Bringing Ukrainians home: international partners support social housing project for Mariupol residents
Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, presented a concept for social affordable housing in Ukraine to European partners. The concept was developed in collaboration with the urban bureau Big City Lab. Vadym Boychenko also announced a pilot project to build a residential block in Bila Tserkva for Ukrainians who have lost their homes. The presentation took place during the Ukraine Recovery Conference, held in Rome on 10–11 July.
This concept is a response to the housing crisis Ukraine has faced as a result of the full-scale invasion. It was developed at the request of the Ukrainian Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories, which is the initiator and key partner in implementing the housing project.
Social housing is expected to be provided on lease terms at an affordable and fair cost, not exceeding 30% of the country's average income, approximately 5,000 UAH. The amount of payment will depend on the level of income and will also take into account benefits, guarantees and subsidies.
The first pilot project will be implemented in Bila Tserkva, where a block of ten buildings will provide housing for approximately 1,500 Ukrainians who have lost their homes. The apartments are planned to be delivered with repairs, furniture, and household appliances.
‘We already have a pilot project and a concept, now we are looking for the resources to expand it. Together with our international partners, we believe that we will be able to increase our capabilities and provide high-quality, comfortable social housing to as many Mariupol residents as possible. This will not only encourage people to stay in Ukraine, but also help those who were forced to leave the country to return,’ said Vadym Boychenko.
The social housing concept was developed by the Big City Lab urban bureau in collaboration with the PUPA architectural studio and the Civitta consulting firm. The key principles are human centricity, accessibility, ease of scaling, safety, community integration and transparent distribution.
‘This model of social housing combines a decent quality of life with economically viable construction costs. This opens up the possibility of large-scale implementation across the country, which is critically important as millions of Ukrainians are currently in need of a home. We have also developed a management model that enables us to set rents significantly below market rates. At the same time, the housing will remain financially stable and will generate funds for further development and the construction of new neighbourhoods,’ explains Victoriia Titova, CEO of the Big City Lab urban bureau.
The concept is based on the best social housing practices from European countries such as France, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria, and has been adapted to Ukrainian realities. Presenting the project to international partners provided an opportunity to compare approaches, obtain feedback, and gain support for its implementation.
The concept and pilot were presented to Mathieu Maury, the Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe; Mark Cools, the President of the Congress; Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the Mayor of Gdańsk; Karolina Lindholm, the UNHCR Representative in Ukraine; Kristina Mikulova and Violent Silvestro von Kameke, the European Investment Bank representatives.
The international partners highly appreciated the proposed model and expressed their readiness to contribute expertise and support in finding funding.
The project was implemented at the request of Oleksiі Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, as part of the national initiative to develop social housing in Ukraine. The concept of social and affordable housing was developed jointly by the team of Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko and the urban bureau Big City Lab, in partnership with the architectural studio PUPA and the consulting firm Civitta — within the framework of the Mariupol Reborn project.