Urban Studies in Ukraine: Changes, Challenges, and Collaboration

Tetiana Vodotyka

Event details

Room - TBC

Description

~ In-person only event ~

In this talk, Dr Tetiana Vodotyka traces the development of urban studies in Ukraine, examining both the history of the field and the intellectual and institutional roots of urban knowledge production. She will explore how Soviet academic legacies, educational traditions, regional research centres, civil society organisations, and post-2014 reforms have shaped what is studied, taught, and understood about Ukrainian cities.

The talk then considers how Ukrainian urban studies have evolved under the combined pressures of decentralisation, demographic change, institutional reform, and Russia’s ongoing war. It discusses the growing demand for urban recovery expertise alongside displacement, limited institutional resources, data gaps, inequality, and declining research and municipal capacities.

Dr Vodotyka will reflect on the role of universities in educating new professionals, producing locally grounded knowledge, and connecting research with the practical needs of communities. 

Biography

Dr Tetiana Vodotyka is a historian and urban studies scholar at the Kyiv School of Economics, where she serves as Academic Director of the MA programme in Urban Studies and Postwar Reconstruction. Her research focuses on urban and business history, entrepreneurship, postwar recovery, and the transformation of Ukrainian cities. She holds a PhD in History and has extensive experience in interdisciplinary research, higher education, and international academic collaboration. She is also the author and co-author of several nonfiction books on Ukrainian history, business, and society. Dr Vodotyka is a co-founder and editor of the journal City: History, Culture, Society. 
 


 

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