Editorial

Ukraine faces some of the most extreme conditions in Europe since the Second World War, including loss of human life, depopulation, forced migration, and destruction of settlements and infrastructure. These conditions require major, coordinated recovery efforts similar to post-war reconstruction in 1940s Europe, when welfare-state systems and new planning practices emerged. Despite extensive discussion about Ukraine’s recovery, spatial planning has been largely absent from policy debates. The editorial introduces this special issue of Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning (Vol. 9, 2025), focused on the role of spatial planning in Ukraine’s rebuilding process. It outlines the context of territorial reforms, governance dynamics, and EU integration prospects, highlighting how the recovery discourse is intertwined with European sustainable development goals. The text summarises the symposium Rebuilding a Place to Call Home and subsequent events in Lviv, which shaped the issue’s three main themes: governance for recovery, planning tools, and knowledge in and for planning. The editors present key insights from nine contributions, stressing integrated planning, digitalisation, environmental integration, institutional capacity, participatory governance, and transferable lessons for post-conflict reconstruction.