Innovative Approaches to Rehabilitating Depressed Areas of Large Cities: Current Challenges and Solutions

This work aims to investigate the eco-urban planning approaches for the revitalization of depressed areas, as well as to develop proposals regarding the development strategy of these territories using the example of the city of Dnipro. Departing from the modernist paradigm, where humans place themselves above nature, this study relies on fundamental research by scholars who were the first to develop and utilize eco-urban planning approaches. These scholarly works serve as the methodological basis for this study, which encompasses both general scientific research methods and specialized methods from the fields of architecture, urban planning, and urbanism. The article examines the ecological, socio-economic, public, historical-cultural, and architectural-urban contexts regarding their impact on the development and implementation of projects involving eco-urban planning approaches for the revitalization of depressed areas. Research in all of these contexts helps to create a comprehensive approach to the revitalization of depressed areas, taking into account the variety of factors influencing the quality and sustainability of the urban environment. The obtained research results, conclusions, scientific foundations, and the author's own architectural-planning experience have enabled the development of strategic directions for eco-urban planning renovation of depressed areas: research and analysis, strategy and goal setting, community engagement and benefits identification, architectural-urban concept, implementation, and monitoring. The research interprets the eco-urban rehabilitation of depressed areas as a complex of innovative approaches and strategies aimed at restoring and transforming relevant urban areas while considering the principles of sustainable development and ecological resilience. This approach encompasses specific forms and innovative properties that together constitute an eco-urban planning strategy, taking into account various aspects of sustainable development, including energy efficiency, eco-mobility, water resource management, green construction, social inclusion, and cultural heritage preservation. The published research results have allowed us to present the conceptual principles of eco-urban planning rehabilitation of industrial areas using the example of the city of Dnipro, based on the resilience of its ecosystem functions and structures. Understanding that the stability of the entire city depends on the stability of its individual spaces, combined into a unified system, emphasizes the importance of a high degree of connectivity between natural spaces and various ecosystems within the city's structure.