How should Ukrainian villages change after the war? Demographers gave guidance to the authorities.

The settlement system in Ukraine will change after the war

According to Ella Libanova, director of the M.V. Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Sciences of the NAS of Ukraine, the settlement system in Ukraine will experience significant changes after the war. One of the key trends will be an increase in the population of central regions. It is also worth noting the development of villages. She spoke about this in an interview with the Center for Countering Disinformation.

According to Libanova, Ukrainian cities, particularly the central part of the country, will significantly increase:

'I think there will be more population in central Ukraine. Much more than now, and this will concern almost all cities'

Another important direction is the development of modern villages. Libanova emphasizes that Ukrainians should have the opportunity to live comfortably in a village while working or studying in the city.

'If we are going to play in 'sharovarnyshchyna' and say that the Ukrainian spirit is preserved only in the village, then this is not the path we should take. We need to build a modern village. There should be water, normal sewage, electricity, and, above all, roads that will allow people to live in the village while working and studying in the city'

In addition, Libanova asserts that several key metropolises will form in post-war Ukraine - Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, and possibly Donetsk. Zaporizhzhia also has a chance to become a powerful center if it can move out of the role of a satellite to Dnipro:

'A metropolis is not just the number of population, it's the functions that allow you to exert your influence over the territory'

Recall that earlier Libanova stated that the only way to restore the population of Ukrainians is to increase natural growth. And demographer Oleksandr Hladuv named the real number of people who remained living in Ukraine.