THE ROLE OF THE RIVER IN FORMING OF CITIES OF UKRAINE: LUTSK, TERNOPIL, VINNYTSIA, CHERNIVTSI

Numerous cities of Ukraine passed similar historical stages of spatial development, as a result of gradual withdrawal from the rivers. Now the design development of these cities is aimed at restructuring and reclamation of the degraded riverside territories. Cities again return to their roots by seeking the effective means for solving spatial, social and economical problems. Competitiveness of cities is conditioned also by the urban development preferences. The degraded territories have become a potential for the new functional filling and a reserve for searching for a new identity of cities. The planning of development of riverside territories of the city should take place in the interconnection with the neighboring settlements that are situated in the river valley, since they form the united eco-system of the river basin. A considerable influence on the development of riverside territories have socio-economic conditions. With the help of the architectural-planning means it is possible to regulate the state of the river’s eco-system and to preserve the balance between the nature and anthropogenic influence. V. M. Vadimov sets aside typical models of cities’ development on the riverside territories, where one can observe the interconnection of the planning of city and the river. By analysing the influence of the rivers on the development of the Ukrainian cities of Luts’k, Ternopil’, Vinnytsia and Chernivtsi one can follow in general the fragmentarity of approaches to modernisation of river embankments, heterogeneity of riverside territories (conservation of a considerable areas of river banks in the natural state and urbanization and various functional use of embankments in some cities), in some places restricted access to the river (is cut off by the private territories), neglected state and outdated conditioning of the riverside spaces. In general, in the analysed Ukrainian cities, transformations of riverside territories are taking place fragmentarily. At present there are no complex developments on formation of the united riverside public space, which would be united by the system of pedestrian connections.