In Ukraine, the status of "urban-type village" was eliminated: what does it mean

In Ukraine, the status of "urban-type settlement" for populated areas has been abolished. The Verkhovna Rada adopted the law, and on August 3, it was sent for the President of Ukraine's signature.

According to this law, Ukraine will now have cities, towns, and villages. This change will affect people living in urban-type settlements.

The law updates the classification of populated areas in Ukraine and establishes the procedure for their formation, liquidation, renaming, and status changes. It will come into effect three months after being published.

Settlements with compact buildings and a population of over 10,000 residents will be classified as cities.

Settlements with predominantly cottage-style buildings and over 5,000 residents will be considered towns.

Other populated areas with a population of less than 5,000 will be classified as villages. Both towns and villages will be referred to as rural settlements.

The law also introduces a new term - "settlement." Such status will be granted to compact places of residence located outside populated areas that do not have a stable population.

For urban-type settlements, there will be two development scenarios. According to Oksana Prodan, an adviser to the head of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, they will either automatically become towns or initiate the transition to city status.

Settlement councils can apply for city status if they have over 10,000 residents and meet the necessary infrastructure requirements. If there are no requests from the community, the settlement will automatically become a town.

If a populated area changes its status to a town, it will be eligible to receive additional subsidies from the state budget.

The change of status is not expected to require residents to make any changes to their documents, and it will be the responsibility of local self-government bodies to ensure the proper circulation of documents within the community.

As of July 2023, including all territories occupied by Russia, Ukraine has 459 cities, 881 urban-type settlements, 1,164 towns, and 27,204 villages.