Spatial and Human Challenges of Recovery the De-Occupied Territories of Kherson Region

The article suggests a new perspective on socio-spatial transformations within the territories affected by large-scale military aggression, drawing on the experience of 17 right-bank territorial communities (hromadas) of the Kherson region liberated in autumn 2022 after almost 9 months of occupation. The period of occupation, the intensification of military aggression, the terrible Kakhovka Reservoir disaster and active hostilities within the region have had multidimensional consequences in the human and spatial aspects: massive population displacements and declines, changes in the age structure of the population, depopulation of settlements, numerous damages and destruction of housing, social, communal and transport infrastructure, industrial enterprises, and environmental problems. Using the case study methodology and thematic analysis, the study highlights new challenges in the process of recovering de-occupied hromadas: threats of changing the categories and functions of settlements, simplification of the socio-spatial structure amidst dramatic changes in the settlement’s population, challenges in restoring economic activity and financial decentralisation. Through analysis of demographic processes and spatial consequences of military aggression within 225 settlements of de-occupied hromadas of the right bank of the Kherson region, the study conceptualises the issue of estimating the loss of human potential and the socio-spatial structure of its recovery, necessary for the post-war reconstruction and recovery measures at the regional and local levels.