Urban Vision Lutsk
In 2024, ORG joined this local initiative to develop the next steps for implementing that strategy. Due to the ongoing war, Lutsk' economy and social fabric are severely suffering. This strategy should provide the city with a recovery path, addressing the enormous impact on its economy and liveability. The strategy involves three major focus areas: selecting priority investment projects, developing an economic vision for the city and setting up procedures to supervise the quality of future projects. Urban Vision Lutsk is a spatial development strategy focusing on public space and economic development.
Rebuilding a city while the ground still shifts
Lutsk a historic city in western Ukraine of roughly 225,000 residents sits on the Styr River floodplain, where war‑related disruption compounds climate risk, especially flooding in exposed neighborhoods. Yet the city’s natural assets, the Styr River, surrounding wetlands, and green‑blue corridors offer a strong basis to build on in order to welcome new residents, foster growth, and position Lutsk as a metropolitan hub.
In the challenging context of full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the challenge is to rethink infrastructure and services to raise urban quality, everyday attractiveness, and quality of life while building long‑term resilience, aligned with Algorytm’s goal to develop Lutsk into a regional creative and economic hub and supported by international dialogue and urban reflection.
In 2024, ORG worked alongside Urban Reform to co-create an inclusive, evidence-based recovery strategy focusing on priority investment projects, improve public spaces, economic vision and quality supervision to improve urban life and boost the local economy amidst the ongoing crisis.
Qualitative stakeholder engagement for a strong concept
To kick off this process, a series of workshops, interviews, and site visits were organized.
Interviews with key stakeholders were organized and we facilitated structured workshops involving residents, municipal planners, local entrepeneurs, and local urbanists to identify spatial priorities and test investment logic. These helped map stakeholders and their relations across the city as well as the studying of grey spots that require particular rethinking and investment.
During a two day on-site workshop, expert focus groups worked on economic strategies, infrastructure and public space to collect additional information and shape the vision. A general workshop was also held on a public square in the city-center of Lutsk, which gathered people from all layers of the community to think about the future of the city.
The outcomes of the workshops and collaborative exploration informed the broader spatial and economic vision prepared, as it offers practical insights into how infrastructure, investment, and community can work together to strengthen the city over time. These different steps enable the development of an ecosystem concept for Lutsk as well as a strong base for establishing the future strategy, anchored in real data and local values.
Once the results of this work are processed by the team, well-defined and documented projects will be the base of the next phase. This is the base for an investment catalogue for the city, that identifies key projects for development.
This way Lutsk could serve as a laboratory to test this unique integrated approach that links urban design and economic recovery strategies. Lutsk can thus become a blueprint for other cities that need to be rebuilt.
Infrastructure that adapts in tune with the city
As a result, we have a basis for grounding the next steps and two priority areas for today.
Green public spaces. Lutsk is a city where people like to walk, spend time outside, where there is a large historical zone. Therefore, there is a need to create new green areas and appropriate infrastructure in recreation areas.
Innovation ecosystem. The city needs investment attraction and human capital growth. Therefore, it is important to study which areas and innovative opportunities will help restart the city and give it the opportunity to grow, and people not to leave the city and find opportunities for development.
The Urban Vision Lutsk project is a big step for Lutsk and an example of how a public initiative can change the city, attract investments and create the future together with residents.
Therefore, we are not stopping and plan to hold workshops, presentations and other participatory practices in order to involve as many Lutsk residents as possible in the process of creating a vision of the future of Lutsk.
As Lutsk continues to navigate profound change, this urban vision offers more than a plan. It provides the foundations for a city able to adapt, absorb and endure.
