Ukraine introduces territorial approach: classification of communities by territory type triggers

The first meeting of the Commission for the Assessment and Classification of Territories into Functional Types was held, chaired by Oleksii Ryabikin, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.
The Commission began practical work on classifying communities according to a unified state system of criteria. The Commission consists of 12 members of the Ukrainian Parliament — members of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, all-Ukrainian associations of local self-government bodies and the public sector.

The Government has previously approved a unified approach to defining functional types of territories — the classification of communities according to their actual needs and characteristics. Key types of territories have been identified, including: restoration territories, territories with special conditions for development (mountainous, forested, steppe, technogenic disasters), sustainable development territories, and regional growth pole territories. For the first time at the regulatory level, a unified system of criteria has been created that allows decisions to be made not on a situational basis, but on the basis of objective data.

As Oleksii Ryabikin noted, the introduction of functional types of territories is the foundation of the territorial approach in state regional policy, as understanding the real conditions and challenges of communities allows for the application of appropriate tools and resources for their safe recovery and development.

"All communities are different in terms of security conditions, economy, access to services, proximity to the border or the front line. Therefore, the state is moving towards an approach where development policy is not “one size fits all,” but depends on the conditions in which the territory finds itself. This approach helps to understand what kind of support each community needs and to direct the necessary resources to where they are most needed, according to their demands and challenges. It also strengthens the capacity of local self-government and executive authorities, which is especially important in wartime. At the same time, Ukraine is implementing European approaches, as the territorial approach is a key element of EU cohesion policy," stressed Oleksii Ryabikin.

Ministry for Communities and Territories Development experts collected and summarized data from ministries, central executive bodies, and regional military administrations as of January 1, 2026. Based on this data, a simulation was conducted, the results of which were presented to the members of the Commission. The dashboard created allows you to see what type each community belongs to and according to what criteria, view information by region, and identify territories that are occupied or in the combat zone.

In particular, during the meeting, a list of communities proposed for inclusion in the restoration area was considered. Currently, there are 123 such communities in the Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions.

Recovery areas are those that meet at least two of the following criteria: there was fighting or temporary occupation, either fully or partially; there is a risk of fighting according to an officially defined list; more than 20% of real estate has been damaged or destroyed in the last three years; the socio-economic situation has significantly deteriorated and there has been a significant displacement of the population, with the number of internally displaced persons exceeding 20% of the pre-war population.

The state will prepare targeted support programmes for each functional type.