In this guest post, Dr Dmytro Legeyda (Newcastle University), Professor Ben Bridgens, (Newcastle University), and Dr Alina Legeyda (Newcastle University) discuss their upcoming seminar series on de-urbanisation patterns of Kharkiv, a project that was supported by a Seminar Series Awards grant from the USF. The events will take place between October and December 2025.
What are the patterns of de-urbanisation in a frontline, wartime city that used to be a thriving academic, research, cultural and industrial centre and whose peaceful existence was broken overnight? How do these de-urbanisation patterns unfold differently for different institutions of Kharkiv (medical, educational, cultural, etc.), and how do these institutions survive and function for three and a half years, facing the new war reality of Kharkiv, staying in the city or having fully or partially relocated from it?
Three scenarios of Kharkiv de-urbanisation will be examined in this series: deurbanization-decrease, deurbanization-relocation, and deurbanization-split. These questions will be at the heart of the roundtable series, which will bring together a global cohort of scholars and representatives of Kharkiv’s iconic institutions functioning on the frontline and in wartime Ukraine to explore new conceptual ways to restore the former pre-war significance of the second biggest city of Ukraine. The central aim of the Phoenix-nomenon of Kharkiv roundtable series – which is to take place on 22 October 2025, 19 November 2025 and 10 December 2025 – is to convene a global cohort of the UK and international scholars and institutions as well as heads and representatives of the iconic Kharkiv institutions (clinics, universities, cultural organizations, etc.) to advance innovative and conceptual ways of restoring the former multi-dimensional significance of Kharkiv and of bringing back its population now largely scattered around the world – an absolutely unique urbanistic, sociological and demographic phenomenon among the war-affected unoccupied Ukrainian cities.
De-urbanisation-caused loss of the city’s significance coupled with the reduction of Kharkiv population and the city role being driven to marginal and borderline in the war-affected life of Ukraine are pivotal examples of the phenomenon of the war-related city significance transformation, especially so with Kharkiv being (prior to the war) the second Ukrainian city by significance after Kyiv, possibly the first in academic, medical and educational domains.
Being the closest of all large Ukrainian cities to the Russian border (around 30 km) Kharkiv starting the first days of the full-scale invasion was attacked by planes, missiles, drones, heavy artillery, which led to the significant destruction of the city, including bombed VN Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv National University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (KhISI), the destruction of schools № 23, 46, 17 and others, the destruction of the neurological department of the regional hospital, the Palace of Sports, architectural monuments such as the Palace of Railwaymen (Zheleznodorozhnik) and the partial destruction of the Kulinichi Bread Factory and Gorky (now Central) Park, Maternity Home №2, and many others.
This led to the reduction of the population, which was forced to evacuate from the city and partial replacement of this population by people coming from Kharkiv region where there active fighting took place. In addition to the reduction of the population, the urban functions of Kharkiv were unprecedentedly reduced and primitivized.
Thus, the abundant and thriving cultural life of Kharkiv was reduced practically to zero with the official governmental prohibition of performances in theatres for security reasons and the mass exodus of Kharkiv cultural figures and organisations they represented to Kyiv and Lviv. The above has severely affected the sphere of education, industrial enterprises, which could no longer function in such conditions, and brought about a sharp reduction in the number of medical institutions due to intense outflow of professional staff to other areas and across borders.
Kharkiv – traditionally and historically Ukrainian academic and research centre – has witnessed the relocation of its academic/educational institutions (major universities, research Institutes) to the central and western areas of Ukraine as well as its educational process being transformed to functioning totally online, but for a few institutions with premises and shelters underground (e.g. underground schools, theatrical performances on the rented platforms in adapted basements).
The three scenarios of Kharkiv de-urbanisation will be analysed through case studies of iconic Kharkiv institutions represented in Zoom, sharing their wartime experience under the conditions of Kharkiv de-urbanisation and demonstrating LIVE the functioning of the institutions in Kharkiv frontline wartime reality. The three Kharkiv deurbanization scenarios are represented by deurbanization-decrease (private and state clinics), deurbanization-relocation (private university), deurbanization – split (state and private theatres), each scenario – showcased and unfolding differently and traced within the period from the 24th February 2022 – up to the present time.
Kharkiv deurbanization-decrease scenario examines three iconic Kharkiv institutions: private Kharkiv clinics: general-profile Doktor Aleks Clinic founded in 1994 and supervised by its Head GP Irina Krivtsova, MD, paediatrics-profile clinic Your Baby founded in 2011, supervised by its Head GP Andriy Volyansky, MD and Kharkiv Choreography School and Children’s Ballet Theatre, supervised by its Principal Natalia Rzhevska. Doktor Aleks Clinic, Your Baby Clinic and Kharkiv Choreography School have not relocated since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and have remained in wartime Kharkiv at all times facing a substantial decrease in a number of patients and school students (especially Your Baby – given its paediatric profile) showcasing heroic urban survival under active military conflict (two missile attacks were as close to both clinics as one block from each).
Kharkiv deurbanization-relocation scenario examines the private Kharkiv School of Architecture founded by Oleg Drozdov. The school relocated to Lviv in early 2022 due to active military conflict and Kharkiv rapidly becoming a frontline. The School managed to preserve its students and staff, it launches revolutionary cutting-edge new projects and MA programs, facing the wartime challenge with courage and dignity and setting a high level of professionalism and stoicism to the world.
Kharkiv Deurbanization-split scenario examines two Kharkiv iconic theatres – V.A. Afanasiev Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theatre and Stepan Pasichnyk P.S. Theatre is invariably associated with Kharkiv’s thriving cultural life. The above theatres have experienced partial relocation within or beyond the city of Kharkiv. They continue fighting on the theatrical frontline by putting new performances on stage in basements, going on tour to represent Kharkiv’s theatrical heritage and facing new challenges daily.
A key focus of the roundtable series is to bring scholars researching into frontline cities and their revival, activists actively collaborating with Ukrainian institutions in the wartime, the UK educational, medical and cultural institutions and representatives of Kharkiv iconic institutions (in zoom) to provide a constructive dialogue and supportive space for mutual learning, development and collaboration across cities, institutions and scholars. The series is represented by one-day roundtables focusing on a specific type of Kharkiv institutions on 22nd October 2025 – Kharkiv clinics, 19th November 2025 – Kharkiv School of Architecture, 10th December 2025 – Kharkiv theatres.
In showcasing Kharkiv institutions, we will reflect on the ways of Kharkiv wartime and post-war revival and trace the role of de-urbanisation in the survival process. Facing the new war reality, these institutions are functioning unprecedentedly as experimental projects demonstrating the potential for searching for ways of wartime survival for the borderline cities that might turn out to be the frontline in the future.
This series will be grounded in the contexts of Newcastle University, with all Kharkiv institutions demonstrating their wartime functioning on Zoom, and is looking to build on a strong collaboration both on the scholarly and institutional level between Kharkiv and the UK. Through the comparative dialogue between the UK scholars, activists and institutions and Kharkiv iconic institutions, the specific ways to support Kharkiv institutions existing within different paradigms of de-urbanisation (decrease, relocation, split) will be explored.
These conversations with participants on both sides – Ukrainian and international (both scholars and institutions) will involve looking deeply into the nature of each de-urbanisation scenario represented, into the phenomenon of frontline cities stagnation and revival, sharing war-related borderline cities scholarly research (II World War based and of today), focus the potential routes of future collaboration between the UK and Kharkiv institutions, explore the ways to apply the UK II World War- related de-urbanisation experience to the present Kharkiv reality.