Vinnytsia Is Recognized as the Most Comfortable City in Ukraine for the Seventh Time: the Results of the Annual Municipal Survey Were Presented

A conference on democratic governance was held in Kyiv on September 17, starting with a presentation of the results of the annual all-Ukrainian municipal poll. For the seventh year in a row, Vinnytsia retains its leadership and is the most comfortable city in the country. Vinnytsia received 3.6 points in the ranking of regional centers and the largest cities of Ukraine in terms of quality of life and a dozen other parameters (excluding the occupied regions). The next were five cities, each with 3.3 points: Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Khmelnytskyi, Mariupol, and Kharkiv and Ternopil scored 3.2 points each.

Vinnytsia Mayor Serhii Morhunov, who was taking part in the conference, has already congratulated the community on the joint success. "I congratulate all the people of Vinnytsia, I feel proud of my native Vinnytsia. We are proud that Vinnytsia has remained the undisputed leader since 2015. This is thanks to the efforts of the whole community. Behind every victory are the people of Vinnytsia and their painstaking daily work. We are a strong team! Also the people of Vinnytsia believe that Vinnytsia is the most beautiful and most modern city in the country, and I agree with that! We love and appreciate our Vinnytsia, despite the ratings. Thank you for your faith in the city and everyone's contribution!" Serhii Morhunov wrote on his Facebook page. The survey was very large and thorough – different areas of life and services to residents were compared not only in all cities of the study, but also the dynamics over the years. About 19 thousand Ukrainians took part in it. "The study shows how they see their cities, the quality of the streets, the safety of the city. It is very important to show what is being done in cities in terms of education, local identity, municipal budgets, etc.," said Michael Druckman, director of the International Republican Institute in Ukraine.

Mark Ellingstad, acting director of the United States Agency for International Development, said that it was necessary to support the desire of cities to develop in order to create dynamic and vibrant communities focused on the interests of the people. "We are happy to support you in this. These studies show that mayors and local deputies work for the good of their communities. We are proud to highlight today a few examples of how local elected officials work in this area. For example, Vinnytsia and Mariupol took data from our research for their strategic planning," said Mark Ellingstad.

Vinnytsia has traditionally received the highest performance in the country in various areas of urban infrastructure – sidewalks and roads (consolidated index 3.7 points), waste collection (3.9 points), transport infrastructure (index 4 points) and street lighting (4.2 points). Citizens are also satisfied with the environment – the index is 3.5 points. In the humanitarian sphere, Vinnytsia has the highest indicators in the state in such spheres as medicine (with an index of 3.1), kindergartens (3.8), cultural institutions (3.7), and higher education institutions (index 3.8). Vinnytsia community is also ahead of other cities in terms of access for people with disabilities (the index is 3 points) and in the development of industry (2.9 points). In general, 74% of respondents said that things in Vinnytsia are going in the right direction. The activities of Vinnytsia City Council are approved by 75% of citizens. The activities of the mayor are positively assessed by 78% of the community.

This year, for the first time in the survey, the criteria of emotional perception of cities by their residents were used. Vinnytsia became the leader according to 5 criteria at once. Vinnytsia residents pointed out that their hometown is beautiful, well-groomed, modern, prosperous and economically developed. Vinnytsia shares leadership with other cities in two positions – a "joyful city" (the same index as Ivano-Frankivsk) and an "ecological city" (the highest index in Vinnytsia and Chernihiv).

Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities Oleksandr Slobozhan during the presentation of the results of the 7th municipal survey said that he considers it as a road map to move towards. "I just joked that on one map of services there is an ‘island of well-being’: Vinnytsia, Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi regions. And here we see the following trend: a higher level of satisfaction with the lives of citizens in these cities immediately correlates with greater openness of local authorities. And it is these three cities that this year became the winners of the Open Government international competition."

Oleksandr Slobozhan also added that he perceives this study as an invitation to a dialogue between the central and local authorities. "We in the Association of Cities do not make ratings, but I am always happy to work with this study. For us these are indicators for work and communication between municipalities and the central government, as the main stakeholder in implementation of reforms."

For reference: The annual municipal survey has traditionally been conducted by the Rating Sociological Group commissioned by the Center for Analysis and Sociological Research of the International Republican Institute (IRI) with the support of USAID. This study, which has been conducted in Ukraine since 2015, helps to track residents' satisfaction with the quality of various areas and services in cities and see the dynamics. This year, the survey was conducted in 24 cities from May 12 to June 3, 2021.