Comfort, convenience and long-term effectiveness. Neighborhood in Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

The article raises the issue of finding ways to restore and rebuild housing in Ukraine that was destroyed during Russia's full-scale invasion. The experience of housing construction in the second half of the twentieth century in Ukraine indicates significant miscalculations that were made. One of them is the use of monotonous, overly typified urban planning and functional planning techniques that did not take into account the temporal dynamics of the socio-demographic characteristics of the urban community, its stratification by age, family relations, life rhythms, interests, opportunities, etc. At about the same time, other housing was being built in North American cities, which has not lost its relevance to this day, and the organizational and architectural approaches used have proven to be appropriate and effective in long-term use. A detailed analysis of one of the residential districts in Ottawa, Canada, was carried out. Its urban planning, functional planning, and three-dimensional spatial solutions are considered. It was found that the key to the viability and efficiency of this urban formation was, firstly, the existence of a close relationship between the regulatory, socio-economic, territorial and urban planning and other components of the project; secondly, the interest of the construction company in the long-term economic stability of this residential area. The result of this approach was the ability to adapt to new rules and regulations, lifestyles, property status, and ideas about the comfortable stay of people who use this housing. It has been found that a variety of urban planning, architectural and spatial, typological and planning techniques, a change in the number of storeys of buildings, a developed intra-quarter and adjacent infrastructure, landscaping and greening of the territory are prerequisites for creating a quality living environment. The heterogeneity of the urban community brings the need to revise the established urban planning and typological techniques adopted in the Soviet era to the design of housing. It requires a wider application of non-traditional approaches, the involvement of positive foreign experience in the formation of conceptual solutions for residential development, which will allow to more fully meet the needs of residents, in accordance with their capabilities, tastes and preferences in the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities.