Planning of Territories at the Local Level: Current Problems

The issue of territory planning at the local level remains one of the most difficult problems faced by modern territorial communities in Ukraine. However, the decentralisation process and legislative changes in the current legislation should facilitate and accelerate the development and updating of existing urban planning documentation, but the actual state of affairs demonstrates that there are numerous gaps in the existing circumstances surrounding this issue. This is partly due to historical factors: most settlements developed under the influence of soviet approaches to the formation of master plans, and in some places, some settlements still operate under documents adopted several decades ago. On the other hand, there are problems of a purely technical, financial and organisational nature, including the insufficient level of qualification of relevant specialists in communities and scant budget funding for the development of new urban planning documentation at the local level. These problems lead to urgent challenges that urban development actors must address for the rational and efficient use of territories at the local level.

The issue of effective territorial planning at the local level has become particularly relevant in the context of decentralisation and the growing role of local communities in decision-making. Given that the legal framework in this area has been in place for quite some time, there are still many gaps in practice that not only hinder economic development but also negatively affect the protection of cultural heritage, the reconstruction process and other interests of local communities.

The main regulatory act governing the planning of territories at the local level is Law of Ukraine No. 3038-VI On Regulation of Urban Development, which defines the basic planning and development of triturions, including planning at the local level.

Thus, Law of Ukraine On Regulation of Urban Development defines the main type of urban planning documentation at the local level as development of the territory of a territorial community (Article 16(1) of Law of Ukraine On Regulation of Urban Development of 17 February2011), which is developed for the entire territory of the territorial community and approved in order to ensure the sustainable development of the territorial community in compliance with the principle of balancing state, public and private interests and taking into account the concept of integrated development This document was introduced as a comprehensive plan for the spatial part of urban planning documentation at the local level relatively recently – on 17 June 2020.

Another type of urban planning documentation at the local level is the master plan of a settlement (Article 17 of Law of Ukraine On Regulation of Urban Development of 17 February 2011), which is both a type of urban planning documentation at the local level and land management documentation and is intended to substantiate the long-term strategy for planning and building up the territory of a settlement. In other words, this document defines the general development scheme, functional zoning and prospective development of the territory.

Detailed Territory Plan (DTP) (Article 19 of Law of Ukraine On Regulation of Urban Development of 17 February 2011) – details the provisions of the master plan of a settlement or a comprehensive plan and determines the planning organisation and development of a part of the territory of a settlement or territory outside it. The DPT contains information on the boundaries of land plots, permissible development parameters, and sets requirements for construction objects, taking into account the needs of the community and the peculiarities of the historical environment.

It is worth noting that until June 2020, territorial planning at the local level was carried out through the development and approval of master plans of settlements, zoning plans and detailed plans of territories, their updating and amendment.

One of the key problems of territorial planning at the local level is the outdated master plans developed in previous decades. These plans were mostly based on the principles of economic and social development that no longer correspond to the reality. Changes in the demographic situation, investment climate and community needs (e.g. housing, transport infrastructure or utilities) mean that the old master plan is no longer able to ensure a balanced use of the territories.

In addition, previous master plans often did not take into account new legislative requirements (such as updated approaches to environmental safety, inclusive spaces, or modern building codes).

In many cities where master plans were developed in the 1980s and 1990s, they did not provide for large-scale growth in private residential development. As a result, new neighbourhoods are spontaneously growing outside the areas designated by the master plan. For example, in the suburbs of many regional centres (Kyiv, Odesa, etc.), you can find entire blocks of private houses built without clear road layouts, without proper areas for schools, kindergartens and parks. This leads to problems with connecting to utilities (water, sewerage, electricity and gas).

The old master plans also envisaged the development of industry in certain zones that were relevant to the soviet economy. Today, however, these industrial zones often remain underutilised or abandoned, while retail, office and logistics facilities, which were not given due consideration in the old master plans, are developing rapidly. For example, in some cities (Lviv, Vinnytsia), warehouse and office complexes had to be located on areas originally allocated for industrial enterprises, which required numerous adjustments and special permits.

