Tactical Urbanism in a War Zone. Dispatches from Ukraine

Danish urban designer Mikael Colville-Andersen never expected to learn his most powerful lessons about cities in a war zone, but three years of volunteering in Ukraine changed all that. With his dispatches from the front lines of urbanism, he will tell his stories of resilience, hope and spirit. Since 2022, he has shipped used bicycles to Ukraine, that are used to deliver food and medicine, built a therapy garden to heal mental trauma, designed a community garden for neighbourhood resilience, developed a cycling strategy for the frontline city of Mykolaiv and if that wasn’t enough, reclaimed a central square in Kyiv as the world’s largest tactical urbanism project. His experiences were humbling: revealing to him that even under fire, the simplest tools of tactical urbanism and placemaking – bikes, gardens, and shared spaces – can keep people connected, resilient, and profoundly alive.

Utopian Hours 2025 welcomes Colville-Andersen to the stage on Sunday 19th, closing the ninth edition of the festival with his incredible energy.