The white neo-classical building with arches and a large courtyard was built as a trade complex, and would have been known as the Merchant’s Courtyard then. A prime location in the heart of the city’s Podil district, it stands opposite from the National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy and next to philosopher Hryhorii Skovoroda’s statue. Those of us who lived in Kyiv in the early 1990s remember it as the place where one of the first upscale private restaurants opened. Later, working as a professor at the university, I walked past it on my way home to the subway, and noticed that many small private shops had appeared there.

Over the years, like so many of Kyiv’s architectural monuments, the building began to deteriorate. Officially under the authority of the state, maintenance was chronically underfunded. On Aug. 15, 2011, the government decided to remove the building from the list of protected buildings. A few months later, on the anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, Kyiv’s city council voted on a motion to grant a development company the right to draw up plans for reconstruction. The next day, before permission was formalized, a developer moved drilling equipment onto the site. This is a common pattern. The state allows architectural gems to fall into disrepair, then allows developers to move in, claim prime locations semi-legally, and proceed to alter the character of the buildings, or worse, destroy them altogether.

But Kyivans are not allowing these heavy-handed tactics to go unheeded. They have what human rights activist Yevhen Zakharov has called the ‘virus of insubordination.’ Horrified by the semi-lawful destruction of the city’s historical face (character) a group sprang up led by Ihor Lutsenko called Zberezhy Staryi Kyiv (Let’s Protect Ancient Kyiv) http://saveoldkyiv.livejournal.com/. When developers started moving in on Hostynny Dvir the group and others responded by starting an activist performance. In the spirit of the “Occupy” movement, they created a Hostynna Respublika (Friendly Republic) in the courtyard, and have been blocking the development. http://hostynnyidvir.org.ua/

I first heard of this on Facebook in the spring of 2012, when a series of panicky messages appeared, appealing to everyone who was not sleeping to come down and help. Hostynnyi Dvir was being attacked, and defended. A cell phone video was posted: police were trying to evict people from the courtyard in the middle of the night. But the occupy movement stood its ground. Like in the autumn election, when the establishment tried all means possible to get a parliamentary majority, yet enough Ukrainians stood their ground and prevented it.

All post communist cities have struggled with the challenge of renewal in a changing political economy. My colleague Martin Horak has written how Prague faced the conflicting needs of preservation and development in the city’s historic core, and called the process “The Politics of Profit.” While Prague is generally considered a success story, Horak shows that there too the politicians were more concerned with preserving their power than formulating policies suited to urban development. (Governing the Post-Communist City: Institutions and Democratic Development in Prague. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007)

Developers are a mixed blessing everywhere. On the one hand they build buildings, often much needed living spaces and convenient commercial centers. On the other hand, they focus on the bottom line and often disregard issues of environment, neighbourhood, culture, and preservation. A large corporation is constructing a high rise condo across the driveway from my home in Toronto, somehow having gotten around the bylaw that restricts the height of buildings to six stories. The character of the neighbourhood will be irrevocably destroyed, and likely set the precedent for more highrises.

In Hostynny Dvir, the outcome is not yet clear. Towards the end of the year, the developers advanced again, trying to move in more building equipment. The Friendly Republic activists blocked them, calling on the new heavy artillery available to them: the newly elected MPs who support their cause. World boxing champion and UDAR Party leader Vitali Klitschko (and others) showed up on Dec. 19 to help stop the assault and tear gas the activists faced. http://kiev.pravda.com.ua/news/50d1d2cab6720/ This round seems to have gone to the activists, but the builders are slowly proceeding with their work.

Staying positive and in keeping with the seasonal spirit, Hostynna Respublika has invited everyone to come down and help decorate the huge evergreens in the courtyard for the holidays. Despite the cold and snow, they plan to stay there day and night to protect the city’s historical heritage.

I was in touch with a Kyiv friend during the most recent disturbances. “Room for optimism?” I asked. The reply was quick and unequivocal, “Always.”

Marta Dyczok is associate professor at the departments of history and political science at the University of Western Ontario and an adjunct orofessor at the National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. From 1991-1996, Dyczok lived in Ukraine, where she conducted research for her doctorate, worked as a journalist for The Guardian and Radio Canada International, and lectured at Kyiv Mohyla Academy. She has published three books, Media, Democracy and Freedom. The Post Communist Experience (co-edited with Oxana Gaman-Golutvina, 2009); The Grand Alliance and Ukrainian Refugees (2000); and Ukraine: Change Without Movement, Movement Without Change (2000).