Thus, the lack of updated urban planning documentation causes legal uncertainty regarding land allocation and development parameters. In particular, in 2021, the Department for Prevention and Detection of Corruption of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption published an analytical material on corruption risks in the system of control over the development and approval of urban planning documentation (strategic analysis of corruption risks), the first of the strategic problems in urban planning activities was the problem of “Outdated urban planning documentation”.

According to the NAPC’s material, as of 2021, the available urban planning documentation is in many cases outdated, developed in the second half of the twentieth century, i.e., in need of a complete update to ensure the relevance of territorial development planning. According to the data on the state of provision of urban planning documentation for the territories and settlements of Ukraine in 2019, published on the website of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development̆ , the outdated design solutions of existing master plans developed in soviet times are a key problem in the provision of urban planning documentation for settlements. According to this data, master plans need to be updated, amended or newly developed for the following: 23 cities of oblast significance (17.6% of the total), 91 cities of rayon significance (37.1% of the total), 373 urban-type settlements (54.9% of the total) and 22,801 rural settlements (85.0% of the total).

The master plan, which should essentially define the strategic vision of a settlement’s development, often does not correspond to either modern technical or socio-economic realities. When such a document has not been updated for years, there is a need to “patch” it up with individual decisions at the level of detailed plans. However, DPTs are only intended to detail the provisions of the current master plan, not to replace or amend it. In practice, this leads to the fact that DAPs are adopted to adjust the situation to a specific investment project or development, while ignoring the overall context of the city or community development.

Real conflicts arise when a detailed territory plan actually contradicts an outdated but still officially valid master plan or even replaces it altogether. In such cases, residents or civil society organisations challenge the decisions of city councils in courts, pointing to abuse of power or violations of public hearing procedures. For example, in a number of cities (including Lviv and Odesa), there have been situations where DPTs have been declared invalid because they provided for development in an area that the master plan had not yet designated as suitable for residential construction, or were based on outdated data on transport infrastructure. There are a number of high-profile examples in court practice where local government decisions to approve detailed territory plans have been challenged due to alleged inconsistencies with the master plan or violations of the public discussion procedure.

One illustrative example is case No.480/1519/23, where the Supreme Court considered the compliance of the approved DPT with the master plan of the settlement. The court emphasised that a detailed territory plan must comply with the master plan and zoning plan, and, if necessary, undergo a strategic environmental assessment and approval by the cultural heritage protection authorities.

Another example is case No.580/1763/19, where the court considered the issue of compliance of the DPT with the master plan of Cherkasy city. The court found that a detailed territory plan cannot contradict the master plan, and the decision to approve the DPT was made to prevent such contradictions.

The next challenge for local area planning is the digitalisation of urban planning documentation at the local level, which as of the end of 2024 was virtually non-existent.

Thus, Article 22 of Law of Ukraine On Regulation of Urban Development of 17 February 2011 stipulates that urban cadastre is a state or municipal system for storing and using geospatial data on the territory, administrative-territorial units, environmental, engineering and geological conditions, construction activities, information resources of building codes and regulations to meet information needs in territory planning and construction, and to form the sectoral component of state geoinformation resources.

It is worth noting that on 9 August 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 909, which approved the Procedure for the implementation of a pilot project on the introduction of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level and the Procedure for maintaining the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level during the implementation of a pilot project on the introduction of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level. The objective of this pilot project is to digitise the procedures for developing, updating, amending or coordinating and approving urban planning documentation, bringing urban planning documentation in line with unified geospatial databases (geodata) using the software tools of the Urban Planning Cadastre.

Separately, the pilot project states that within three months from the date of commencement of the functioning of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level, ensure uploading to the Register of Urban Planning Documents of the Urban Planning Cadastre at the state level of approved planning schemes for the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, territories of oblasts, including decisions on approval of urban planning documents at the regional level, explanatory notes, graphic materials and geospatial data in digital format (if available), in addition to information.

