As Ukraine continues to navigate the profound impacts of the ongoing conflict, its cities face unprecedented challenges. Housing, infrastructure, and essential public services have been severely affected, placing immense pressure on local governments (hromadas in Ukrainian), which play a central role in recovery and public service delivery.
At the same time, recovery is already underway. Ukrainian national and local authorities are working—often in parallel with emergency response—to plan, prioritize, and implement reconstruction efforts, even as uncertainty persists.
Recognizing the urgency of Ukraine’s urban recovery, World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) organized the Technical Deep Dive (TDD) on Integrated Urban Recovery and Transformation in Ukraine, held in Hiroshima and Tokyo from April 6–10, 2026. The program brought together Ukrainian officials, World Bank experts, and Japanese and international practitioners to exchange lessons on how cities can rebuild and transform for the future.
Learning from Hiroshima: Vision-led urban reconstruction
Hiroshima’s experience highlighted that recovery is not only about rebuilding infrastructure, but about establishing a clear long‑term vision supported by strong institutional and legal frameworks. Through technical sessions and site visits to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Motomachi Reconstruction Housing District, participants explored how the city’s post‑war recovery—anchored in the Peace Memorial City Construction Law—enabled coordinated planning, mobilization of national resources, and land readjustment for urban redevelopment.
The visit to Motomachi illustrated how immediate post-war public housing supply, community facilities, and services can support the vulnerable residents, and how the city transforms the public housing be integrated to evolving needs of the residents over time, while the Peace Memorial Park reinforced the significance of memory and shared values in shaping urban transformation. Together, these experiences demonstrated that sustainable urban recovery depends on combining policy frameworks, practical implementation tools, and active community participation.
From Global Practice to Local Application
Global experiences presented during the TDD, including cases from Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasized the critical role of institutional systems in enabling effective urban recovery. These cases showed how reforms in land administration—through digitalization, harmonization of cadastral and urban planning systems, and improved data interoperability—can strengthen transparency, accelerate policy implementation, and support better decision-making. Participants explored how such approaches contribute to securing ongoing property rights issues, reducing administrative bottlenecks, and increasing confidence in reconstruction processes in Ukraine. By linking these insights to Ukraine’s ongoing reforms, the discussions highlighted that large-scale recovery requires not only financing, but also well-coordinated systems that connect planning, land governance, and institutional capacity, tailored to local realities.
Strengthening Local Capacity for Urban Recovery
Given the central role of hromadas in Ukraine’s recovery, the TDD placed strong emphasis on enhancing local government capacity to plan, prioritize, and implement investments effectively. Discussions focused on how cities can move from reactive responses to more structured and strategic approaches, linking long-term vision with practical decision-making. Participants explored how to prioritize investments across different spatial and time frames, align planning with available financing and budgeting systems, and strengthen cooperation between national and local levels. The exchange also highlighted the importance of data and digital tools in supporting more informed decision-making, alongside transparency and accountability mechanisms that help build trust to the government and unlock public and private financing for recovery efforts.
Reviving Communities through Housing and Services
A key theme throughout the TDD was the importance of anchoring investments that directly improve people’s daily lives, particularly in the housing sector. Sessions emphasized a “people-centered” approach, where housing recovery is combined with the restoration of essential lifelines such as water, heating, and electricity, as well as access to public spaces and community facilities. Rather than isolated interventions, participants examined how integrated neighborhood-level recovery can help stabilize communities, support returning populations, and rebuild local economies. The discussions also explored governance models for housing management and maintenance, highlighting the need for sustainable systems that ensure the long-term functioning and quality of housing stock, particularly in contexts with limited resources.
Turning Knowledge into Actionable visions
To translate learning into practical outcomes, the TDD included a structured workshop where participants worked together to develop forward-looking city visions and identify priority actions for urban recovery in Ukraine. This exercise encouraged participants to step back from immediate crisis management and consider longer-term development pathways, including the identification of priority investments, key institutional gaps, and concrete next steps for implementation. By linking global and Japanese lessons with Ukraine’s current context, the workshop reinforced the importance of connecting strategic planning with actionable steps, ensuring that knowledge gained during the TDD can be applied in ongoing recovery efforts.
Engaging Partners for Ukraine’s Urban Reconstruction
Building on the technical discussions of the TDD, the final day also offered an opportunity to engage a broader community of stakeholders through a public forum held at the TDLC Studio in Tokyo. The forum brought together representatives from Ukrainian national and local governments, the World Bank, and Japanese partners to share perspectives on Ukraine’s urban reconstruction priorities and challenges and highlight some of the ongoing reconstruction initiatives. Discussions underscored the importance of regular dialogue among government, development partners, and the private sectors, while exploring concrete pathways to accelerate recovery efforts. By bringing together decision-makers and practitioners from multiple levels, the forum reinforced the role of partnerships in translating recovery strategies into practical and scalable actions for Ukraine’s urban future.
Looking Ahead
While the challenges facing Ukrainian cities remain significant, the TDD highlighted that recovery is already underway—not only on the ground, but also in the way institutions, systems, and partnerships are evolving.
By connecting Ukraine’s current realities with lessons from Japan and global experience, the exchange reinforced a shared understanding: urban recovery is not only about rebuilding infrastructure, but about enabling resilient, inclusive, and future-ready cities.
Participants’ voice
“Japan’s experience is extremely valuable for us—particularly in recovery planning, housing policy, land relations, and spatial planning.”
(Natalia Kozlovska, Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine)
“One of the tasks is to ensure the adequate housing access of the veterans, and that was one of the goals, why the representatives of the local community came to Japan to exchange experience and to understand in which way it's better to implement and to create the affordable and social housing stock.””
(Dmytro Cheichuk, Deputy Mayor Bucha City Council)
