Hedapenak

The Hedapenak (expansions) is the name for a project by the separatist Lemovician government to build new neighbourhoods between 1992 and 1999 to accommodate internally displaced persons and those rendered homeless as a result of the Lemovician War. Most hedapenak are comprised of residential and industrial neighbourhoods, while certain communities severely damaged were completely rebuilt, necessitating a central neighbourhood to house services that a city centre would typically have provided.

Housing in residential neighbourhoods in the hedapenak are zerubaseŕi, which are low-cost prefabricated buildings, of which most of them are five storeys in height, although in larger urban centres, can be up to twenty storeys in height, as well as its associated infrastructure. In contrast, industrial neighbourhoods are mostly comprised of workplaces and infrastructure associated with them, with typical workplaces include factories, mines, and offices.

History

Background

Lemovicians from Hoikoćija in an IDP camp, 1988

At the end of the Lemovician War in June 1992, Lemovicia faced many challenges. One problem was that most Lemovician during the war fled from West Miersan-held territory, leading to the establishment of IDP camps to house the internally displaced Lemovicians. Conditions were poor, despite efforts by the Lemovician government to improve conditions in the camps, leading to the government beginning to draft plans for the scheme.

Another problem was that much of Lemovicia's infrastructure had been destroyed by the fighting during the Lemovician War, meaning that the supply of housing was low, while few industries were able to operate. This hindered the ability of the Lemovician government to resettle the internally displaced persons within Lemovician territory, while the lack of jobs meant that many Lemovicians in neighbouring countries, such as Bistravia, Champania, and East Miersa were less likely to return to Lemovicia.

Finally, due to its political status, few countries had diplomatic relations with Lemovicia, while sanctions imposed upon it by the West Miersan government hindered the ability of the Lemovician government to import necessary supplies to help rebuild the country. One official warned that "without coordinated international support, Lemovicians will continue to suffer the after-effects of the Lemovician War for generations to come."

Early planning

Architect Alac Muru, 1990

Planning for the scheme began in March 1988 after the fall of Hoikoćija (Goikoecija in Lemovician) in Operation Zemsta, as the fall of the city and of Ibaiak Province by the end of the year, due to virtually all the Lemovicians in Hoikoćija fleeing to Lemovicia. This influx, combined with the failure of the Revolutionary Defence Forces to recover Ibaiak Province put pressure on the Lemovician government to organise a "medium-term resettlement scheme," as the IDP camps were deemed to be "completely unsatisfactory for the development of a socialist society." Alac Muru would play a significant role in outlining plans for residential and industrial neighbourhoods.

While by 1990, several sites were shortlisted for what would become Goikoecija Beŕija, including the Gereziondoa Cooperative Farm (named after the Wiśniowskis who owned the land prior to 1979), planning for other parts of the Hedapenak programme would only begin in earnest, as the Lemovician government began to work on post-war recovery plans: as many houses and factories were damaged or destroyed over the course of the Lemovician War, it was also important for the Lemovician government to provide quality housing to the Lemovicians. This meant that the government began eying vacant land (i.e. land owned by Miersans who fled during the war) or cooperative farms for repurposing into hedapenak for neighbouring towns and villages.

By July 1992, a preliminary plan was approved for the Hedapenak programme: with the exception of Goikoecija Beŕija, which was to be built on the Gereziondoa Cooperative Farm, new neighbourhoods were to be built in Topagunea, Zubizurija, Ecijehaŕa, Gotor, Sardeśkak, and Burdina, while certain communities that were "almost or entirely destroyed by the Lemovician War," such as Heŕibeŕija, were to be rebuilt entirely.

Construction

Construction of a zerubaseŕiak in Topagunea, 1995

With the institution of the preliminary plan, time was of the essence: in October 1992, Ociote Sasiambarena held a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of Goikoecija Beŕija, with Sasiambarena saying that "we have an obligation to all Lemovicians whose homes and workplaces have been destroyed during the war to complete this quickly, so that they can live with dignity."

Construction began quickly, even before the plans for the hedapenak were finalised by the National Assembly in January 1993, as the Lemovician government prioritised reconstruction of the country following the Lemovician War. With the formal approval of the hedapenak programme in January 1993, the Lemovician government quickly began construction of other hedapenak throughout the country, with the primary priority first being towards reconstructing housing, and the secondary priority being to construct workplaces. Many of the zerubaseŕiak would be completed in a matter of months, due to the panel design of each zerubaseŕi, with several models of zerubaseŕiak being used.

