Innovative Approaches in the Period of Mass Industrial Development (on the Example of Residential Areas of Kharkiv)

The article considers architectural, city planning, engineering and technological innovations in the building industry that were carried out in Kharkiv in the 1960-1980s and led to profound changes in the social organization of city life. During these years, Kharkiv confirmed its reputation of the scientific and technical capital of Ukraine in the field of architecture and city planning. The most important innovations that were worked out in Kharkiv as in one of the largest cities include the microdistrict system, a stepped public service system, and the focusing method in city planning. It was also innovative to create standard series of residential buildings for mass industrialized development at Kharkivproekt and Ukrmistobudproekt institutes. Technological innovations were created in high-tech house-building plants, organizational and managerial ones – in managerial combines capable of coordinating the entire project and investment cycle. Mass industrial residential development in the mid-1980s allowed liquidation of the housing crisis in Kharkiv. However, this period gave rise to a number of problems in functioning and maintenance of the huge residential areas created at that time. Analysis and objective assessment of the achievements and mistakes of the era of mass industrial construction is a task of current interest for Ukrainian architectural science.