Battle over the city: Draft law 5655 on urban planning norms was adopted despite the outrage of the industry. Why the authorities have done it and what will happen next
Why is the new document so dangerous?
On December 13, the Verkhovna Rada by 228 votes adopted draft law No. 5655, which introduces radical changes to urban development rules. Its authors call this document "urban planning reform." All others, including representatives of local governments, call the law a "developers’ dream" and "urban rape." Even irreconcilable opponents, or at least those who dislike each other, united in their criticism of the document.
Due to the public rejection of draft law 5655, even the parliamentary majority had to look for allies among not the most unhandshakeable and, accordingly, uncertain colleagues. The roll-call vote can be found here.
"I have looked at who and how has voted in the Verkhovna Rada, and it seems to me that a good deed does not begin this way. They gathered both moss and ‘swamp’ for a quorum. When and what was well adopted by the votes of OPFL (Opposition Platform For Life – Mind) or ‘Maybach’ (Za Maybutne, that is For the Future party – Mind)? A bullshit law," wrote member of Kyiv City Council Kostiantyn Bogatov.
The ethics and incompatibility of humanistic and commercial subjects does not allow comparing 5655 with "dictatorial laws" – the swan song of Viktor Yanukovych's team. However, it is difficult not to draw parallels. The degree of indignation at the legislative innovation is so large that even the thesis that has repeatedly helped the current government – "not the right time" – has not worked this time.
Mind explains why draft law 5655 has become so toxic and why it was adopted now.
What does the draft law foresee? The main and most ambitious innovation is the construction of a single, potentially corrupt window within the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure. According to the reform of the Cabinet of Ministers, it is being merged to the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.
For this purpose, a new body is being created – the Urban Planning Chamber, which will control all participants of the construction market and register expert organisations, authorized persons of urban planning control, certify architects and engineers, withdraw certificates, impose fines, etc. Also, this body will have the right to stop any construction. These are enormous powers that do not have any cross-counterbalance.
In fact, developers will control themselves independently through private companies. The only thing that will be needed for this is 3-5 million euros for insurance liability. At the finish line, all this leads to monopolistic centralised regulation with preferences for "crony" companies.
The state and local self-government bodies get only supervisory functions in the format of monitoring. The instrument of influence that they are left with is the possibility to file a complaint to the Ministry of Territories and Communities Development of Ukraine.
Thus, the urban planning industry becomes dependent on a narrow circle of people, and the professional community and local self-government lose the opportunity to control the quality of development and real planning. It is no coincidence that the draft law has been "pushed through" on the eve of large-scale processes of Ukraine's reconstruction and the inflow of donor funds for this.
A detailed list of risky provisions of the draft law is set out here.
Who is the author of draft law 5655? The official initiator is the parliamentary group head Olena Shuliak and a team of authors, several dozen legislators.
The informal initiator is OPFL MP Dmytro Isayenko and Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Nataliya Kozlovska. The authorship of Isayenko is indicated, in particular, by the almost complete coincidence of the provisions of 5655 with the theses of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine (CBU), of which Dmytro Isayenko was vice-president.
Who are the main critics of the bill? Heads of Ukrainian cities and towns, architects, NAPC (National Agency on Corruption Prevention), public activists, specialized industry communities, anti-corruption NGOs, the All-Ukrainian Association of ACs (Amalgamated Communities) and the Association of Ukrainian Cities.
"In fact, this is a law that completely eliminates the control of cities over construction. It creates conditions for a monopoly centralised admission of builders to the market. And those who enter the market will be allowed to create a private body to control urban planning activities without the influence of the state or local self-government!" wrote Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, "Thus, unauthorised construction becomes fully legalised, violating the rights of both landowners and residents of communities.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy, forgetting his inherent refinement, asked "not to anger local self-government."
"A group of Ukrainian parliamentarians believes that everyone has rights, except for Ukrainian communities. All the heads of Ukrainian communities are categorically against the adoption of the law [5655] in this wording," he said. As an example, he has cited the norm of the bill, according to which the control functions will be given to a private inspection company. It can be created, for example, by the developer himself. "Representatives of the city council will not even have the right to enter the territory where the construction is taking place. We are offered to manage the city, but our hands are tied. I am very sorry that this is happening today," wrote Sadovy.
Borys Filatov, mayor of Dnipro, said that law 5655 "is based on a huge and cynical lie, stinking money of developers and the desire to spit on local self-government." "The law that will subsequently cause horrors in urban development and outrage of citizens," he said.
It is the position of "bending across the knee" and ignoring the opinion of people for whose benefit the reform is allegedly aimed that outrages the opponents of this law the most. Especially after the threats of blocking the work of the National Union of Architects of Ukraine were recorded, whose representatives criticized the bill.
"If the law does not take into account public opinion, it is a bad law," says PR strategist Sergiy Didkovsky.
Who supports the draft law? Representatives of developers and MPs from the Servant of the People party. Also, among the more or less well-known people supporting 5655 is Pavlo Kukhta, the husband of former Presidential Press Secretary Yuliya Mendel.
What are the arguments of the lawmakers? "The smartphone does not take bribes", which means that all permitting processes and decisions will be carried out online and impartially.
"All those who oppose the draft law are representatives of corrupt officials" who do not want to lose their shadow revenue.
What is next? The petition to the President demanding to veto the draft law 5655 has already received more than 25,000 signatures. It is one of the most rapidly approved petitions. "The petition for the veto of the President of Ukraine on law 5655, which defends the interests of the developers' mafia, has gained 25,000 necessary votes in one day. It is a record. Never before has any petition in the history of Ukraine had such a speed," Filatov wrote.
According to Mind, the probability of a presidential veto is much higher than 50%.
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