The struggle against corruption in urban planning
Civic organizations in four regions of Ukraine join efforts
Ukrainians are no longer shocked by the frequent conflicts that arise from illegal construction projects. Roughly 10 percent of all articles that appear in newspapers and Internet publications are devoted to scandals involving corruption in the urban planning sphere. Territorial communities clash with urban developers and the latter with the authorities. No one is prepared to meet anyone halfway.
The sums involved in these cases are so huge that anyone who tries to resist this arbitrariness is taking a big risk. Whereas five to seven years ago this problem affected only the interests of the residents of Ukraine’s capital, today such conflicts are par for the course in every large Ukrainian city.
MONITORING TO LAST SEVEN MONTHS
The latest case is advantageous to at least two out of the three interested parties. For corrupt bureaucrats, it is an additional (and quite big) source of income. Although business people who are affected by corruption and extortion when they are preparing urban planning documentation are seemingly interested in legal regulation, they consider this too long a road: it is much easier to solve a problem with the help of a bribe. At the same time, regulations governing the number of stories can be violated, and construction projects spring up in public gardens and parks, where this is prohibited by law.
Businessmen seldom ponder the fact that by bribing bureaucrats and judges, they are not only irreparably damaging the living spaces of our cities, but also totally destroying people’s faith in justice. There is no sense in appealing to the conscience of those who make such decisions or legalize unlawful construction projects if the public remains silent.
Local communities suffer the most from urban planning abuses because their interests are totally disregarded by both the authorities and developers, and their living environment is irreversibly maimed by unlawful constructions. But communities are prepared to act decisively only when a problem has a direct bearing on them.
The following project can be described as the first attempt to approach the problem of abuses in urban planning in a complex manner. Six organizations from four regions of Ukraine have united in a coalition with the long-winded name of “Introduction of Transparent and Corruption-free Development Mechanisms.” Each of these organizations has acquired valuable experience in defending citizens’ interests during conflicts arising from construction projects. For the next seven months they will be monitoring the situation in their respective regions in order to analyze the reasons behind this problem and then work out a joint strategy to introduce changes.
The coalition is demanding changes primarily on the local level. Its members believe that even in a dialog with local authorities the voice of an all-Ukrainian coalition of civic organizations will be considerably louder than that of a single group of concerned citizens. This is the opinion of Yulia Rashchupkina, the head of the Eastern Ukrainian Center for Public Initiatives (STsHI) and the coordinator of the coalition. The STsHI, which has two years of experience dealing with this type of problem, cooperates closely with 15 initiative groups in Luhansk oblast that oppose unlawful construction projects. Its members include top-notch experts, who are ready to submit a packet of amendments to Ukrainian legislation in the urban planning sphere.
SUPPORT FROM THE UKRAINIAN AND US GOVERNMENTS
Project coordinator Oleksandr Vrublevsky, from the Kyiv-based municipal organization Institute of Civil Society, believes that his group’s analytical and legislative experience will be instrumental in reaching the targets set by the coalition. The anticorruption project Hidna Ukraina (Worthy Ukraine) is prepared to provide the coalition with financial support. The goal of this project, which has existed for two years as part of an agreement between the Ukrainian and US governments, is to lower the level of corruption n Ukraine.
The head of Hidna Ukraina, Juhani Grossman, believes the coalition’s activities fully meet the priorities of the anticorruption program. He regards the problem of abuses in urban planning as a very topical one. Ukraine is experiencing a construction boom, and real estate prices are continuing to rise. This problem is exacerbated by the coming Euro 2012 championships and a fresh influx of investments. According to Grossman, big money is the nutrient medium for corruption.
In his opinion, local communities, especially in provincial towns, must make every effort to attract and support investors. Some regional administrators say this is the only chance for developing infrastructure in regions that are not sufficiently investment attractive. But this doesn’t mean that local communities should shut their eyes to “minor” violations. Grossman is convinced that those who think this way are deceiving themselves. Experience shows that this type of approach only stores up crises.
Today, thanks to the joint efforts of these organizations, the situation is being simultaneously monitored at 30 institutions of higher learning all over Ukraine. Another coalition has been working on a draft law regarding access to official information. As a result, the bill was submitted to a special parliamentary committee in July.
“The coalition is important in that it provides civic activists with experience of joint activity, as a result of which their professionalism noticeably increases. Working together, NGO experts can prepare quality recommendations to resolve any kind of problem,” Grossman said, “and we plan to continue supporting such initiatives.”
Some members of the Ukrainian government, including Anatolii Tkachuk, Deputy Minister for Regional Development and Construction, have shown an interest in this project and agreed to cooperate with the coalition. The ministry is also developing draft and subsidiary laws to change the situation in this sphere.
As the Chinese saying goes, a journey of a thousand li starts from where one stands. If the authors of this project succeed in implementing even one-half of their plans, this will be a big step forward.
