Transformation of the Odesa Waterfront

Piotr Lorens; Andrii Polishchuk

doi:10.23830/20/ii/2021/6183

Transformation of the Odesa Waterfront

Abstract

Odesa is a unique city: it is the third-largest city in Ukraine and the second in the Black sea region. During its short but eventful history, it gathered a variety of cultural layers within its boundaries, what had reflected in its architecture, urban life, and unique accent of its inhabitants. The city`s waterfront is considered to be the Pearl of the Black Sea. Starting with the receiving of the Porto Franco status in 1819, Odesa was the economic nexus and the symbol of entrepreneurship in the Russian Empire. During the Soviet period, city and port expanded to reach the goals of the communist era. The paradigm shift in economic realms related to the transformation of the economy at the beginning of the 1990s shed light on the city's weaknesses. Water and air pollution, large industrial zones in the sea façade of the city, and lack of high-level infrastructure for tourists had transformed the image of Odesa into a regular post-soviet town in the conditions of the market economy. On the other hand, the newborn post-soviet and postindustrial citizens of Odesa have different priorities and do not necessarily think about the spatial problems. A comprehensive study, using the observations, literature review, and interviews, was conducted to describe the influence of the social realm on an urban form of the Waterfront. The result of the analysis supports the hypothesis of the study: the trajectories of the social, economic, and spatial development of the Odesa waterfront are not correlating with each other. Within this paper the possible scenarios and prospects for transformation of the urban waterfront of Odesa are discussed on the basis of the wider perspective of reshaping the post-soviet waterfronts