Mikael Colville-Andersen planted trees and built entire parks in the middle of a missile zone… and hundreds of people showed up to help him.
Mikael is a Canadian-Danish urban designer who’s spent the last three years doing something almost unthinkable—building community spaces in the middle of a war zone.
In Kyiv, Ukraine, he turned an empty, concrete square into what became the world’s largest tactical urbanism project. He watched as hundreds of citizens stepped into a space they didn’t know they needed.
He calls planting trees in Kyiv “medicine,” not just for the city, but for the soul. And when you hear him talk about bottom-up design, you realize - he’s not here to beautify cities. He’s here to humanize them.
This is the story of how bikes, benches, and painted crosswalks can reclaim dignity, resistance, and joy - even during war.
To explore more about Mikael Colville-Andersen and his work, you can follow him on instagram www.instagram.com/colvilleandersen, or visit his website www.colville-andersen.com.
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