At the same time, the Urban Planning Cadastre is not yet fully operational, and public access to geospatial data in digital format is not provided, which in turn creates conditions for abuse by local governments, including when issuing urban planning conditions and restrictions on land development.

Other problematic aspects of territory planning at the local level include the legal regulation of determining the boundaries of the historical areas of settlements and the procedure for its implementation, which has led to numerous court disputes in this area.

For example, part 4 of Article 17 of Law of Ukraine On Regulation of Urban Development of 17 February 2011 provides that for settlements included in the List of Historical Settlements of Ukraine, within the boundaries of certain historical areas, the master plan of the settlement determines the regimes of development regulation and develops a historical and architectural reference plan, which contains information on cultural heritage sites and their protection zones.

A similar legal provision is also contained in paragraph 23 of the Procedure for the Development, Update, Amendment and Approval of Urban Planning Documentation, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 1 September 2021 No. 926 (as amended by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 31 December 2024 No. 1557), according to which – zoning plans for settlements within the territory of the territorial community and historical and architectural reference plans defining the boundaries of the historical areas of settlements included in the List of Historical Settlements

The boundaries of historical areas are determined by special scientific and design documentation when developing historical and architectural reference plans for these settlements (paragraph 5 of the Procedure for determining the boundaries and modes of use of historical areas of settlements, restrictions on economic activity on the territory of historical areas of settlements, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on 13 March 2002, No. 318).

Thus, according to the legislation, the boundaries of historic areas are determined exclusively by special scientific and design documentation when developing historical and architectural reference plans for these settlements and are an integral part of urban planning documentation at the local level, in particular, the master plan of the settlement and the comprehensive plan for the spatial development of the territory of the territorial community. In other words, to obtain information about the existing and current boundaries of historic areas within a particular settlement, it is necessary to obtain an extract from the master plan of the settlement or a cadastral certificate from the urban planning cadastre showing the boundaries  of historic areas.

However, there are numerous cases when the boundaries of historical areas of settlements and monument protection zones were approved not as part of the master plan of a settlement, but as a separate document, which is a violation of the current legislation of Ukraine. This, in turn, gives rise to a number of disputes, where the Supreme Court tries to “fix” the situation, although not always in accordance with the requirements of the law.

For example, in the Resolution of the Supreme Court of 31 January 2023 in case No. 640/8728/21, the panel of judges noted that: “Failure to approve scientific and design documentation for determining the boundaries of the historical area in accordance with Article 32 of Law of Ukraine On Protection of Cultural Heritage does not automatically invalidate the master plan or its cancellation, does not negate the requirements of the law regarding the mandatory nature of this document and the consideration of its requirements in urban development activities”, “Failure to approve scientific and design documentation for determining the boundaries of the historical area in accordance with this Law cannot cancel the legal status.

Unfortunately, the above-mentioned established position of the courts leads to a violation of the principle of legal certainty and ambiguity in the interpretation of legal norms, since violations of the procedure for approving the boundaries of historical areas of settlements and monument protection zones should not entail attempts to legitimise such boundaries in court practice.

This issue is extremely relevant today, as evidenced by the significant number of court disputes in this area and their resolution not in favour of business.

Thus, the problems of spatial planning at the local level in Ukraine, in particular the outdated master plans and inconsistency of detailed territory plans (DTPs), are systemic and require a comprehensive solution. Outdated master plans that do not take into account current socio-economic and environmental realities complicate effective management of territories and create legal uncertainty. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to ensure that master plans are updated to meet modern requirements and integrated with other types of urban planning documentation. In addition, it is important to implement comprehensive plans for the spatial development of community territories that take into account strategic, environmental and social aspects of development. This approach will promote transparency, efficiency and sustainable development of territories, ensuring a balance between the interests of the community, business and the state.