Urban Phenomenon of Lviv. Identification and Regeneration of Valuable Urban Complexes

Lviv is a historic city with the largest amount of historical and cultural heritage in Ukraine. The city has around three thousand architectural monuments. In Lviv, immovable heritage (architectural and urban planning monuments, historical monuments, monumental art monuments, archaeological monuments, and landscape architecture monuments) uniquely blends into a single urban entity with movable heritage (museum collections, movable artworks in churches, libraries, etc.). There is also a list of urban planning monuments, consisting mainly of sacred ensembles – churches and monastery buildings. Only the development of Rynok Square and the Citadel fortification structures represent urban planning objects of a different type.
However, Lviv’s urban structure is shaped by unique street spaces, quarters with passageways, squares of various types, etc. The article focuses on these other types of urban heritage, which deserve preservation and protection. The status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, granted more than twenty years ago, should be a key factor in the city’s development.
The study highlights the presence of unique architectural-urban ensembles and zones in Lviv’s historic center, which hold exceptional significance on a pan-European and global scale. Together, they constitute the urban phenomenon of Lviv. It is proposed to distinguish seven such urban complexes, with concise planning and urban characteristics provided for each. Their unique phenomenological features are revealed. These complexes are not officially monuments, but they must be considered when planning urban conservation zones and in city development plans. Any transformations of these complexes should adhere strictly to methodological principles for regenerating valuable architectural and urban environments.
There is a need to improve local and national heritage protection legislation, which should ensure the preservation and sustainable development of the unique urban character of the city’s historic center. Socio-cultural requirements have been formulated to restore the valuable conditions of each ensemble and the overall urban system following a period of unsuccessful reconstructive development during Soviet and post-Soviet times.
Recommendations have been developed to incorporate the identified valuable characteristics of the historic urban structure into UNESCO heritage management plans, cultural heritage preservation programs, and specialized urban transformation projects.