"Khrushchevkas" as a problem of the urban environment. German experience for the solution

Abstract

The article reviews the problem of the negative impact of the outdated housing stock of the soviet era on the design of the urban environment and ways to solve it, including the renovation. The main topic are the so-called "khrushchevkas" - the most common category of obsolete housing in our cities. The German experience is given as an example of a successful solution to the problem and the possibility of its application in Ukraine is being investigated. The article briefly covers the history and current state of the problem of "khrushchevkas". Attention is drawn to the design of urban environments in European cities as a reference for Ukraine in addressing the challenges of renovating an outdated housing stock. The example of successful renovation of outdated housing is the practice of housing reorganization on the lands of the former socialist Germany (GDR).

The German experience is especially important for Ukraine because of the similar starting conditions and the required volume of renovation in both countries. However the decisive distinction of the German method of solving the problem and its success is the systematic approach at the state level. Following the unification of Germany in 1990, the state program for outdated housing rehabilitation began operating in the country. The article describes some of the organizational and financial aspects of the Program. The significant difference in the initial conditions for reorganization in Germany and in Ukraine, makes it impossible to directly apply the German experience to it. The author concludes that it is necessary to create a Ukrainian own state program on housing modernization and proposes to develop it on a competitive basis, with the involvement of foreign specialists, student community and the general public.