KYIV, Ukraine—Long before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Viktor Riabokin was thinking about housing. Riabokin, a Ukrainian entrepreneur and urbanist, saw problems everywhere he looked in his home country: electricity and heating systems that relied heavily on fossil fuels; crumbling apartment blocks that lacked green space and walkability; and a housing crisis wrought by a corrupt, profit-driven real estate market.
When the war began, these issues suddenly seemed to shrink into the background, as millions of people displaced from their homes quickly needed to find a place to live. Over the next four years, the crisis grew more dire, as the war damaged or destroyed more than 10 percent of the country’s housing stock, causing over $60 billion in damage to housing. But Riabokin now feels that Ukraine’s pre- and post-war problems are deeply interconnected. Building housing for displaced people could be a chance to build a more sustainable future for the country as a whole—one powered by renewable energy, with ample parks, and social and affordable housing to support families and injured veterans.
In a cafe in central Kyiv in October, Riabokin excitedly walked Foreign Policy through his vision, which he’s begun pitching to investors and government officials through his NGO, Vid Sertsya Budova (A Building From the Heart). The 39-year-old Riabokin’s urban model is Aristotle’s “polis”—a community that guarantees a good life for its citizens—and he now aims to build one such city on a plot of land about 5 kilometers outside of Kyiv. He believes that if it’s successful, it could serve as a model for the reconstruction of the entire nation.
He’s not alone. As the war in Ukraine progresses into its fifth year, the country is already beginning to rebuild. Much of the east remains occupied by Russia, but cities that have been retaken by Ukrainian forces, such as Kherson, and parts of the Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions, are restoring housing units and municipal buildings, such as schools and hospitals. And a growing group of Ukrainian architects, engineers, and civil society organizations, including Riabokin, is making the case that the country shouldn’t just replace what was there before.
Instead, they’re arguing that the widespread devastation from the war provides an opportunity to reimagine the country’s urban fabric and prepare Ukraine for climate change—what some have called the country’s own version of “build back better.” The realities of rebuilding a country still fighting an active war are threatening some of this nascent progress. The challenge is, “Can we build back greener or shall we build back faster?” said Olena Rybak, managing director at the engineering consulting company iC consulenten Ukraine. “Because in the end, it’s all about money.”
Still, many proponents of this rebuilding strategy see a unique opportunity to steer the country toward a more sustainable path—one that prioritizes the well-being of its citizens for decades to come. “People should understand that generations will be living in our country after them,” Riabokin said. “We are building something big together.”
A man inspects solar panels on the roof of a residential building amid heating and power outages in Kyiv on Feb. 22.Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images
