Ivano-Frankivsk
Supranational / Intergovernmental Institutions, Private Sector, NGO / Philanthropy, Community / Citizen Group, Research Institutes / Universities
Whole City/Administrative Region
Ongoing since 2022
CO-HATY provides emergency temporary accommodation for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Western Ukraine. It works with local governments and a partnership of agencies to repair and retrofit large empty post-soviet municipal buildings into emergency interim housing.
This project, brought about by a large coalition of many organisations, has achieved substantial impact in just 12 months. While providing emergency accommodation, it works closely with IDPs to integrate them into the design process and provides necessary social support. Moreover, it has a strong environmental and sustainable angle and looks to how these buildings could be used in the long-term, indicating that there is potential for transfer in Eastern Europe.
Originally published by World Habitat and reproduced here with its permission. LINK
This project was awarded the 'World Habitat Awards' in 2024 in the following category: Bronze.
Housing privatisation that started in 1992 in Ukraine was conducted through legislation transferring housing units to citizens (renters) ownership free of charge. As of now, approximately 95% of the housing stock is in private ownership, and only 5% is in state or municipal ownership. The housing sector is market-driven and authorities on all levels have very minor influence on the housing supply.
The Russian invasion has caused the fastest and largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II. It forced around 12 million Ukrainians to leave their homes and 6.5 million people moved to the western part of the country.
Following the invasion, the situation in the housing sector became dramatically more difficult and exacerbated inequalities in Ukrainian society. Because of Ukraine’s housing policy of private ownership over the past few decades, there is a shortage of both affordable and social housing which has left the country ill-prepared for the tide of displaced people looking for accommodation. In one western region, Ivano-Frankivsk, the number of state or municipal housing available in March 2022 was only 20 units. Not only have displaced people lost their housing but also their source of income and community. While the Ukrainian government is planning to construct new housing, there is an urgent need to quickly mobilise and house those currently displaced. Moreover, there are vacant soviet buildings throughout the country that although abandoned, have largely stayed intact.
A phenomenon specific to displacement in Ukraine has also emerged, referred to as a ‘refugee commuter.’ This means that 69% of displaced people are planning to return to their home cities, and only 11% are planning to integrate into their host communities. A considerable number of refugees have already returned to Ukraine. It provides insight into the need to create a flexible social housing stock that could help to provide them and other vulnerable groups with comfortable housing where they could stay with dignity for an undefined period.
This project aims to:
There are four main pillars to this project:
Key Features:
CO-HATY is a project created by non-profit organisation and urban laboratory METALAB in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. METALAB advocates for a city that is socially equal, spatially more comfortable, culturally richer, ecologically responsible and economically balanced. It aims to create a favourable environment for creativity where social-spatial ideas for a city can develop and be tested.
METALAB cofounded CO-HATY with Urban curators, which is an independent agency and an interdisciplinary team from Kyiv that works on projects intersecting space, community, identity and dialogue.
The total cost of CO-HATY is 34,158,873 UAH ($923,811 USD), primarily from grants and charitable donations (listed below). Each building costs the following:
Pilot Project in Ivano-Frankivsk: 5,176,941.00 UAD ($140,000 USD)
Kindergarten (Sadok) in Ivano-Frankivsk: 9,244,537 UAH ($250,000 USD).
Hotel in Ivano-Frankivsk: 10,353,882.00 UAH ($280,000 USD).
Dormitory in Zinkivtsi village: 23,296,234. UAH ($630,000 USD) (more funding was required as the dormitory had not been used for 20 years)
The CO-HATY team have confirmed funding from the German Federal Foreign Office in partnership with humanitarian organisation Sign of Hope to renovate another dormitory this year. They are also currently negotiating with the United Nations to become a partner for the provision of emergency shelter, durable housing and adequate accommodation for internally displaced people which they are hoping will provide access to further funding.
Finally, they are working with the City of Ivano-Frankivsk on their strategy which may lead to more sustained support within a municipal budget. This project is reliant on future funding streams and continues to fundraise for grants and donations, which is common in conflict-afflicted countries.
Financial
Social
Environmental
Evaluation
METALAB evaluates the success of this project according to the following criteria:
METALAB produces monthly reports, the most recent of which are listed here: January, February, March, April. These results largely discuss the restoration works that were undertaken on the building; the community activities worked on (i.e., garbage cleaning, garden planting); funds received; and cost structure.
METALAB is currently putting together a yearlong study of community life, which will compile diaries kept by community managers and shelter administrators on community life in the buildings. It will look at the functioning of the building; the features of interaction between residents of the shelter; and their conclusions on improvements needed on certain processes.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine forced around 12 million Ukrainians to leave their homes and 6.5 million people moved to the western part of the country. However, due to housing policy in the past few decades, there is a shortage of affordable temporary housing.
The barriers this project faced were primarily due to the Russian attacks on the energy system in Ukraine as METALAB’s construction site experienced many power outages in November and December 2022. As a result, the renovation process was significantly slowed down. To adapt METALAB partially switched to non-electrical tools; its construction team used LED lamps and flashlights to work; and they also switched to battery-powered tools in some instances. The Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration and two other polish partners supplied generators to cover electrical needs.
METALAB involved municipal communal enterprises to help replace entire heating systems as the buildings themselves are old and require substantial service alterations.
The other challenge is to do with adjusting the architecture of the buildings to the demographics of residents, paying close attention to age, number of family members and children. METALAB has done significant work to change the planning of the floor layout and implemented a BIM4 system into the design process, shifting their approach towards flexible design.
Finally, as more members of the METALAB team join the military, the organisation headhunts to react to these staffing challenges while prioritising supplying jobs to those who need it, including the displaced community.
CO-HATY has received the following visitors:
CO-HATY is currently scaling up in Ukraine with its plan to convert another dormitory in 2023. It hopes to restore another three dormitories after that and is currently looking for funding. Its potential to scale is indicated by the renovation of four buildings in just a year (March 2022-March 2023). In the longer-term, it hopes to renovate around 15 buildings in total that are then transitioned to social housing in the post-conflict phase. METALAB is realistic about its limited ability to scale up quickly to tackle the millions of displaced people in Ukraine. However, it increasingly works with organisations 12 that assist internally displaced people at scale, including Moving Ukraine and GIZ. Organisations working with internally displaced people are now entering the housing finance field in the Ukraine and have the potential to impact the housing market. There is an increased perceived risk of long-term investment in housing for individual households, as well as large scale impoverishment. New institutional actors are looking at long-term investments in non-profit rental housing, such as the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank.
As such, METALAB is integrating itself into international-led housing and applied for the Shelter Cluster to contribute its learnings and advocate its alternative housing model.
Internationally, METALAB believe that CO-HATY's experience could be useful in contexts where housing policies have largely favoured private ownership and/or are undergoing crisis situations. It could also be applied in urban centres currently undergoing rapid urbanisation and migration, where local authorities are not able to respond to the challenge alone.
The most favourable contexts to transfer would likely be to those with experience in informal housing construction with minimal resources to build individual housing. Finally, the model could provide useful lessons on how to activate different people across the housing, civil society and humanitarian sectors to respond to a crisis, particularly when functioning within a weak and low-capacity state that lacks a progressive, inclusive housing policy.
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