Engineering and geological environment of urban areas: Experience from Kharkiv, Ukraine (1960–2020)

<p>The article presents the results of the generalization and analysis of the development of engineering-geological and hydrogeological environments in the territory of a large city, Kharkiv, Ukraine, from the 1960s to the present day. The study is based on the authors’ many years of experience performing engineering surveys for construction in many cities of the former USSR, primarily Ukraine. Engineering-geological processes and phenomena with adverse consequences for buildings, structures, and populations that occur in urban areas as a result of insufficiently thought-out organizational, design, and construction solutions are listed. The process of flooding of urban areas by groundwater (FGW) is chosen as an example, which is a trigger for many negative and dangerous processes and phenomena, changes in the properties of soils and the geological environment. The main concepts associated with flooding, FGW indicators, causes and factors of its occurrence and development are given. The characteristics of FGW features for the conditions of the city of Kharkiv are given, and the most significant above-ground, near-surface and underground factors of flooding are highlighted. Some examples of construction and organizational solutions in the territory of Kharkiv are given. The article discusses approaches to combating flooding by installing protective structures, primarily drainage of various types, i.e., creating gray infrastructure. Much more promising is the installation of blue-green infrastructure (BGI), references are given to examples of its implementation, as well as other solutions based on nature. The creation of BGI is crucial for the harmonious coexistence of natural and anthropogenic landscapes, water management, and reducing the impact on the surface and underground hydrosphere.</p>