On 21 November 1994, just over two years after the groundbreaking ceremony in Goikoecija Beŕija, Ociote Sasiambarena opened Goikoecija Beŕija to the internally displaced persons from Hoikoćija. At the time that it was opened, five residential neighbourhoods and one industrial neighbourhood were completed, with a designed population of 10,000 people, although several more residential neighbourhoods were under construction when Sasiambarena opened the city.

Despite the opening of Goikoecija Beŕija in 1994, construction continued in most hedapenak, although by 1996, construction began to slow down in the hedapenak as all the internally displaced persons have been resettled, and the housing shortage ceased being a significant issue to Lemovicia. By 1999, construction of new residential neighbourhoods had effectively ceased, and in May of that year, the Chairman of the Presidency at the time, Patryk Krawczak declared that "the hedapenak programme has fulfilled its purpose" in resettling Lemovicians in "better housing."

Layout

Neighbourhoods

A residential neighbourhood in a Zubizurija hedapena, 2013

Each area built in the Hedapenak programme is divided into neighbourhoods (Lemovician: auzoak). The neighbourhoods within each hedapena (expansion) were divided into two categories: the residential neighbourhoods (bizitegi-auzoa) and the industrial neighbourhoods (śemisoba-auzoa).

The residential neighbourhoods were to be arranged akin to a microdistrict in TBD. The residential neighbourhoods would contain zerubaseŕiak to be built in the neighborhoods, with shops, schools, parks, playgrounds, cafeterias, and clinics. Many of the zerubaseŕiak were five storeys in height, although in Goikoecija Beŕija, Topagunea, and Zubizurija, zerubaseŕiak could go as high as twenty storeys in height. The residential neighbourhoods were designed to accommodate between 1,000 and 2,000 people within an area between 10 hectares and 100 hectares.

The industrial neighbourhoods were generally designed around one or more factories, mills, coal and iron mines, or offices, with facilities catering to the workplaces in these neighbourhoods being concentrated within industrial neighbourhoods, such as transport hubs, cafeterias, and dormitories for temporary workers not resident within the area. To ensure the most efficient distribution of these neighbourhoods, and to reduce the likelihood of unemployment, the preliminary plan stated that there was to be one industrial neighbourhood for every five residential neighbourhoods, so that there were enough workers to work within the industrial neighbourhoods: this suggests that the ideal population needed to fill the labour pool in an industrial neighbourhood is between 5,000 and 10,000 people.

In addition to these two main types of neighbourhoods, there is a central neighbourhood (erdiko-auzoa) in areas which had no discernable city centre prior to the hedapenak programme, or were otherwise "completely devastated" during the Lemovician War, with the intention of serving as city centres for the community as a whole. The central neighbourhoods feature amenities such as hospitals, town halls, department stores, a plaza, a stadium, and a Lemovician Episemialist church.

The main commonality that all three neighbourhoods in a hedapena share is that arterial roads and through streets do not cut through each neighbourhood, but rather separate each neighbourhood from one another, in order to create a "community feel" within each neighbourhood, with entrances to each neighbourhood being no further than 300 metres apart from one another. In addition, each neighbourhood has to have a minimum of one transit stop on an adjoining arterial road, so that residents can commute to and from work and to and from the city centre without having to take a car.

Zerubaseŕiak

Design

A typical layout of a flat in a zerubaseŕi

The zerubaseŕiak in the residential neighbourhoods of each hedapena were prefabricated buildings made of concrete panels, designed for quick construction. This enabled each section to be built at a factory, and transported to the construction site. Most of the zerubaseŕiak were designed to be five storeys in height, as according to Lemovician building standards, this was the maximum number of floors that do not require a lift, with any building higher than five storeys necessitating the installation of lifts. However, in certain communities, primarily Goikoecija Beŕija, Topagunea, and Zubizurija, zerubaseŕiak could go as high as twenty storeys in height, due to the higher populations in these areas compared to other municipalities in Lemovicia.

The typical layout of each flat within a zerubaseŕi include two bedrooms with closets attached, a bathroom, a storage room, and a combination living room and kitchen, with hallways connecting the rooms with one another. Overall, the average area in an individual zerubaseŕi two-bedroom flat is 46 square metres. However, smaller zerubaseŕi exist with only one bedroom, bathroom, and a combination living room/kitchen, and larger zerubaseŕi exist with three bedrooms, a bathroom, a storage room, and a combination living room/kitchen. All flats in a zerubaseŕi have a connection to water and sewer systems, electricity, central heating, and to waste disposal.

