From Research to Participation: An Attempt to Reset the Post-Soviet Southern Cities of Ukraine

Abstract

The study analyses the results of the five-month scientific and practical project "South Coast of Ukraine: from research to development" in 2020-2021. The aim is to rethink the development of cities in the Kherson region and find alternative scenarios of spatial transformations that can give impetus to qualitative ecological, socio-economic and socio-cultural changes in cities. The Ukrainian coastal cities of Henichesk and Skadovsk were selected as pilot cities. The study aimed to identify the shortcomings of this project in terms of effective involvement of city residents in project processes and develop proposals for resolving inconsistencies in further work with residents of these and other Ukrainian cities. The study identified the main reasons for the ineffectiveness of the project's impact, among which the main identified the incorrect methodology of participatory work. As a result of the research, it was found that, in the Ukrainian context, it is challenging to conduct participatory work - it turns into imitation. The expert community and entrepreneurship should be the driving forces of change to increase the effectiveness of decisions on urban development; Ukraine's post-Soviet participatory practice needs detailed research, taking into account real political and economic contexts.