen Poliakov said that the city will not be able to complete the development of the Master Plan this year due to lack of funding.

He said this during a briefing on Friday, 9 May, answering questions from NikVesti.

Today, Mykolaiv lives according to the master plan approved 16 years ago. Yevhen Poliakov noted that for a city as large as Mykolaiv, the development of a master plan requires a significant budget, which was not provided for in the current financial year. Currently, the city is only updating topographical baseline data for planning for the next year.

When asked by the journalist NikVesti whether it would be possible to complete the development by the end of the year, Yevhen Poliakov said that «it was impossible».

The official assures that, in addition to the lack of funding, the problem is complicated by martial law. The last time aerial photography of Mykolaiv was carried out was in 2017, when about 8 million hryvnais was spent. But this method is currently unavailable.

«It has to be done either by raising the UAV or manually. Raising a UAV is cheaper than doing it physically, but it requires approval from various agencies. And it can be done physically, but it takes more time. We are currently organising this process,» said Yevhen Poliakov.

The city is currently organising the process of collecting topographic data and negotiating with the Ministry of Reconstruction. It is likely that UNDP will be able to cover part of the costs, the official added.

It is worth noting that in 2024, 4.5 million hryvnias were planned to be allocated from the city budget for the development of the master plan for Mykolaiv. The mayor's office later explained why this was necessary. The city planned to allocate funds for the production of up-to-date topographical materials and the adaptation of the Master Plan's developments to Ukrainian legislation.

These works were to be completed in 2026.

Mykolaiv's master plan

Plans to develop a new Master Plan for Mykolaiv were announced in October 2022. This document should include the concept of post-war reconstruction, explained Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych.

In April 2023, the then chief architect of Mykolaiv, Andrii Tsymbal, said that the Italian company One Works was not actually creating a new master plan for Mykolaiv, but was preparing «a task for the development», which would be handled by the Kyiv-based design state institute «Dipromisto». At the same time, his deputy at the time said that Andrii Tsymbal had made an incorrect statement about the role of Italian architects from One Works in the process of developing and approving a new master plan for Mykolaiv.

As early as October 2023, a survey was announced among citizens, asking them to answer questions about the infrastructure of their neighbourhoods and their vision of the future development and appearance of Mykolaiv.

The architectural company One Works and Norman Foster have joined the creation of the master plan for Mykolaiv. And experts from Denmark are developing the part of the masterplan that deals with underground utilities.

Read also the article NikVesti «Chance for recovery: Why Mykolaiv started working on the master plan in the midst of the war»