On the lower floors of zerubaseŕiak, primarily the ground floor, space is often made for the use of the residents within a zerubaseŕi. Common amenities include a conference room for the board, a laundromat, a rec room and a gym, although libraries, internet cafes, daycares, and convenience stores are often found in many, but not all zerubaseŕiak.

Governance

Empty board room in a zerubaseŕi, 2014

While zerubaseŕiak were built by the Lemovician government as part of the Hedapena programme, when residents settled in a zerubaseŕi, ownership was transferred from the state to a board (Lemovician: zerubaseŕiko-taula) elected by all residents in a given zerubaseŕi 16 years or older, to serve a one year term.

The typical composition of a board is comprised of five members, with four representing the floors inhabited by residents in a given zerubaseŕi, and one being elected at-large by all the residents in a given zerubaseŕi. However, in cases where a zerubaseŕi has more floors than the average five storeys, it may have as many as twenty members, of whom nineteen represent the residents on a given floor. Regardless of the circumstances, all members on the board are equal, although in practice, each session is chaired by someone who rotates among the members with each session.

The responsibility of each board is to maintain the building "to government standards," to organise activities for the residents within a given zerubaseŕi, to approve of businesses or cooperatives to operate on the ground floor, to decorate each zerubaseŕi however they please, and to implement restrictions, such as the prohibition of smoking or drinking within a zerubaseŕi. As well, members of the board can select a delegate from any of the residents to represent their particular zerubaseŕi on the district council.

Like all elected officials in Lemovicia, including the National Assembly, board members are bound by imperative mandates, and if enough residents are dissatisfied with either their "floor representative" or their zerubaseŕi representative on the board, recall elections must be held. Despite these safeguards against abuses of power, complaints have arisen over the years of boards in certain zerubaseŕiak becoming "too entrenched" and unwilling to address residents' concerns, which have led to proposals for reform to eliminate the "little lords" as some derogatorily call the boards, or to otherwise curtail their powers.

Present day

Stairwell in a zerubaseŕi, 2020

Since the official end of the hedapenak programme in 1999, the rate of construction of new neighbourhoods slowed down: while in 1995, 72 residential neighbourhoods and 16 industrial neighbourhoods were built, between 2000 and 2016, only nine residential neighbourhoods and four industrial neighbourhoods have been built.

The zerubaseŕiak were designed for a 50-year lifetime, although it has been alleged by many boards and by opposition politicians that most zerubaseŕiak in Lemovicia were only designed to last for 25 years: since 2010, the number of zerubaseŕiak designated "unfit for human habitation" has increased significantly, although according to the Lemovician government, "only 1.3% of all zerubaseŕiak have been designated unfit for human habitation" as of 2018, compared to 0.2% in 2008, with the government blaming anti-social behaviours. Thus, since 2010, 641 zerubaseŕiak have been demolished for being unfit for human habitation, while another 3,698 have been rehabilitated.

Another issue with the zerubaseŕiak is that most of them lack lift access, primarily due to the fact that most zerubaseŕiak are five storeys or fewer, and thus do not have lifts. This, combined with small flat sizes, have been criticised by disability rights activists, who see the lack of lift access as detrimental to older people and those with disaiblities, as residents on upper floors of each zerubaseŕi are effectively "trapped in their own homes."

Beginning in 2020, the Lemovician government has started on the Irisgaŕizko Eciebizica strategy, which intends to create "high-density flats with lift access and designed in accordance with universal design." Plans for these buildings include a minimum of 10-storey buildings, an average flat size of 70 square metres, and for the buildings to be built in an environmentally-friendly way while maintaining "the benefits of the zerubaseŕiak." Furthermore, the building's designs are to be based on traditional Lemovician architecture, with stone cladding on the lower floors and wooden cladding on the upper floors, and sloped roofs, as opposed to the modernist architecture of the zerubaseŕiak.

The intention is that construction on the new buildings will begin by 2025, with the intention of replacing 95% of all zerubaseŕiak by 2050, with the remaining 5% being "in small communities" and those "deemed of heritage value." It is expected that construction would prioritise Goikoecija Beŕija, Topagunea, and Zubizurija first, before construction starts in smaller communities, as these were where zerubaseŕiak were heavily concentrated, including "derelict zerubaseŕiak."