Lviv recently hosted Urban Forum, where planners, architects and government officials considered how Ukraine will be restored and rebuilt; more than 700 participants and 40 speakers from different countries took part in the conference, workshop and city excursions.
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, the value of in-person meetings, and recognition of the legacies they leave, has not been forgotten. Against the backdrop of regular air raid alarms, Lviv has found ways to organise forums in shelters and promote the safety of attendees.
Lviv Urban Forum united experts in architecture, urbanism and city planning, and drew on examples of the recovery of European cities that have endured similar experiences. There was a consensus that when rebuilding begins, there will be many oportunities for modernisation and a fresh new approach to city building lies ahead.
The presence of international experts, who gave speeches and joined city projects, was described by Lviv Convention Bureau as ‘amazing’ and the event was hailed as ‘impressive and inspirational’.
After the forum, the reknowned and innovative Japanese architect Shigeru Ban started working on plans for the new surgical building at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, the first concept and visualization of the building having already been presented.
UNBROKEN was highly praised by the Minister of Health of Ukraine, Viktor Liashko, at the International Rehabilitation Forum which took place in April, and brought together nearly 1000 professionals in Lviv.
In 2022, Lviv hosted almost 600 conferences, often without electricity, a testament to the resilience and perseverance of the city’s business events industry in the most challenging of circumstances.
Since this article was published, Lviv Convention Bureau have announced that Samsung Electronics will be working with Lviv City Council and the Onur Group on infrastructure development projects – read more here.
